Ethiopia produces about 24,000 tons of honey per year, which accounts to about 23.6% of total African honey production and 2.1% of total world production. Local consumption of honey, which accounts to about 80% of the total produced, is mainly for making ‘tej’ (a local honey wine) and as a food where both the honeycomb (during harvest time) and extracted honey is used.

Reports say Ethiopia is the fifth biggest beeswax exporters to the world market, amounting to 3,200 tons per year. This beeswax is largely collected from traditional hives. However, the extraction technique, which is mostly traditional, incurs high wastage.

Beekeepers usually get beeswax from an already existing traditional hive or they buy it from the market. ‘Tej ambulla’, the residue of Tej has a huge amount of beeswax, but not many know about this. This residue is usually accumulated in dirty containers and thrown away by the owners of the Tej bets where most Tej is consumed. It it’s not considered of much value.

In November 2013, the Capacity Building for Scaling up of Evidence-based Best Practices in Agricultural Production in Ethiopia (CASCAPE) project at Jimma University organized a two day training course on improved beekeeping practices and the extraction of beeswax from ‘Tej ambulla.’ Held in the Omo Nada district near Jimma, some 25 beekeepers took part in the training. It included making of transitional hives using local materials, colony splitting, and the process of separating beeswax from Tej ambulla.

Tej ambula, when left in a dirty container and ignored for weeks, turns muddy, is full of insects’ larvae, and has worms and wax moths. It has a strong smell and seems totally without value. However, trainers from Holetta research center and Jimma University demonstrated otherwise. The trainers showed the beekeepers how to extract beeswax from the residue by a simple technique comprising:

• Boil the muddy ambulla
• After boiling, allow the residue to cool for about five minutes
• Transfer the content into a jute bag that will be used to strain the beeswax from the impure materials
• Two people squeeze the jute bag holding the two ends of the bag and turning in different directions for maximum straining
• The tiny holes of the jute bag strain the beeswax from the impure materials and give pure beeswax

This process of boiling and straining should be repeated two or three time to get pure beeswax from the residue (see some pictures of this process)

This is a simple technique that anyone can do. The challenge is to bring this knowhow to beekeepers and Tej makers so beekeepers can buy beeswax at better prices and Tej bet owners could generate income  from their leftovers.

Contributed by Gemeda Duguma,  LIVES zonal coordinator, Jimma zone, Oromia

The Estephanos Monastery is on an island in Lake Haik, part of Tehuledere district in South Wollo where LIVES has one of its project sites.  The first church was built in 862 AD; in 1262 AD a monastery was established.

Since then, it delivers spiritual, social and development activities for the inhabitants of the surrounding area. The monks and hermits started agricultural activities to feed  themselves and  then continued to set up a farm enterprise that produces various irrigated fruits (papaya, sugarcane, mango, guava, banana, orange and coffee) and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, and pepper, tomato, onion, potato and spices) both for themselves and the local markets.

The monks also produce livestock – fattened cattle, dairy, poultry and apiculture. They produce forage crops under the fruit trees and feed fruit and vegetable wastes to their dairy and beef animals. They also apply litter from their poultry farm and manure from their dairy and beef animals to fertilize their croplands. They do not apply any inorganic fertilizer for crop production. The monastery’s beekeeping is integrated with fruit, vegetable and forage crop production, both by using the flowers as bee forage and having the bees pollinate trees for better fruit and seed setting.

Ecological restoration of the lake, environmental protection, soil conservation and soil fertility management are major sideline activities carried out in the monastery. Cattle manure is used for biogas production and the biogas is used to cook food. The monks therefore do not cut trees and they do not collect crop residue for fuel. They have constructed soil conservation structures on their farmland to reduce soil erosion as well as siltation of the lake. They compost whatever is left over and apply it to their farmland. They practice intercropping and multistory cropping systems to increase the productivity of their farmland.

These practices are useful to recycle nutrients, protect the lake from pollution and siltation, and for sustainable farming.

The other innovation in Haik monastery is how they plan land use according to its capability. Despite the undulating topography, there is no wasteland in the monastery. Monks constructed the church, congregation rooms, animal barns, poultry houses, residences, museum, training center, and water reservoir on the upper parts of the landscape and planted relatively less water demanding fruit crops such as mango, citrus, guava, and coffee in the middle of the landscape. More water-demanding crops such as banana, papaya, sugarcane, vegetables, and forage crops are towards the bottom of the landscape.

The monastery also has a well-designed irrigation infrastructure. There are two motor pumps, a water reservoir with a capacity of 63,000 m³ and pipes to irrigate the farm. Monks use motor pumps to pump the water from the lake to the top of the landscape, where the reservoir is located, they irrigate their crops from the reservoir using a gravitational system. As a result, each piece of land of the monastery is utilized according to its capability throughout the year.

Apart from their spiritual life, the monks spend all their time on crop, livestock and environmental protection activities. Their (free) labour contribution is estimated as 750-1000 ET birr/day.  Annual gross income from the sale of agricultural produce is about 600,000 ETB. Gross expenses are estimated about 200,000 ETB. So they get a net profit of about 400,000 ETB a year.  Profit from sales of agricultural produce goes to the construction of additional barns, testing of new technologies, improving their farming practices and expanding their land use.

The local market is the main outlet for their produce as they prefer to keep the serene environment of the monastery for spiritual activities. The main challenge they face in the market is getting a fair price for their high quality produce. Wholesalers and traders usually give low prices, especially for perishable products such as milk and vegetables. As a way to solve this challenge, mobile phones are used to get price information in nearby places. The monastery also constructed a shop in the compound that sells its produce to tourists and pilgrims.

Aba Tesfamariam and other monks visit different farms and market places and attend training workshops to gain experience on production practices and market demands. He uses these visits to gain inspiration and find innovative ways to improve the monastery’s production and align its produce to the market. To further capacitate themselves and others, the monastery joined forces with the tourism office to establish an agricultural training center outside of the monastery – so that women too could take part in training programs and activities.

This story provides a practical experience of integrated livestock and irrigation agriculture. The monks believe that diversification is the key for successful sustainable development. They are proud and confident in what they are doing and eager to share their passion for farming with extension workers, farmers, researchers and practitioners. The Monastery is a local role model for market oriented livestock and irrigation agriculture production.

The LIVES project works closely with these monks involving them in its familiarization and platform meetings. As part of its value chain intervention activities, the project has also introduced forage crops such as pigeon pea, alfalfa and Napier grass and vegetables (three varieties of tomato and two varieties of potato) for demonstration purposes.

Contributed by Mesfin Tefera ( LIVES  Zonal Coordinator, South Wollo Zone) and Yigzaw Desalegne (LIVES regional coordinator, Amhara region)

One of the many challenges smallholder dairy farmers in Ethiopia face is securing a dependable market for fluid milk, especially during religious fasting periods of the Orthodox Church. Many believe that to overcome such problem, large milk processing plants serving many consumers in urban areas are essential. Very few people will risk establishing smaller capacity milk processing plants in small towns where the market for processed dairy products is untried.

Recognizing such fluctuating market demands, the assiduous and unassuming Tsehaye Reta courageously installed a small milk processing plant at the foot of the historic Mount Soloda in Adwa district, Tigray region.

Tsehaye addressed smallholder dairy farmers’ market problem through a simplified concept of ‘value chain’ whereby farmers supply their fluid milk to his plant, and supermarkets, retailers and consumers in turn buy pasteurized milk and other processed dairy products from him.

The road to realize this was neither smooth nor short. He suffered under the previous Derg regime, receiving two capital punishments. Tsehaye, however, never gave in and he joined the Tigray Peoples Libration Front.

Before and after the fall of the Derg, Tsehaye equipped himself with knowledge and skills through formal training and hands on experiences. His renewed stamina helped him start a private small-scale agro-processing business, including small capacity milk, tomato paste and fruit juice processing plants in Adwa.

The small milk processing plant started with 9 Holstein cows (6 purchased and 3 donated), a 500-liter capacity pasteurizer and a mini milk packaging plant. Although the demand for fluid milk varies, with the current capacity of the plant, he can collect milk from 100 smallholder dairy farmers. The habit of consuming pasteurized milk is just being popularized to consumers in Tigray through supermarkets, cafés, and hotels, and with more exposure to the consumption of pasteurized milk, he will expand his fluid milk collection to a radius of 40 km and reach more dairy farmers.

Tsehaye’s 500 ml pasteurized milk is labeled ‘K.Y.K’ and sells for 8 Birr, 60% less thana similar product transported from Addis Ababa. The small milk processing plant is also helping many smallholder dairy farmers during fasting periods by purchasing large volumes of fluid milk for butter making with improved shelf life. An interesting part of this butter making business is the close link created with poor women retailers who sell the butter in small pieces to beauty salon owners and individual consumers as a hair butter cream. The processing plant also produces cream, plain yoghurt, and cheese whenever demanded by consumers.

Tsehaye’s aim is to develop a streamlined processed dairy products supply line to the growing population in Tigray and elsewhere. He will also soon upgrade from his current pasteurizer to another with 1000 liters capacity and a faster heating and cooling time, and introduce on time delivery of pasteurized milk and other milk products in trucks equipped with cooling facilities.

The small scale processing of milk into different products as currently being done by Tsehaye Reta can enormously help smallholder farmers get more reliable markets throughout the year and protect the safety of consumers in small towns. The expansion of such smaller capacity milk processing plants is also one means to realize more inclusive dairy value chain development.

Such initiatives need to be supported by strong sense of solidarity, collaboration, and effective marketing strategy development.As successful dairy value chain demands strong collaboration along all stages of the chain, the LIVES project works closely with Tsehaye and his milk supplying farmers to link processed milk products to consumers in Aksum University, Almeda Textile Factory, Saba Stones Factory, Hospitals, Schools, and other wholesalers in Mekelle.

Contributed by Yayneshet Tesfay (LIVES regional expert,  Tigray) and Haile Tilahun (LIVES zonal coordinator, Central Tigray zone)

Poultry production is knowledge and skill intensive; it requires immediate responses when management appears suboptimal. The consequences of delayed actions include high morbidity and mortality of chicks, substantial economic losses, and total disinterest in poultry production.

Due to the delicacy of day old chicks, rural poultry in the Central Zone of Tigray is organized around the work of trained chick distributors. These distributors assume diverse roles as growers, marketers, trainers, and input suppliers. They help overcome an important knowledge and skill gaps that ordinary farmers face when they try to engage in market-oriented poultry production. Girum Asfiha and Nega Abraha are chick distributors operating in the Central Zone of Tigray. Both participated at the recent zonal workshop organized by the LIVES project.

They have created formal and informal links with day-old chick suppliers in Mekelle, Kombolcha and Debre Zeit. They buy the chicks for 29 Birr/chick  and sell them for 54 Birr/chick after feeding and managing them for 30-40 days. During this critical stage, they provide starter and grower feeds and apply scheduled vaccinations against major viral and bacterial outbreaks. The combination of improved management with timely vaccination has dramatically changed rural poultry intervention in Central Tigray. This once slow and often neglected activity has become an enterprise that contributes to the livelihoods of rural households.

The major customers of Girum and Nega are smallholder farmers in Laelai Maichew and Adwa. Sometimes they expand outside their local areas to meet market demands. In the past two and a half years, they have sold more than 100,000 chicks.

For Girum and Nega, getting hold of inputs is a major challenge. They have had to buy veterinary medicines from as far as Addis Ababa. Now days,  they are considering how they themselves could become intermediary traders by  linking smallholder poultry producers to large input suppliers.

As well as growing and selling chicks, Girum and Nega also train their clients in ration formulation and regular mass vaccination. They formulate and sell poultry rations from ingredients purchased locally. Maize, wheat bran and middling, cakes from noug, peanut and sesame, dried whole fish (captured from local rivers), alfalfa, limestone, bone and meat meals, premixes, and other antibiotics are their ingredients. For ingredients not available locally,  they get supplies from large feed ingredient suppliers in Mekelle and Addis Ababa (GASCO Trading PLC and Slaughterhouse). They charge 850 Birr for a pack of formulated chick food.

Abrehet Tareke is a woman farmer who lives near Axum. She was trained about chick management by Girum. After her training, she bought 100 Bovan Brown chicks and started her farm. She is also a member of the poultry platform that LIVES established in Laelai Maichew . After joining the platform discussion in July 2013, she expanded her poultry farm and planted alfa alfa as a feed source for her layer hens.

Abrehet’s hens started laying eggs in their 24th week and she now collect some 25 eggs a day, selling them each for 2.5 ETB in Axum city. She also sells fertile eggs to other farmers who incubate the eggs under natural setting. Now that she has new skills and knowledge, her immediate plan is to grow her flock size to 500 birds and build a truly market-oriented poultry farm. She plans to realize her vision by establishing a marketing group in her village with other interested farmers.

The recognition given to chick distributors and the training support has moved poultry interventions to a new phase and is contributing to the rapid adoption of improved poultry in rural areas. The distributors have assumed many roles along the poultry value chain and are filling in important knowledge and skill gaps faced by ordinary farmers. More efforts are needed to create links between distributors and private/public vaccine providers throughout the egg production life of layers. They also need to engage more youth, especially women, in market-oriented poultry production, which in turn attracts other value chain actors.

Contributed by Yayneshet Tesfay (LIVES regional expert, Tigray) and Haile Tilahun (LIVES zonal coordinator, Central Tigray Zone)

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• Chicken and egg marketing: Insights from traders in Meki, Oromia
  Poultry value chain innovation in Tigray

There is a deep bond between honeybees and people. They have lived together for thousands of years, though no one knows exactly when this relationship started. There is evidence that the relationship began in the early Stone Age, probably when people hunted and robbed hollow cavities in trees or rocks filled with honey. Gradually, the relationship developed from bee-killing to bee-keeping.

In bee-killing, humans torch the hive/cavity and then collect the honey and brood (larva and pupa). Most of the bees in the hive die and the ones that survive migrate. In bee-keeping, which is now more common, beekeepers forge close relationships with their bees; they smoke the hive and take only combs with pure honey and leave those containing brood. In times of feed shortage, they provide supplementary feed to the bees. Some farmers in Jimma say bees can even recognize the body odour of the hive owner. This is probably an interesting area for further investigation.

On a recent trip by the LIVES team and the head of the livestock agency of Dedo district, they witnessed both bee-killing and bee-keeping in the same district.

At one rural village, a farmer took seven beehives from a tree and torched them to take the honey. When the team reached the place, a few helpless bees were still alive. The hives themselves were destroyed and cannot be used in the future. It seems this is a common practice in the area. Many farmers burn hives and kill the bees. When they want honey again, they construct new ones or buy and hang them on a tree.

From this experience, it would seem that honeybees are in trouble and the relationship between people and honey bees, at least in that particular area, is not harmonious but destructive. Unless transformed, this practice will reduce the honeybee population and force migration of the bees. A great deal of work on awareness creation, skills development and the introduction of new technologies is required.

In Jimma Zone, the application of pesticides, herbicides and the encroachment of the “Euphorbia cotinifolia” plant are additional challenges to bees. The so-called ‘Caribbean copper’ plant contains a poisonous sap and kills bees feeding on it. It is commonly found in the southwest and southern parts of the country.  People in this area plant Caribbean cooper as an ornamental plant or a fence; they have little or no knowledge of its poisonous nature to bees. Awareness creation campaigns on this malicious plant (for bees) needs to be organized by the offices of agriculture and its stakeholders. A similar campaign has been done in Sidama and it has proved effective.

Contributed by  Gemeda Duguma (LIVES zonal coordinator, Jimma), Ephrem Tesema (LIVES gender expert), Dereje Legesse (LIVES Agri-business expert)  and  Gossa G/Medihin (Livestock agency, Dedo District)

Related stories

• Honeybee colony splitting techniques
• Beeswax from ‘Tej’ leftovers

Ethiopia has very diverse soil types and agro-climatic conditions. In some parts of the country, the agro-ecology oscillates in a short distance. This agro-ecological diversity is both a challenge and an opportunity for crop production. It enables people to produce crop types adaptable to tropical, subtropical and temperate climatic conditions throughout the year without using plant growth structures. On the other hand, it demands adaptable varieties for each agro-ecology, and systems to multiply and supply planting materials of improved varieties to farmers. It also requires that farmers get advice on appropriate varieties for specific farm soil types.

The Government of Ethiopia has established several agricultural research centers, higher learning institutes, and assigned agricultural extension workers in different parts of the country to tap opportunities as well as to solve problems associated with agroecological diversity. These institutions are striving to develop high yielding and adaptable improved varieties of different crop species for different agro-ecologies. Recently, private companies are also involved in variety development activities.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the research system of the country released or recommended 306 varieties of cereal crops, 169 varieties of pulse crops, 77 varieties of oil crops, 133 varieties of vegetable crops, 19 varieties of condiments and medicinal plants, 28 varieties of fruit crops, 19 varieties of forage crops, 19 varieties of fiber crops, and 37 varieties of stimulant crops up to 2012. In total, 807 improved varieties of different crop species adaptable to different agro-ecologies of the country are released or recommended. These improved varieties can only boost crop production if their seed or planting material is simultaneously multiplied and made available to farmers and if farmers plant these varieties in their recommended agro-ecology.

In Amhara region the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) regional project team made a quick assessment of the vegetable seed supply system at Bahir Dar and Gondar towns.  The assessment shows that farmers obtain vegetable seeds mainly from private seed retailers. As depicted in the table below, the planting material of most released varieties is not multiplied and made available in local markets. On the other hand, most varieties supplied by vegetable seed retailers are not listed in the crop variety register book of the country. These varieties may be either obsolete or may not be yet evaluated and recommended for production. This clearly indicates that there is a rift between vegetable crops variety development and seed supply in the country.

As the table shows, many of the vegetables widely used by local consumers as well as those which have huge export potential do not have released varieties. Some of the vegetable crops have only one recommended variety for production, regardless of the diverse agro-ecology and production season. On top of this, customers’ preference is diverse. For example, pungent and red-coloured onions are preferred for sauce preparation but mild and white onions are preferred as fresh vegetable; dark red pepper varieties are preferred as spice but mild and big pod sized peppers are preferred to serve as green pod; big sized head cabbage is preferred for hotels while medium sized head cabbage varieties are preferred for household use. Public and private research institutions are expected to fill this gap.

Nowadays, the demand for vegetable seed is steadily increasing with the expansion of irrigation infrastructure in different parts of the country. However, most of the vegetable seeds traded in the country are imported and expensive. For example, the seed price of an open pollinated tomato variety is 2300 birr/kg. Despite this, smallholders as well as investors are not widely engaged in tomato seed production. This is mainly attributed to lack of knowledge and skills on tomato seed production and processing.

A next step for the LIVES project and its relevant stakeholders is to organize short term training on vegetable seed production and processing techniques.

Contributed by LIVES regional team, Amhara 

This past week, LIVES has received and tested the long-awaited multipurpose feed choppers, shredders and grain grinders (all in one).  These machines, all petrol driven, mobile, hardy and good quality materials are produced in Brazil. They are light enough to transport to remote areas using donkeys or carts. The machines are not for donation but rather to strategically demonstrate their implications on feed use and utilization efficiency to initiate business, particularly for the unemployed youth, who can provide such services. These machines can chop wet and dry feed materials such as maize and sorghum stover, Napier grass, etc. and can grind grains to different sizes including for concentrate ration formulation using locally available materials.  Each LIVES zone will get one unit .

These machines are not new to Ethiopia, some other projects have also introduced them and thus issues of operation skills are not expected to be a problem.

The LIVES regional teams, together with the agribusiness expert of LIVES, are working on strategies on how to make livestock feed chopping as a business. The machines are women friendly and LIVES intends to follow up on this.

Until the early 1980s, maize, cotton and sweet potato were important crops produced by farmers in Arba Minch Zuria and Mirab Abaya districts of the Gamo Gofa zone in SNNPR. During that period, the then Arba Minch state farm had 62 ha of land covered by dwarf Cavendish banana. Experts in the office of agriculture at the then Gamo Gofa Province made efforts to introduce banana to the Lante producers’ cooperative, but it failed as the cooperative administrators at that time did not perceive banana as an important cash crop.

In 1984, a few experts restarted a dialogue to transform the mainly cereal-based subsistence smallholder agriculture to a more market-oriented system by introducing irrigated banana. After repeated discussions with cooperative leaders and extension staff, banana was introduced on 4.2 ha of the cooperatives land. Planting materials came from the state farm. However, the cooperative leaders and members were not fully convinced of banana’s potential to improve their livelihoods; this was further fueled by the belief that banana impacts biological fertility if consumed. Continuous awareness creation about the benefits of banana changed the perception of cooperative members. Once the first introduction was made to Lante cooperative, scaling out to individual plots in Lante and Chano Mille Peasant Associations was carried out.  Prisoners from Arba Minch helped transport and transplant suckers from the state farm to the farmer plots. The extension staff and administrators continuously monitored the pilot farmers.

The agro-ecology of Arba Minch was good for Cavendish banana; most of the suckers at the pilot farms bore bunches easily and gave good yields some 10 months after planting. The first harvest was transported and marketed in Addis Ababa. The farm gate price for a kilo of banana was 0.20 ETB. Seeing this, the farmers understood the economic benefit of engaging in irrigated banana production. About five years later, most farm lands that had easy access to irrigation in Arba Minch were covered by dwarf Cavendish.

The introduction of banana in Arba Minch has also contributed to the development of new irrigation schemes in the area. A number of traditional and modern irrigation schemes were established for banana cultivation.

Irrigated banana (Dwarf, Medium height and Giant Cavendish) now covers more than 11,000 ha of land in Arba Minch Zuria and Mirab Abaya districts. Farmers use rainfall and irrigation to produce banana throughout the year. It is estimated that banana from Arba Minch has more than 80% of the market share in Ethiopia and 40% of the market share in Addis Ababa. Consumers in Addis Ababa, Hawassa, Adama, Shashemene, Bahir Dar and other major towns prefer bananas from Arba Minch for its good taste. Arba Minch is also an important source of banana suckers for many other parts of the country.

Different governmental and non-governmental organizations from Tigray, Amhara and Oromia regions buy banana suckers to start banana plantations in their respective regions. About seven years ago, the IPMS project introduced dwarf Cavendish to Metema area in Northwestern Ethiopia by transporting the suckers from Arba Minch. Currently, several smallholder farmers in Metema have become banana producers.

Although the living standard of the local value chain actors (banana producers, brokers, traders, retailers) and service providers (cooperatives, transporters) has substantially improved in recent years, they still face many challenges. For instance, yield per unit area of land is declining due to improper agronomic techniques such as overstocking, lack of soil amendments, improper irrigation techniques and mono-cropping. Previous studies in the area indicate that declining soil fertility has caused yield loss of 30-60%. Pests (fruit flies) and diseases (Banana xanthomonas wilt and Fusarium oxysporum) are potential challenges for banana production although they are not yet severe. Recently, a new variant of the soil-borne banana fungus (F. oxisporumf. sp. cubense) that rots and kills the Cavendish cultivars has been reported in Mozambique and Jordan. If this disease enters the country, it has a devastating effect and could cause up to 100% losses.

The current marketing system tends to benefit traders more than producers. Most of existing banana cooperatives are not strong enough to compete with the traders and hence do not benefit their members as much as expected. Furthermore, existing traditional production, harvesting and post-harvest techniques do not attract the foreign market.

To transform the existing production and marketing system, a new move is required. The first is proper implementation of improved production technologies to double actual yield per unit area and improve the quality of the products. The second is capacitating proper functioning of fruit and vegetables marketing cooperatives by building up the skills of members and organizing awareness creation among producers on the importance of joining cooperatives and linking to markets and improved market information.

The LIVES project is collaborating with the regional bureau of agriculture and regional agricultural research institute to upgrade the banana value chain in Arba Minch through capacity development, demonstration of improved technologies, knowledge management and market linkages.

Contributed by Tesfaye Dubale, Kahsay Berhe, Birhanu Biazin and Yoseph Mekasha

Related:

Innovation in banana value chain development in Metema

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On 1 and 2 March, a lively agribusiness finance fair was held in Hawassa town. The event was organized by Agri-ProFocus/Agri-Hub Ethiopia and other partners including Hawassa University, the regional government, banks, insurance, microfinance institutions and private organizations. The fair included panel discussions, a market place and field visit.

A presentation on the LIVES project plans and experiences with “Agricultural Input Financing: Challenges and Constraints so far” was made by LIVES regional coordinator Yoseph Mekasha. LIVES agri-business expert, Dereje Legesse, was interviewed about the commonalities of LIVES and Agri-pro focus with regard to agri-business financing and related interventions (see interview). At the marketplace, posters and brochures from LIVES and various documentation from the earlier IPMS project were displayed and distributed. Detailed documentation of the event can be found on the Agri-hub Ethiopia web page.

Contributed by Dereje Legesse, Agri-business expert 

Ato Gadissa’s started his business in 1990 with 20 cross bred dairy cows on a 17.5 hectare landholding in Ambo town. His business progressed and he now has two big farms in Ambo and Bako Tibe district. He also has shares in Anno Agro-industry company, owns a Farmer Service Center (FSC) and a mega feed processing plant.  Near his  farm in Ambo , he has a shop where he sells his produce, provides advisory services to producers, motivates agricultural extension service providers and represents private integrated farms in various platforms in Oromia and Ethiopia. 

He was born and raised in Dengoro wereda of West Welega zone, Oromia region. After his primary and secondary school education, he got diplomas in language and general agriculture from Addis Ababa University and Ambo college of Agriculture. He studied abroad and got an advanced diploma in Agriculture from the USA. He worked as language and agriculture extension agent for more than 23 years. Through his years, he traveled the world and met influential agricultural business entrepreneurs and decision makers.

Now a fully-fledged agriculture entrepreneur, he owns about 100 crossbred cows that produce 15 liters of milk on average. Alongside the dairying, he cultivates maize, wheat, tef and chickpea; in the dry season he irrigates his land from th Huluka river and cultivates maize. Beekeeping is an integral part of his Ambo farm. He owns close to 100 modern beehives and each produces about 80 kilograms of high quality honey each year. The honey is sold to wholesalers from Addis.

 The 50 hectare Dono farm in BakoTibe district is on land that was swampy but is now fertile and is suited to mechanized farming to produce maize, sorghum and vegetables by irrigation. Thousands of mango trees, five different varieties, are planted and harvested every year from this farm.

Gadissa says that being located close to research centers enabled him to continuously learn and make his own research on various crops. The challenges for farmers of getting improved crop seeds led him to produce and sell improved seeds in his Ambo and Dono farms.

On top of his full time work on his two farms, he is shareholder in a large scale farm, Anno Agro-Industry. This farm, lying on 500 ha of land in east welega zone, produces crops and livestock. The land was degraded when they started but has now been rehabilitated through the application of soil and water conservation techniques. Anno Agro-industry organizes experience sharing events for stakeholders in the area where insights and lessons on crops, livestock and the environment are shared, discussed and demonstrated. To address the animal feed challenges, Gadissa also established a mega animal feed processing plant in Ambo.

According to Gaddisa, farmers are willing to pay for better options in agricultural extension services and input supply. He thus established a Farm Service Center (FSC) in 2013. For a fee, the center provides production technologies, inputs, pesticides, equipment, advisory service and market information and linkages. Qualified experts in veterinary, extension, marketing and accounting are full time employees in the center. Gadissa’s dream is to see his farming business progressing and being a family asset – his elder son Biftu has expertise in computer science, farm machinery and accounting and works in the business.

Overall, he employs about 250 people, more than half of them women.

Gadissa’s farming business serves as an innovative model to scale up modern production practices to help smallholders take the leap from subsistence to commercial production. His focus on value addition for increased market demand and maximized profit offer lessons to be shared by others. His rich experience as a school teacher, farmer, entrepreneur and extensionist is an inspiration for experts, farmers and decision makers.

Contributed by Addisu Abera, Abule Ebro,  Moti Jaleta and Nigatu Alemayehu

A related story on Gadissa Gobena

Participants in a market-oriented agriculture extension training workshop; March 24-27,2014, Adama.

The predominantly public sector extension service in Ethiopia has gone through tremendous expansion over the past few years. However their approach of service delivery remains more or less production and technology oriented with little attention to marketing.

The Ethiopian government’s current focus on commercial transformation of subsistence agriculture calls for change in approach, methods and work culture of the extension officers. There is a need to shift services that aim at production for subsistence to those that aim at services to market oriented production. Determined to fill in this gap, the Ministry of Agriculture is focusing on building the knowledge and capacities of its public sector staff in agriculture value chain approaches and market oriented agriculture. The LIVES project is partnering in these efforts and organized some training on these new approaches. The first such training was given at the Federal level this past month.

Trainees comprised experts, team leaders and researchers from the various directorates of the ministry of agriculture and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). The workshops were held 17-20th of March on value chain development approaches and 24-27th on market oriented agriculture extension in Adama town, Oromia.

Etelaem Tesfaye, a poultry researcher from Debre Zeit research center of EIAR, explained how the training led her to change her perceptions on how best she could look at her research work not only from productivity perspectives but also from a market orientation, better efficiency and profitability. Similarly, Bula Agegnehu of National Artificial Insemination Center (NAIC) says the trends are changing with the increasing demand for improved breeding and semen supply, which makes such training workshops relevant and timely. He explains further how the campaigns on estrous synchronization and mass insemination all over the country have driven NAIC to increase its supply of semen and to revisit its production and distribution systems in order to facilitate market oriented livestock production, particularly dairy.

Market oriented extension services and value chain approaches were new concepts for most of the trainees. ‘These approaches guide you to assimilate your scientific knowledge with the existing context and increase the efficiency of your work’ says Tamerat Seyoum, a veterinarian at Holeta research center of EIAR. The trainees however worry about the applicability and effectiveness of these approaches at the grassroots unless a continuous follow up and coaching is put in place. They stressed on the need for decision makers to be aware and knowledgeable of these approaches so that they could be leading the adoption and implementation processes.

The LIVES project will organize subsequent training workshops at the four project regions in an effort to bring these approaches closer to the grassroots.

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Early in April, Peter Hooper joined the LIVES project for the coming 12 months to support its livestock interventions.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to work at ILRI, an organization that I have admired before. Both my wife Elaine and I look forward to our life in Ethiopia” He says.

Peter has a degree in veterinary science and a number of postgraduate degrees including a PhD (majoring in pathology). He earlier worked as a field and administrative veterinarian working mostly with cattle and horses in the northern tropical areas of Australia. He recounted the exciting times he spent working to eradicate contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, brucellosis and tuberculosis, and the measures required following the identification of bluetongue virus.

Afterwards, Peter served CSIRO, Australia’s premier research organization, as a research scientist. His research work included identification of a number of new or emerging diseases, notably a new rabies virus not then known in Australia, the new Nipah and Hendra viruses, and a viral cause of epidemic blindness in kangaroos. He has also worked on nearly all the major animal diseases, including foot and mouth disease, African horse sickness, Newcastle disease and highly -pathogenic avian influenza. Peter’s work has been communicated through various publications and international conferences. He was a key note speaker in two major conferences and has received a gold medal for his contribution to the public good. Peter has worked both in developed and developing countries over the years of his career. He has a long experience in preparation and delivery of ‘hands-on’ training courses for postgraduate veterinarians as well.

He will work very closely with Solomon Gizaw, the livestock expert at LIVES, for the next twelve months. Already, the project organized a field trip for Peter and other volunteers to Ejere district for them to get an overview of livestock intervention activities in the project site. The group visited communal grazing land as well as small scale dairy, poultry and backyard apiculture activities carried out by smallholders.  They also visited a youth group involved in sheep fattening.

Peter is a keen bird-watcher so he is excited to explore the variety of beautiful birds in Ethiopia.

Peter’s contributions to the project is supported by the Australian Volunteers for International Development program.

The Amhara region of Ethiopia produces many cool season vegetables: Cabbages, carrots, beetroot, Swiss chard and lettuce are widely grown and supplied to local markets throughout the year. However, cauliflower, the most expensive cool season vegetable is not well-known to smallholder or commercial farmers in the region.

In Bahir Dar, cauliflower, like cabbage, is eaten roasted, boiled, fried, steamed or raw. Both crops require similar agro-ecology. Yet, the price for one cauliflower in the Bahir Dar open market is about 50 birr while the price of the same size cabbage is 5 birr.

Considering the financial benefits that a farmer may get by producing cauliflower, LIVES regional experts set out to introduce and demonstrate cauliflower production with irrigation in North Gondar zone. The team selected nine farmer fields as demonstration sites and bought ‘seed of snow ball’-a popular cauliflower variety from Harvest General Trading. The first seeds were sown in November 2013 and in March 2014, snow white cauliflower curds are flourishing in the farmers’ fields.

From this promising start, the regional team is now setting out to organize a field day for farmers, extension experts, vegetable traders, input suppliers, big hotel managers, and decision makers to scale up this practice. Since the product is new, the team is working on linking producers with hotels to market the current produce. As the vegetable is a relatively new product in the region, and not widely produced in the country as a whole, greater work remains to scale up and find sustainable markets.

So far, there is no technical knowledge available on agronomic practices, pest and disease management, best suitable varieties and production practices of the crop in Ethiopia. The farmers and development agents involved in the demonstration activity have learned ‘by doing’ but they need further training and skills for deeper knowledge.

To support the field days, the regional team will produce a cauliflower production guide in Amharic and bring more reference materials and guidelines from the national research institute and other places to the district and zonal knowledge centers. Since it is an unexplored area, it may also be useful to have some researchers examine planting dates, spacing, fertilizer rates, pest management practices, and adaptable varieties for the region. Another important fact to act on is market linkage and promotion on cauliflower use in household and hotel kitchens.

Contributed by LIVES regional team, Amhara

There is a broad consensus that most smallholder agricultural systems in Africa are far from being 21st century agriculture. Measured by multiple criteria including the use of technologies, application of inputs, and organizational and institutional set ups required for modern production, processing and marketing of agricultural produces, smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia is not exceptional. Focusing on the educated young ergeneration farming community has the potential to modernize traditional farming.

Behaylu Abraha is a young university graduate who owns and manages ‘YB Plant Micro Propagation PLC’ – a small family business engaged in hydroponic technologies in Mekelle. After working for a private tissue culture company for seven years, he decided to set up a private business in hydroponics (fodder, mushrooms, vegetables, and certified pre-basic and basic potato seeds) in a 420 m2 rented residential house. The actual effective area used for hydroponic fodder production is 160 m2.

Hydroponic fodder production involves the growing of cereal and legume grains using moisture and suitable nutrient solutions without soil, and harvesting green shoots and root mats within days. There are as many controversial issues as there are claims in the use of fodder hydroponics for feeding livestock. The frequently cited weakness is a reduction in dry matter when seeds are converted to sprouts. There are also reports that feeding barley and wheat sprouts led to increased animal performance.

Setting aside the unresolved issues, Behaylu built an ordinary plastic sheet cover to sprout seeds of alfalfa, barley, oats, and wheat. He recalled that at the beginning some of his clients had doubts about the actual feeding value of sprouts, and only slowly realized the benefits after they tasted the sprouts and root mats he offered them.

Today, the number of dairy farm owners relying on Behaylu for hydroponically produced barley fodder has grown steadily, reaching 400 milking cows. There are additional fatteners with more than 140 heads of finishing cattle fed on hydroponic fodder. Some poultry farm owners with more than 10,000 birds are also interested in feeding such green feed.

The current production capacity within the 160 m2 space is 1.2 t/day, and is projected to reach 25 t/day in the near future. For this purpose, the regional government of Tigray has offered Behaylu 3000 m2 land to expand hydroponic fodder production to large numbers of smallholder farmers. In fact there is a need to look at the actual response of feeding root mats and green shoots to dairy cows, poultry and small ruminants under smallholder farmers’ specific context. LIVES is collaborating with Behaylu in capacity development for landless youths and establishing linkages with dairy farmers and fatteners. Such collaboration is expected to yield result based production and economic evidence for some of the controversial issues surrounding the production and feeding of hydroponic fodder in the context of smallholder farmers in Africa.

Contributed by Yayneshet Tesfay, Gebremedhin Woldewahid, and Dirk Hoekstra

Heaps of coffee pulp being burned in Jimma

Coffee from Jimma accounts for about 35% of the dry and 40% of the wet processed coffee exported from Oromia region. As one of the major cash crops in Jimma zone more than 65% of the population earn their livelihood (directly or indirectly) from coffee. Based on data from the zonal office of agriculture, it seems there are 64 private investors working on 13,532 hectares of land and 258 coffee processing plants (146 wet and 112 dry coffee processing plants) in Jimma zone. It is also estimated that 112,000 tons of coffee fruits are produced in Jimma zone in a year.

Research results indicate that coffee by-products are a source of severe contamination of rivers and therefore cause serious environmental problems. For this reason, efforts are being made to utilize the by-products. For instance, coffee pulp can be used in the production of feed and compost. Coffee pulp can also replace up to 20% of commercial concentrates in dairy cattle feeding with no adverse effects. Results from feeding studies also indicate that maize can be substituted by dehydrated coffee pulp up to 16% of the total ration, with no detrimental effect on weight gain or feed conversion. Professor Solomon Demeke, a nutritionist in Jimma University, explains that good quality silage can be produced either only from coffee pulp or in combination with forages for dairy feeding.

The use of pulp is not limited to these but also for firewood as it is or by making briquettes for energy. Coffee pulp is also a good source of humus and organic soil carbon which is good for improving soil quality as well.

The common practice in coffee processing plants in Jimma zone is to discard coffee pulp and it is common to see heaps of coffee pulp along roads and in and around the premises of processing plants. Some people however use the pulp as a source of fuel in restaurants. Kahsay Berhe, a research officer in LIVES, also explains that farmers near coffee processing plants in the southern parts of Ethiopia use pulp for composting and fertilization of their coffee tree. There is at least one small factory in Addis which is producing briquettes as a source of energy for specialized stoves.

Out of 100 kg of coffee fruit, about 52% is coffee bean and 48% is by-products (waste, pulp mainly) which means that about 54,000 tons of coffee pulp is produced from Jimma zone, annually.

There is a great potential for LIVES and its partners in Jimma zone to explore ways to the use coffee pulp as a source of alternative livestock feed that is cost effective, locally accessible and sustainable.

Written by: Gemeda Duguma with contribution from Abule Ebro, Nigatu Alemayehu, Adisu Abera and Kahsay Berhe

A common misconception about watermelon is that it contains mainly water and sugar. In reality, it is a nutrient-dense fruit. Watermelon is an excellent source of antioxidants such as lycopene, and also contains vitamins A and C which help prevent cell damage, neutralize and remove free radicals and help fight off different kinds of cancers. Watermelon is also rich in potassium which helps maintain blood pressure to prevent diseases such as stroke, heart disease and also decreases the size of the kidney stones. It is frequently used for body detoxification as it contains a large amounts of water and it also helps in “cleaning” our kidneys. It is a fruit that is rich in an amino acid known as L-citrulline, which the body converts to L-arginine, an essential amino acid that helps relax blood vessels and improve circulation.

Watermelon was introduced in East Shoa Zone of Oromia region which is currently the only place where it is produced in Ethiopia. Though the exact date of its introduction in Ethiopia is unknown, farmers near Koka Lake in East Shoa explained that watermelon was introduced in their area in the 1950s by an Italian man who lived in Koka town. Today,  production is limited to the lake shore areas of Koka, especially when the volume of the lake shrinks. So far, irrigation to produce watermelon is not common. Since there is quite a good demand for watermelon by consumers – who buy it from supermarkets as well as from fruit and vegetable shops – farmers are starting to give more of their land to watermelons.

Quality and yield are the main factors influencing watermelon production in Ethiopia.  The quality of watermelons produced in Ethiopia tends to be low compared to elsewhere. In Ethiopia,data afrm farm gate, roadie market and supermarket test showed its average total soluble solids (TSS) content to be less than 6% Brix; the minimum TSS should not be lower than 9% Brix (world standard). The productivity of watermelon is generally low due to lack of awareness by producers on agronomic practices, time of harvest, and variety types.

So far, producers have not received extension services on watermelon production techniques and marketing from the government or NGOs and they sell their produce at farm gate at low prices.

Double transaction is the norm at farm gate (producers, brokers and traders) and all producers sell through the process of “terega” which means that buyers collects all watermelons at the same time. Theads means that mature and immature watermelons are all harvested, resulting in low quality of the produce.

After grading the watermelons at farm gate, brokers sell the immature ones to local retailers for roadside markets. The better ones are sold to traders from the central market for big supermarkets and hotels.

Watermelon in Ethiopia needs significant improvement in the types of varieties, production techniques and marketing. Intervention opportunities for LIVES could be by introducing adaptable varieties that produce good fruits, providing technical and practical training on production techniques supported by demonstration and establishment and strengthening of sustainable input supply and marketing linkages.   

Written by Amenti Chali,  with contributions from Abule Ebro and Nigatu Alemayehu

Smallholder farmer Tesfaye Aregawi runs a farm on a small plot of irrigable land and a dairy cow in Hadish-Hiwot kebele, in Tigray Region. Tesfaye has recently adopted an uncommon irrigation farming practice – he grows Alfalfa on a plot of about 300 square-meters for his dairy cow alongside his high-value vegetable crops. Allocating irrigable plots for fodder production has until now been unthinkable among smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. Neither do smallholder farmers grow sole fodder crops in rain-fed agriculture, where lower-value cereals are produced.

Tesfaye’s story is not an isolated one. Quite a number of farmers in LIVES intervention kebeles have opted to grow fodder in their irrigation and rain-fed plots. For instance, Gebretsadik Abay in Dura kebele, Tigray is delighted that his crossbred heifer conceived at an early age of 20 months, which he attributes partly to feeding alfalfa from his irrigated plot. Similarly, a woman farmer, Lemlem in Genfel kebele, Tigray grows Alfalfa under her irrigated fruit trees, a land which is normally used to grow food crops. She believes that supplementing her cow’s daily ration with Alfalfa increased daily milk production by about one liter. Fodder production in croplands is not limited to Alfalfa only. Grasses are also creeping onto croplands. In Amhara region in Enguti kebele, where LIVES introduced efficient delivery of AI through hormone-synchronization of estrus, farmers like Addis Alemu and Sintayehu Sinishaw, among others, allotted about 225 square-meters of their irrigated land to Napier grass production.

Likewise, farmer Tafere Zemene in Debremawi village decided to grow a productive Rhodes grass in his rain-fed plot of 1500 square meters. The farmer plans to set aside part of his grass plot for seed production thereby providing a source of input for other farmers.

Besides growing sole fodder crops in croplands, other innovative entry points for fodder production are being sought by farmers. No ‘wasteland’ is actually wasted by farmers like Keshi Tewolde-Birhan who lives in Dura kebele, Laelay-Maichew district, Tigray and grows Alfalfa & Napier grass on a 260 square-meter gully. Awareness is rising among farmers coached by LIVES and livestock production is becoming a market-oriented business for them.

What is driving the winds of change in fodder and livestock production? A thorough inquiry may be required to understand the driving forces. However there seems to be two obvious reasons. Farmers may be forced to seek for other sources of feed in the face of dwindling grazing resources. Yet, a shift in livestock development approach might have also played a significant role. Livestock development approach includes coaching of farmers on knowledge-based livestock development and linking them up with input suppliers such as fodder planting materials and market in order to adopt improved farming practices. This is the market-oriented value chain approach for livestock development adopted by LIVES.

The changes being witnessed could be considered as successes. However, to sustain irrigated fodder production in competition with high value irrigated crops and realize a market-oriented system that is envisaged by LIVES, the following needs to be considered. Economies of scale should be addressed as most farmers keep only one or two cows. Fodder productivity from small irrigated plots need to be further improved and fodder processing and conservation technologies should be introduced to sustain higher scales of production. Mechanical feed choppers help ease laborious manual chopping, reduce wastage and facilitate feed conservation through small scale silage making. LIVES’ strategy is to work with clusters of farmers in its intervention kebeles in collaboration with Bureaus of Agriculture, Livestock Development Agencies and other partners in the value chains. Transfer of best practices to learning kebeles will be through a spill-over effect and active dissemination by partners through capacity building and joint planning. It is thus imperative that partners actively collaborate to disseminate the best practices witnessed in fodder development.

Written by Solomon Gizaw, with contributions from Yayneshet Tesfaye, Gebremedhin Woldewahid, Dawit Woldemariam, Haile Tilahun, Zeleke Mekuriaw, Teshome Derso, Worku Teka, Mesfin Tefera

Livestock keepers in Barka-Adisba kebele, Atsbi-Womberta district, Tigray region were once confronted with ‘the tragedy of the commons’, as do many livestock keepers in Ethiopia who depend on communal resources. The idiom ‘the tragedy of the commons’ was coined in 19^th century Britain and expresses the failure of farmers to achieve the collective good of their communal grazing lands through their destructive competitive use. The tragedy is caused by overstocking and overgrazing and expressed in land degradation, feed shortage, low livestock productivity and loss of farmers’ livelihoods from livestock. The Atsbi villagers also had to deal with land policy which stipulated closure of degraded hillside grazing/browsing and discouraged extensive grazing of livestock in communal lands.

The Atsbi livestock keepers however acted proactively through the LIVES’ predecessor project (Improving Productivity and Market Success of Smallholder farmers) in a community-based approach. In 2007, a group of villagers sharing 60 ha of communal land in Barka-Adisba kebele came together and developed by-laws for governing their communal land. They declared the land closed to livestock grazing, apportioned it to the villagers in the group and adopted hay production and stall-feeding for their livestock. These farmers saved their lands from degradation and their livelihoods from peril. This cooperative’s voluntary activity has now been scaled up. The grazing land under sustainable management in the district increased to 4000 ha in 2012.

The Atsbi experience has shown that community-based institutional intervention is a feasible approach to avert degradation of communal lands, losses in biodiversity and livestock productivity as well as farmers livelihoods. This approach is more acceptable to villagers rather than enforcing regulations on them. The success of the approach lies in the fact that it is based on existing social norms and promotes a sense of belongingness. Community-based institutional interventions to prevent the tragedy of the commons could take various forms. For instance, in Dura kebele, Laelay-Maichew district the communal land is passed on to and managed by the village church, while the villagers maintain their use right. Other variations of the community-based approach could be adopted depending on local circumstances.

Changes in social arrangements or institutional interventions may not be the only solutions to avert the tragedy. Technical interventions to rehabilitate and improve grazing lands are also required as most communal lands are already degraded. Otherwise, it might not be feasible to close grazing lands and sustain livestock under stall feeding systems. In its future intervention kebeles, LIVES plans to introduce additional technological interventions to enhance pasture productivity, hay production management and storage including introduction of small-scale manual hay balers. The approach described here is perfectly suitable for promoting intensive dairying and fattening systems with small flocks/herds. Would it also be applicable to extensive systems with large breeding flocks (like the subalpine regions of Ethiopia) which could be the source of animals for the semi-intensive fattening systems and the export market?

Written by Solomon Gizaw, with contributions from Yayneshet Tesfaye, Gebremedhin Woldewahid, Dawit Woldemariam, Haile Tilahun 

Ato Nurhussien with the first born cow of his first cow (Photo:ILRI\Yaynesht Tesfay)

For many poor households, dairying is considered a powerful pathway out of poverty. Marketing of dairy products, however, remains a major challenge to the realization of this potential. In Ethiopia, this challenge is exacerbated by the absence of structured marketing channels and strict religious observance by Orthodox Christians who do not consume animal products during fasting days and seasons. Despite such challenges, there still exist windows of opportunities to exploit niche markets and create wealth. The ability to exploit these markets to a large extent depends on one’s stamina and innovation in establishing reliable market outlets for dairy products.

We want to demonstrate the credibility of this using evidence from a dairy farmer in Agula’a, a small town located 30km north of Mekelle in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia.

Nurhussien Aligoshu is a dairy farmer who has never had a formal education in agriculture and has had no prior exposure to modern dairy farming. His first experience in dairying was in 2006 when a local organization offered him some seed money to purchase a crossbred dairy cow. Nurhussien was able to expand his crossbred dairy herd from 1 to more than 15 cows in just 8 years. His daily milk sales fluctuate between 30 and 70 litres per day depending on demand. Over the same period, Nurhussien’s monthly income from the sale of milk grew from barely 500 Birr to 15,000 Birr.

In addition to managing his dairy cows, Nurhussien has successfully organized and led a dairy marketing cooperative named ‘Daero‘ (with 30 active members) that has been able to find niche markets for liquid milk. Daero cooperative has approved a binding by-law which stipulates that members are not allowed to sell water-adulterated and coagulated/clotted milk. A fine of up to 500 Birr and cancellation of membership rights are imposed on offending members.

The by-law also requires members to participate in various committees which are assigned with diverse tasks. The marketing committee has the sole responsibility of identifying potential milk and heifer markets. The quality control committee oversees the maintenance of herd records and collection of good-quality raw milk to be delivered to cafés, hotels, and restaurateurs through trusted milk collectors/distributors who have established an elaborated business relationship with the dairy marketing cooperative. The selling of replacement heifers, which earns up to 30,000 Birr per heifer, within and outside Tigray, is also another income source enjoyed by the members.

The successful experience of Nurhussien and his fellow cooperative members clearly demonstrates the potential of dairy in boosting income and creating wealth for people with limited options. Members of the dairy marketing cooperative are able to engage in dairying with a clear vision and have managed to create a low- risk environment for dairy farmers. Success came from their overall cooperation, realistic organizational and institutional interventions, sharing of risks, minimizing of ad hoc milk sales and establishing of reliable marketing links with milk collectors/distributors.

In view of the ever-increasing herd size and volume of milk produced by the marketing group members that necessitated other market outlets, the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project identified potential clients and facilitated market linkages with large institutional milk consumers. LIVES also collaborates with Nurhussein and other members of the dairy marketing cooperative to test improved dairy technologies such as simplified corn silage using plastic bags.

Written by Yayneshet Tesfay (PhD) with contributions from Dawit Woldemariam and Gebremedhin Woldewahid.

Maize stover in the field is prone to wastage and tramping by animals (Photo:ILRI\ Solomon Gizaw).

Maize is a major food crop in the lowlands and mid-highlands of Ethiopia, but its stover is not utilized efficiently as animal feed, particularly in rain-fed maize production systems. Rain-fed maize producers’ target is commonly grain production which requires that the cobs be harvested at full maturity of the maize plant thereby leaving the stover too dry. Dry stover is low in nutrients (e.g. 3.7% crude protein as compared to 8.8% in green stover), is less palatable and is not well suited to conserve as silage.

Irrigated maize production offers an opportunity which the rain-fed maize farming does not. Farmers in Fale Kebele of Meta Robi District in Oromia region, like most farmers in irrigated maize systems in Ethiopia, harvest green maize at its milk stage to be sold for roasted cobs. This production strategy is governed by the need to harvest early in the rainy season before the cropland is flooded, which is a common occurrence in low-lying irrigated fields in the wet mid-highlands. Similarly, irrigated maize is usually harvested while green in the moist highlands in order to maximize the benefits from irrigation such as the ability to do multiple cropping. In most cases, sweet-corn provides green fodder as the cobs are meant for fresh use and harvested while the plant is still green. Irrigated maize and sweet-corn production thus allows production of green and fresh stover, which is more nutritious and palatable for livestock than dry stover.

However, similar to dry stover, green stover is also not utilized efficiently by Ethiopian farmers in Fale and elsewhere. The common practice is either to graze the stover in situ or collect, store and feed whole stalks to animals. Such practices result in wastage from trampling by animals and loss of nutrients due to drying and leaching from exposure to sun and rain because of inappropriate storage practices.

A farmer youth group in Fale  was introduced to an innovative way of taking advantage of fodder opportunities offered by irrigated maize farming. Known as the ‘livestock technology-led agribusiness approach’, the method involves twin fodder processing and conservation technologies that use a mechanical feed chopper and small-scale plastic-bag-silage making. This fodder technology package reduces wastage, allows mixing total ration, conserves nutrients in green fodders and improves palatability. The agribusiness approach coaches private entrepreneurs or groups of livestock producers to run small-scale fodder chopping services using mechanical feed choppers/shredders. To this end, the farmer youth group in Fale is being coached and mentored by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) Project to start a fodder processing and conservation business.

Written by Solomon Gizaw (PhD) with contributions from Abule Ebro (PhD) and Addisu Abera.