Livestock market in Bahir Dar during a holiday season (photo credit:ILRI\Zeleke Mekuriaw).

Ethiopia has one of largest livestock populations in Africa and the Amhara region has the second largest population of livestock in the country. Livestock, especially cattle, in Amhara region are kept not only for their meat and milk but also to supply draught power and as assets. Mostly, these animals are fed through traditional free grazing practices, which are now threatened by takeover of communal grazing lands by food crops farming and attempts to conserve soil and water in many degraded rangelands. Increasing human population and urbanization are also putting pressure on land forcing many smallholders to abandon traditional grazing. In many areas of Amhara region, cut-and-carry feeding systems now dominate.

Year-round short supply of feed is a significant challenge for livestock keepers in the region and even though controlled (cut-and–carry/zero grazing) feeding has various biological and economic benefits over free grazing, its need for additional labour for mowing and transporting forage and for fetching water from distant rivers is a key problem, particularly for smallholder farmers. Indoors feeding of animals also suffers when, in dry seasons, there is shortage of harvestable forage for stall feeding, which forces farmers to rely on crop residues, which may not be of optimum quality, to meet livestock feed needs.

These challenges are forcing many farmers in Amhara region to cull their cattle and small ruminants, which in some cases is threatening the quality of breeding stock. For instance, large numbers of heifers and ewe lambs are sold, during holiday seasons, in Bahir Dar and Adet livestock markets as holidays are good times of the year for better pricing of their animals. The quality of meat from younger animals is superior to older ones, however,  from a production point of view farmers are losing young animals that could be used for future breeding purposes. Selling heifers and ewe lambs may have negative consequences on the future livestock populations in the region and could also endanger the livelihoods of smallholders by reducing the amount of income they get from feedlots and abattoirs.

To ensure sustainable livestock production in Amhara region, there is a need to maintain stable livestock numbers and increase their meat and milk production. To achieve higher production and productivity, genetic improvement and forage development are pre-requisites. Thus, there is a need to supply improved genotype of livestock to smallholder farmers. An affordable way of improving the genotype of cattle is by cross-breeding already existing local cows/heifers in farmers’ hands with exotic sires.

The Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project team in Amhara region has started demonstrating and introducing improved fodder to smallholder farmers. The project is also setting up training programs on feed conservation, genetic improvement and culling strategies of dairy cattle for farmers, development agents and agricultural experts. In the future, LIVES and partner organizations hope to focus on developing water sources for livestock, scaling out of feed development and processing technologies and improving efficiency and coverage of artificial insemination services. Awareness creation forums are being arranged for smallholder farmers to discuss consequences of indiscriminate culling of breeding stock.

Read a related story on Estrus synchronization of dairy cattle takes off in Amhara region

Written by Zeleke Mekuriaw (PhD) with contribution from LIVES team in Amhara.

Participants of the Oromia regional irrigated fruits and vegetables commodity platform establishment meeting (photo credit: ILIRI\LIVES)

Oromia region is endowed with vast natural resources and a huge potential for irrigated agriculture. The region has about 23 billion cubic metres of surface water, 58 billion cubic metres of ground water and 1.7 million hectares of irrigable land. However, only about 30% of the irrigable land is utilised by about 45 % of households mostly using traditional farming practices on a small scale. Despite the region’s proximity to input importers, producers and potential domestic and export markets, residents are not fully benefiting from its resources and the area’s agricultural potential is underdeveloped.

As a result, the yield and quality of irrigated crops is far below potential. In addition, low return on investment due to limited markets access also poses challenges to the development and sustainability of the agricultural sector. Some of these problems result from poor linkage and collaboration among relevant stakeholders and a weak link between research, extension, policy and action/practice which results in inefficient practices along the agriculture value chains.

Therefore, establishment of strong linkage among stakeholders including value chain actors can help tackle some of the major bottlenecks to the development of irrigated crops in the region. One of the strategies of bringing together different actors to address agricultural production challenges and identify opportunities is by establishing a specialized regional innovation platform for different commodities. The platform can be used to link farmers, input suppliers, extension system, research institutes, output traders, processors, development partners and other governmental and non-governmental service providers. It can also serve as space for linking research to action/practice to better and jointly articulate existing problems and lay foundations for participatory diagnosis of problems, participatory action research and identifying possible solutions.

To encourage irrigated crops commodity development in the region, the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project and the Oromia Irrigation Development Authority (OIDA) with partners Greenlife Trading PLC, Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) and other institutions, held a meeting, on 12 January 2015, to start the process of setting up an irrigated fruits and vegetables innovation platform for the Oromia region.

The initial meeting was conducted at a cost of 103,000 Ethiopian birr (ETB) [USD5000] which was shared among OIDA (ETB68000), LIVES (ETB34000) and Greenlife (ETB1000). Representatives of irrigation development authority from all zones of Oromia participated in the meeting, which was also attended by public service providers, input suppliers, Ethiopian horticultural agency, agricultural unions, farmers and government and non-government organizations.

In total, 44 participants of which two were women, attended the platform establishment meeting including representatives from OIDA, LIVES, Greenlife Trading and Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, who each made presentations on the status, major challenges and opportunities of the irrigated crops development in Oromia. A representative from SNV Netherlands Development Organisation-Ethiopia also shared experiences in managing multi-stakeholder commodity platforms in other countries in Africa.

Following the meeting, participants agreed on the need to establish a regional innovation platform for irrigated fruits and vegetables in order to speed up the development of the sub-sector. To ensure the effectiveness of the platform, a committee of 11 members was elected to lead the process of formalizing the innovation platform. Accordingly, representatives from OIDA and LIVES were elected to serve as chair and secretary to the leadership committee, respectively. In addition, a draft term of reference (ToR) on platform membership with the roles and responsibilities of members as well as that of the leadership committee was discussed, reviewed and ratified. Capacity development for leadership committee, is now planned and will be offered by the LIVES project and the Africa-RISING Program.

Read a related story on LIVES supports creation of new dairy platform in Oromia.

Written by Amenti Chali and Zewdie Adane.

Above-ground plastic biogas digester and storage bag introduced by LIVES (photo credit:ILRI\LIVES).

Mechanization of livestock production is not given sufficient attention in Ethiopia’s livestock development programs. Most of the country’s livestock production is dependent on manual work, both in rural smallholder and peri-urban/urban medium-scale systems. However, in order to move the smallholder livestock value chain forward, introduction of modern livestock technologies and appropriate mechanization is essential.

Mechanization of the livestock sector would include optimizing productivity (for example, ensuring that cows are milked quickly and completely to remove all the milk in the udder, improving labour management to reduce cost of production, relieving women and girls in rural Ethiopia from the burden of farm and household activities and using livestock waste to generate bio-gas energy and reduce environmental pollution (particularly in urban dairies). Livestock waste can be used to generate biogas, which if packaged and stored, could be used for other purposes beyond providing cooking and lighting.

In the dairy value chain, manual daily farm operations like milking, barn cleaning and feeding are heavy burdens for rural women and children. This could also lead to unhygienic livestock products such as unhygienic milk from poor milk handling practices.

Portable milking machine introduced by LIVES (Photo credit:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

The Livestock and Irrigation Value chain for Ethiopian Smallholders project (LIVES) has introduced a number of dairy technologies, including single and double bucket portable milking machines, biogas packages (including above-ground plastic digester, biogas pump/compressor, biogas storage bag and biogas electric generators) and cow mats. Use of  portable milking machines, biogas electric generators and cow mats is entirely new in Ethiopia. LIVES is also introducing technologies, such as Hormostos progesterone kits and heat mount detectors, to improve synchronized artificial insemination (AI) services in Ethiopia.

Improved poultry cage with hygienic and automatic feeding and watering facility introduced by LIVES (Photo credit:ILRI\LIVES)

In addition to these dairy technologies, LIVES is introducing technologies to boost poultry production in Ethiopia including improved chicken feeding, watering and housing as an alternative to the widespread scavenging system of chicken production in the country. The project is also improving the poultry value chain by reducing constraints in delivery of inputs and services. For example, LIVES has introduced technologies such as small scale incubators to improve supply of day-old chicks by small hatcheries, which in the past relied on large-scale commercial hatcheries.

LIVES has also introduced technologies to improve Ethiopia’s small ruminant and honey value chains. To address challenges in sheep and goat breeding, which is largely unplanned in conventional breed development strategies, LIVES has introduced a pregnancy detection device known as Preg-Tone, to facilitate planned and hormone-synchronized sheep and goat breeding and production. In the honey value chain, LIVES has demonstrated a honey quality-testing device known as a ‘refractometer’ to improve the quality of honey supplied to the markets.

LIVES zonal coordinator demonstrating feed chopper (Photo:ILRI\ Abule Ebro)

Feed is a major cost in livestock production, particularly the need for formulated rations for poultry and dairy production. At the same time, inappropriate conservation and use contributes to fodder wastage. To alleviate these challenges, LIVES has introduced fodder choppers and grain shredders to improve fodder use and conservation as well as livestock feed ration formulation from locally available resources.

The LIVES overall strategy is to identify, procure, demonstrate and introduce appropriate livestock technologies suitable for small and medium-scale production systems in its intervention regions, namely Oromia, Tigray, Amhara and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP). The project works with partners nationally across the four intervention regions. Technical staff and LIVES-sponsored MSc students from regional bureaus of agriculture (BoAs) and research institutes (RARIs) have been trained on the installation and operation of the various livestock technologies, some of which have already been tested and demonstrated to producers, businesses as well as BoA and RARI staff.

The goal to mechanize small- and medium-scale systems also involves linking the various technologies being introduced. For instance, the biogas technology is expected to supply electricity for milking machines in areas not connected to the national electric grid. Furthermore, the capital costs of the technologies need to be justified by the amount of future wages that they will save. Thus it is important that the technologies are introduced through organized groups such as dairy cooperatives. But the best strategy of introducing the technologies is encouraging partnerships between private sector and producers to ensure sustainable business models that integrate with government efforts to create more jobs for the youth and women.

See more pictures of the livestock technologies LIVES has introduced

Written by Solomon Gizaw (PhD)

Biogas electric generator being tested in Sebeta town, Ormia (photo credit:ILRI\ Solomon Gizaw).

Tadesse Abebe, a farmer with a medium-sized dairy farm in Sebeta, in Ethopia’s Oromia region has installed a biogas plant with a 10 m³ pit digester producing about 4 m³ of biogas per day. Biogas is increasingly becoming a low-cost alternative energy source since only an estimated 12% of the Ethiopian population is connected to the national electricity grid. Ethiopia’s biomass energy resource potential is considerable and includes biogas generated from agro-processing industries and livestock residues. With 77% of the country’s farmers owning cattle, many Ethiopians are eligible for biogas installation.

Accordingly, the current Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) targets to install 25,000 domestic biogas plants in rural Ethiopia, mainly in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ (SNNP) regions. Besides providing alternative energy, biogas plants also provide crop fertilizer, help manage dairy waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as the burden, on rural women and children, of travelling long-distances to fetch firewood and the health risks associated with firewood smoke.

Tadesse and other farmers with biogas plants use biogas energy for cooking and lighting. But biogas, like natural gas, can be used in many others ways, including as fuel for engines to generate electricity. The average calorific value of biogas is about 21-23.5 MJ/m³, so 1 m³ of biogas corresponds to 0.5-0.6 liters of diesel fuel or about 6 kWh. A drawback in the use of current biogas technology is the high cost and difficulty in constructing the Sinidu fixed dome digester and storage and transport of excess biogas.

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) Project, which works across the dairy value chain – from milk production, input/service provision and milk processing/marketing to dairy waste management– seeks to use dairy waste management interventions to contribute to rural electrification by introducing alternative energy sources such as biogas.

The project has introduced a new biogas package which includes biogas electric generators, biogas pumps/compressors, desulfurizers, dehydrators, biogas storage bags and above-ground plastic digesters. The generator converts biogas to electricity enabling use of modern electric-powered innovations to alleviate the challenges of livestock production, marketing and human development in the rural communities of Ethiopia. Livestock development technologies that could be powered by the biogas generated electricity include small-scale milk machines, small scale milk coolers and, incubators and mobile phone-based advisory services.Rural communities could also access more information through television and other communication technologies powered by electricity from biogas.

Biogas being pumped and compressed into biogas storage bag in Sebeta Oromia (photo credit: ILRI\ Solomon Gizaw).

Tadesse was willing to test the biogas electric generator, biogas pump and biogas storage bag at his plant. During the test, his plant produced biogas with a pressure of about 15.3 kPa, which is sufficient to run a biogas electric generator. The generator produces electricity with 227 volts, which is sufficient to run most household electric appliances. The biogas pump efficiently generated pressure which was actually beyond the measuring capacity of a gauge which measures up to 18 kPa. This pressure level was estimated to be sufficient to fill the plastic biogas storage bag within a few minutes. The bag enables storage and transportation of excess biogas that’s produced. LIVES is carrying out an evaluation of biogas technologies to assess the feasibility of portable plastic digesters and to find sustainable business models for the whole technology package.

The biogas package is suitable for households (individual, medium-scale dairies in peri-urban and urban areas) and communities (dairy cooperatives and groups in small-scale rural dairy farms). The technologies are currently being tested and will be demonstrated and introduced in the four LIVES project regions of Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and SNNP. The biogas technologies will also be introduced to producers and/or businesses which could pack and sell biogas.

Read related story: LIVES introduces new technologies to boost Ethiopia’s smallholder livestock production

Written by Solomon Gizaw (PhD).

The ‘Establishing and strengthening irrigation water users association (IWUAs) in Ethiopia’ training manual explains how to set up and manage IWUAs which were announced by the Ethiopian government. Features of IWUAs compared to other farmers’ organizations such as cooperatives are described and even though the training manual also addresses transfer of irrigation and drainage infrastructures that are part of the associations, its focus is on IWUAs and not irrigation practices directly.

The manual includes a potential training schedule with a detailed program of training sessions, and information on ‘training support’ and models of legal documents that can be used when establishing an irrigation water users association.

It was produced by Philippe Lempériere, Fitsum Hagos, Nicole Lefore, Amare Haileslassie and Simon Langan of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as part of IMWI’s contribution to the implementation of the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES).

Download the training manual.

Artificial insemination (AI) activity in progress in Jimma zone (photo credit: ILRI\Gemeda Duguma).

In the past 50 years, little success has been registered in dairy cattle genetic improvement through artificial insemination (AI) in Ethiopia. A weak AI delivery system, absence of targeted technological interventions (such as synchronizing hormones, sex fixers, etc.) and weak extension services are some of the major bottlenecks hindering dairy cattle genetic improvement through AI.

In Jimma zone, Oromia region, in addition to the above bottlenecks, there is an assumption that cultural and religious issues influence the expansion of AI, but the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project team in Jimma had doubts about this. The project team set out to investigate whether cultural and religious issues are really hindering the expansion of AI in the zone. A team of LIVES project staff, livestock development, health and administration officials from Dedo, Kersa and Seka Chekorsa districts and zone administrators designed and implemented a hormone assisted oestrous synchronization and mass artificial insemination (OSMAI) project from October – November 2014 in the three districts.

The OSMAI team carried out several meetings to plan on how, when and where to undertake project activities. Peasant associations (PAs) were selected, awareness creation and mobilization was carried out and cattle handling facilities were constructed or renewed before the start of the OSMAI program. To further support the project’s activities, the Jimma zone livestock development and health agency organized a refresher course for four artificial insemination technicians at the Asela artificial insemination centre. As part of LIVES’ contribution, 800 hormone doses, ear tags, ear tag applicators and permanent markers were provided for the activity.

LIVES initiation of the OSMAI project in the area triggered further action. Impressed by the progress in the targeted districts, the Oromia region and Jimma zone livestock development and health agencies provided additional doses of hormone to Dedo and Seka Chekorsa districts. As a result, about 1,500 selected cows and heifers were inseminated with the support of LIVES staff who were involved in guiding, measuring and recording information during the exercise.

Waste from the AI  activity is burned right away (photo credit: ILRI\Gemeda Duguma).

Despite their tight schedules, the administrative teams of the three districts carried out most of the community mobilization for the project. Moreover, district administrators supported the project team by providing lunch and coffee at the OSMAI sites. Generally, contrary to the previous assumption, there are no religious and cultural factors that hinder dairy genetic improvement through artificial insemination in Jimma. Rather, we observed overwhelming interest from households in getting their animals inseminated. Therefore, it can be concluded that successful dairy cattle genetic improvement requires involvement of local administrations and if community mobilization and awareness creation supports such efforts. Having a well-organized and well-trained team of AI technicians is also key in expanding the reach and success of artificial insemination in Ethiopia.

Read related stories:

Estrus synchronization of dairy cattle takes off in Amhara region

Azage Tegegne of ILRI-LIVES recognized for role in improving Ethiopia’s dairy production

Oestrus synchronization in sheep: A promising intervention

Written by Gemeda Duguma, Temesgen Minamo, Sebsib, Eliyas A/Jabal and Abule Ebro.Ku

OARI headqurter inauguration_Abule Ebro explaining about LIVES project to the Oromia regional president and other higher officials (Photo:ILRI\LIVES)

The Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (OARI) inaugurated its new headquarters on 8 February 2015. The building houses a food science laboratory, conference centre, library, training rooms and several offices. High-level government officials including Muktar Kedir, the Oromia regional president, state ministers and directors of federal and regional research institutes attended the event. About 500 guests including researchers, development practitioners, NGOs staff, farmers and extension professionals attended the inauguration ceremony.

The ceremony included an exhibition of agricultural research and development work in Ethiopia and Oromia in particular. Research outputs and agricultural technologies in crop, livestock, natural resources, agricultural mechanization, extension and socio-economics developed by OARI research staff were displayed.

OARI inaguration_Azage Tegegne welcoming the regional president and higher officials to the LIVES booth (Photo:ILRI\LIVES)

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project was represented by regional and HQ staff  including Abule Ebro, Azage Tegegne and Berhanu Gebremedhin at the event. Abule and Azage highlighted on-going LIVES projects at the federal and regional levels to the regional president and other participants who visited the LIVES booth. Major LIVES project activities showcased at this event included capacity development of staff in Oromia’s research and development organizations through MSc study scholarships, short-term training programs, establishment of regional commodity platforms and agricultural knowledge centres, and the introduction of innovative technologies on livestock and irrigated agriculture to increase the productivity of Oromia’s smallholder farmers.

More than 2,500 publications from LIVES, the Improving the Productivity and Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers (IPMS) project and CGIAR were distributed to participants.

Guests were happy to see and discuss the new technologies LIVES is introducing in Ethiopia. The event also provided a chance for LIVES to network with new partners such as investors and the OARI mechanization research team expressed interest in evaluating and demonstration the livestock technologies used in the LIVES project.

Written by Abule Ebro, LIVES regional coordinator in Oromia.

Traditional and modern churn set side by side for trial in Ejere district (Photo credit ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

One should not make the mistake of thinking that ‘traditional’ is synonymous with backward. While traditional methods of agricultural production and processing may have to be modernized through introduction of more up-to-date technologies, these modern technologies need to be better than traditional ones to be adopted by farmers. A case in point is the use of the traditional butter churn in Ethiopia.

Debritu and Jigi, women dairy farmers in Ejere District, Ethiopia, comparatively evaluated a traditional and modern butter churn with facilitation by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders  (LIVES) project along the lines of a similar test, in Sidama zone

In the test, Debritu used the traditional pot butter churner, a technology which has been passed on from her foremothers. Jigi on the other hand was using a modern plastic churn with a stainless agitator and a gear system that multiplies churning force.

Sometimes, the traditional method beats the modern one! Debritu churned out 260 grams of butter in 20 minutes, whereas Jigi took 65 minutes to churn 200 grams of butter. In the second round Jigi adopted part of the traditional technology, i.e. a pre-churning stirring of the sour milk using a stick with a three-pronged end. In this round, Debritu and Jigi finished in 32 and 21 minutes with a butter yield of 400 and 230 grams, respectively.

Debritu and Jigi churning milk using the two types of churners (photo credit:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw).

This story is from an action research activity conducted to evaluate a modern butter churn as an alternative to the traditional pot churner with the objective of easing rural women’s labour.

Findings from this observation show that technologies need to be evaluated for their technical efficiency and socioeconomic feasibility before they are promoted for adoption by agricultural producers. The search for an efficient butter churn (including modifying the modern churn evaluated here) that could be affordable and acceptable by farmers like Debritu and Jigi continues.

Watch video that shows Debritu and Jigi churning their milk!

Written by Solomon Gizaw and Dirk Hoekstra.

Butter balls for hair treatment prepared in Ethiopia’s dairy cafes/shops (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES)

Butter is a delicious and popular dairy product in Ethiopia. Improving the churning efficiency to reduce the time it takes to produce butter is key in making the dairy business profitable for many small-scale producers (including farmers) in the country.

To improve butter churning by local farmers and dairy processors, the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project tested a manual plastic churn that is used for small scale processing in Europe.

The device was recently compared with a traditional clay pot churn more commonly used in Ethiopia in a test carried out in Arbegona District in Sidama zone and in Ejere District in West Shoa zone. In both districts no significant improvements were observed in processing time of soured milk, neither was there a significant improvement in fat/butter extraction using the plastic churn. In fact, the tests showed negative results i.e. more labour was required and less butter was generated. These deficiencies may perhaps be overcome by getting more practice/experience and making modification to the device.

The ‘improved’ manual plastic churn was also tested in Agula town in Tigray region among urban dairy farmers with whom the LIVES project works. These market oriented farmers usually sell fluid milk to their cooperative, but at times, when the demand for milk is limited, they churn soured milk into butter at home.

They begin by storing the unsold milk in plastic containers of 5-10 litres and let it sour for about three days. They then pour the soured milk into a plastic jerry can, which is hung from a beam with a piece of rope or cloth. The can is shaken to churn the soured milk. We observed that churning time was very short (less than half an hour), which is much shorter than using the traditional clay pot churn. The process used in Agula is different from process used in the rural areas, perhaps because daily quantities of milk soured by urban farmers are much larger than in rural areas. The small daily quantities by rural farmers are accumulated in local churns over two to three days.

Jerry can for churning soured milk by farmers (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES).

The modern plastic churn was compared with the local jerry can-based churning process but the result of using the modern plastic churn was disappointing. It was much slower than the local jerry can technology.

Jerry can for churning soured cream in a dairy cafe/shop (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES).

The project staff also visited dairy café/shop in Mekelle town which purchases milk from smallholders in urban and rural areas and from the Agula dairy cooperative. Depending on the market situation, part of the milk is soured in plastic buckets.

At the café, the soured cream that accumulates on top of milk is scooped up with a large spoon, every three days, and put in a jerry can. Once sufficient cream is accumulated, the jerry can is rolled on the floor to churn butter from the sour cream. According to the staff, this is easier than churning whole soured milk. Another dairy café uses an electric churn with no manual labour involved.

Both cafés sold diversified butter products such as small butter balls which are sold for cosmetics use and boiled or solidified spiced butter packed in plastic containers for cooking traditional dishes. Both processors were also selling soured milk (irgo) as well as skimmed milk turned into soft cheese (ayib).

So what did we learn and where can we go from here?

• Churns: Data on fat extraction efficiency and labour consumption should be collected for the different churns. Results should be presented to potential users – individual farmers and small businesses.
• Processing of soured milk/soured cream: Churning cream instead of soured milk appears to reduce the labour required and could be the preferred option when larger quantities of soured milk need to be processed manually. Processing time and fat extraction from soured cream should be compared with processing the same quantity of whole soured milk from which the cream is obtained. Results should be presented to potential users – mostly small businesses.
• Food safety: Traditional yoghurt (irgo) is fermented from raw milk and may have a negative influence on human health. Boiling the milk prior to processing could reduce this threat but results in a different type of souring. The latter may be adjusted by adding dried yoghurt culture. This technology could be tested by some of the dairy cafés.
• The product diversification observed may be presented to LIVES sites in other districts to stimulate sales.

Related stories:

• Traditional butter churn beats modern alternative in Ejere, Ethiopia
• Helping Ethiopia’s rural women with butter processing
• Developing the butter value chain in Ethiopia – LIVES first working paper published

Written by Dirk Hoekstra, Yayneshet Tesfaye and Dawit Woldemariam.

One of Bizunesh’s bull calves ready for fattening (photo credit:ILRI\Addisu Abera).

This story is about a couple, Bizunesh Abu (30) and Wendu Gutema (40), living in Mojo town, Oromia who are involved in dairy farming and fattening of bulls calves. Prior to starting the their livestock production business, Bizunesh and Wendu had both suffered illness that caused them to lose motivation for living and improving their livelihoods. But their reality changed two years ago when Bizunesh attended a short-term training on business entrepreneurship.

Organized by Mekedem Ethiopia, a local NGO, the training included giving seed money of ETB 2,000 (USD 100) to the trainees to start a business. Right after the training, Bizunesh was motivated to start a business of fattening bull calves bought from traders and farmers in the Mojo market and sold at the same market at a higher price.

With an additional 740 ETB from her savings, she bought two bull calves which she sold two months later for a total of ETB 6,700 (USD 320). She re-invested the money from the sale of the animals a couple of times until she had enough saving to buy a lactating crossbred dairy cow for ETB 16,000 (USD 780). The cow produced about 10 litres of milk per day, which they sold at a price of 10 ETB/litre to a milk processing plant. They used profit from the milk sales to buy animal feed and bull calves as well as other items for the farm and the household. After they had enough savings from the sale of milk, they started another cycle of fattening calves and saved enough to buy a second crossbred cow with its calf. Now, they get 18 to 19 liters of milk per day from the two cows. All this happened within a period of two and half years.

Bizunesh says she finds livestock rearing fascinating because it has given her new found determination to support herself and her family by her own efforts. She has chosen to be a full-time urban farmer. Her husband, Wendu also enjoys livestock rearing and recently left his job as a security guard to work with Bizunesh in the farm. Bizunesh chose bull calves after observing the increased demand for their meat in Mojo town. ‘But even if the bull calves are not sold on time, they keep growing and fetch even higher prices,’ says Bizunesh.

The couple explain that the price of bull calves decreases between September and January as farmers bring many grass fattened animals to market. Particularly in September, they only buy 2 to 3 bull calves, which they sell in January when prices increase as the supply of fattened animals from rural farmers declines. They also target holidays to sell the fattened animals.

Bull calves are kept by the roadside as Bizunesh and Wundu do not have an alternative space (photo credit: ILRI\Addisu Abera).

The calves are fed agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs) and crop residues, with the former bought from retailers in Mojo town. They also buy straws of barley, wheat, teff and lentil from farmers and occasionally from retailers and Atela (a residue from local brewery) from Tella traders in town to feed their animals. They do not buy feed in bulk due to shortage of storage place and capital. Animal health services such as vaccination and deworming are provided, at a cost, by a nearby veterinary clinic.

Both Bizunesh and Wendu have completed elementary level education. They do not have further training in livestock management. They also lack basic training in record keeping and rely on memory for all the information related to their animals’ condition, their expenditures and revenue.

The couple faces many challenges in running their business. Waste management and unfavorable smell from the manure makes their neighbors unhappy and their calves are crowded in small space especially in rainy season due to lack of land, the high price of input, particularly feed, and difficulty in getting credit are also major problems.

But the couple hopes that the bull calves fattening and the dairy business will eventually help them build a milk processing plant and create job opportunities for fellow Ethiopians.

We got introduced to this couple, who were once bedridden and hopeless but are now successful and visionary, during a feed assessment survey. After an inspiring discussion with the couple, we advised them on different issues of livestock business and pointed out that the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project can assist them through training on improved livestock management, proper feeding, record keeping and business plan development. In future, the project plans study tours to their farm so that other farmers can learn from their experience in managing their bull calves fattening and dairy production business.

 Written by Abule Ebro, Adissu Abera, Zewdie Adane and Nigatu Alemayehu.

Bulb to seed method of onion seed production demonstration in Kalu District, South Wollo zone (photo credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegne).

Different vegetables require different climatic conditions and agronomic practices to produce good yields. Ethiopia’s agro-ecology is suitable for producing both the edible parts and seeds of temperate and tropical vegetable crops. Majority of these vegetables are grown for their edible parts but seeds of most vegetable crops are imported from African, Asian and European countries. As a result, high prices and inadequate supply of seeds are primary bottlenecks in vegetable crops production in the country in general and in the Amhara region in particular. Vegetable seed production is a lucrative but untapped activity for Ethiopian smallholder farmers and these seeds have the potential to provide a viable export commodity for the country.

Onion (Allium cepa) is a recently introduced and one of the few widely-grown vegetable crops in Ethiopia. It is mostly grown using irrigation and the amount of land under onion cultivation is steadily increasing as a result of expanding irrigation systems and other factor. Unlike other bulb crops, onion is propagated by seeds. However, the onion seed in Ethiopia is either imported or produced by informal seed producers. The price for such seed is often high, the quality low and the supply is largely inadequate. Also, farmers in the country lack knowledge and experience in onion seed production and handling.

To address this challenge, the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project team in Amhara demonstrated onion seed production practices in Kalu District of South Wollo zone. The demonstration took place in the farms of six intervention households (four male-headed and two female-headed) from August to December 2014.

Each of the households planted a mother bulb of the ‘Adama red’ onion variety on a 100m² plot of land in August 2014. The household managed the plot using recommended onion seed production practices. LIVES and horticulture experts from the Amhara Office of Agriculture coached and mentored farmers in these households at all stages of the project including in site and mother bulb selection as well as harvesting and processing. LIVES contributed mother bulbs while the households contributed land, fertilizer, water for irrigation and labour for the demonstration.

The mother bulbs planted on the demonstration plots started flowering in the first week of November 2014 and seeds were harvested at the end of December 2014. The whole process of ‘bulb to seed’ took five months in Kalu District. According to reports, in the central Rift Valley region, which is the major onion seed production area in the country, a similar process takes 6-7 months.

Once the onion seeds were ready, LIVES organized a field day to demonstrate onion seed production practices to officials, experts, input suppliers and farmers. A total of 86 people attended the event.

Farmer retailing onion seedlings after planting on his own plot in Kalu District (photo credit: ILRI\ Mesfin Tefera)

The seed yield from the demonstration plots ranged from 8-10 quintals per hectare. The six households sold onion seeds to 35 fellow farmers in surrounding areas at a price of ETB 800/kg (USD 40), obtaining a total income of  ETB 6,400 to 8,000 (USD 320-400) from each 100m² plot of land in just five months, which is more lucrative compared to onion bulb production.

The farmers from the intervention households shared this method with fellow farmers and organized themselves into an onion seed producers group in Woraba tulu Peasant Association of Kalu District. In addition to being suppliers, these farmers have also sown seeds on 40 seed beds to produce seed for their own use and also to sell onion seedlings.

The farmers who bought the onion seeds from the newly established seed producers group have sown the onion seeds on 90 seed beds in total and recently planted their seedlings on a larger area of land (3.5 hectares).

As a result of this success, LIVES is carrying out similar demonstration in the farms of three intervention households of Dembia and Gondar Zuria districts of North Gondar zone and promising results are being observed and documented. Next, LIVES and its partners will establish certified onion seed producer groups in these districts and provide short-term training on onion seed production, processing and handling practices for these groups. The groups will then be linked with seed suppliers and other onion producers

Read related stories:

The rift between variety development and seed supply in Ethiopia

Vegetable seedlings: An emerging business and alternative input supply system in Ethiopia

Mobile phones boost vegetable marketing in Ethiopia

Written by  Yigzaw Dessalegne and Mesfin Tefera.

A partial view of Mileat’s apiary in Tigray (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES)

Most people would agree that, traditionally, beekeeping in Ethiopia is carried out by smallholder male farmers using a limited number of beehives in or near their homestead in a fixed flora-rich environment. But the beekeeping practice we observed on one farm in Wurko town in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, is completely different. Firstly, the work is managed by a young lady, Mileat Gebrehiwot, who just completed high school education and has had no formal training in beekeeping. Secondly, unlike most smallholder farmers who are accustomed to keeping a few beehives, she manages 80 beehives in about 1,600 m2 of land. Thirdly, as her apiary is situated in a rocky hillside that barely supports diverse bee flora throughout the year, her colony management strategy is completely based on moving the beehives seasonally.

Mileat is one of the beekeepers technically supported by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project and is a member of a local beekeeping platform. We wanted to further explore the mystery of her success in beekeeping that could be beneficial to other beekeepers in the country.

Mileat inherited the skill of beekeeping from her father who died unexpectedly in 2010 leaving behind the full responsibilities of managing 60 beehives to his family members. As a teen, she was always by her father’s side and gained basic skills in managing honeybees and later developed the practical skill of splitting honeybee colonies. Mileat’s inherited skill and knowledge helped her to convince her mother to retain 10 of the beehives after the death of her father almost five years ago. Now she is the owner of 80 hives. Fifty of them are used for honey production and the remaining 30 are managed according to the requirements of a breeding colony. The average annual honey harvest in 2014 was 600 kg, which earned her about ETB 120,000 (USD 5870). Her additional income from the sale of 30 colonies is about ETB 48,000. Her clients are farmers from nearby districts, beekeeping youth associations and honey traders from Mekelle town.

LIVES staff visit Mileat’s apiary that is located on a rocky hillside in Wurko (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES).

Mileat’s colony management strategy is extraordinary in that she always recognizes spatial and temporal variations in her environment and moves, seasonally, all the beehives to areas where the preferred honeybee flora such as Leucas abyssinica, Becium grandiflorum, acacia and other low growing herbs are abundant. She does this by renting a lorry, for a one way trip, at a cost of ETB 1,300. Before deciding to move the colonies, she first identifies sites rich in bee flora and assesses the availability of both nectar (for honey) and pollen (for colony strength) in sufficient quantities. Once she is sure of the abundance of flora, she trains casual workers in loading and unloading of beehives and the security measures needed to minimize damage to the queen and possible absconding. The movement of colonies takes place in June and terminates in November each year, and sites chosen for movement are located within a 30 km radius. She indemnifies the owners of such sites by paying their land tax and giving them oilseed planting materials free of charge. Once they have been relocated, Mileat closely inspects each of the hives at least once a week and provides additional food as needed. She believes that the proper feeding of honeybees is an essential for minimizing absconding and weakening the population of wax moths and other pests.

Mileat also renders services to her community free of charge including wax molding, supporting families in need of colony splitting and honey harvesting. Her plan is to establish a honey exporting company by leasing a large area in her native birthplace, Wukro.

In conclusion, the young beekeeper has defeated the long held stereotype about the inability of women to engage in beekeeping and successfully demonstrated the possibility of large scale mobile beekeeping even in areas where the availability of bee flora is not sufficient to sustain a colony throughout the year.

 Written by Yayneshet Tesfay, Dirk Hoekstra and Dawit Woldemariam.

Fufa with his beehives in Ada Berga District (photo credit: ILRI\Gemeda Duguma).

In February 2015, the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project’s implementation committee in Oromia region carried out a field visit in West Shoa zone. The objective of the visit was to gain better insight of the reality on the ground so that feasible activities could be planned for the following project year (2015).

During the visit, the team met Fufa Keneni, a farmer who is involved in dairy production, apiculture and to some extent in sheep fattening. Fufa is one of the LIVES project target farmers and is a resident of Reji town, which is near Muger cement factory in Ada’a Berga District of West Shoa.

Fufa explained the impact of the five-day training that he attended in September 2014 on improving honey production and beehive management. The training was organized by the LIVES project at the Holeta Apiculture Research Centre. According to Fufa, the knowledge he received from the training helped him to minimize absconding of colonies from his beehives. Prior to the training about 20 of his bee colonies abscond each year, but in the past six months only two colonies have absconded from his beehives.

Fufa started a honey production business in 2010 with two modern beehives. Now, four years later, he owns 150 modern hives, five transitional hives and 65 local hives. He said that in the past two years he has made about ETB 90,000-100,000 (USD 4,500-5,000) per year from the sale of honey which means that about 9kg of honey/hive is harvested from Fufa’s modern hives per year. This is very low compared to results of prior studies that indicated that 15-20 kg of honey can be harvested from modern hives (per hive per year).

Based on our observations, some of the factors contributing to the low productivity in Fufa’s farm include shortage of feed, absence of sheds, poor hive management (e.g. some of the hives are covered with plastic) and poor hive inspection. To alleviate these challenges; construction of sheds, arranging of hives on shelves (for efficient use of space), regular inspection of hives as well as planting of different bee forages could be considered.

Fufa’s dairy cows in Ada berga District (photo credit: ILRI\Gemeda Duguma).

In addition to his honey business, Fufa got into the dairy business in 2011 after purchasing two crossbred heifers from Chancho and Addis Ababa. Currently, he has nine crossbred dairy cows of which seven are lactating. They produce about 90 litres of milk per day which is distributed to local consumers with whom Fufa has signed contracts to provide them with milk at a price of ETB 12 per litre. According to Fufa, there is ready market for his milk.

Fufa keeps his animals in a shed with concrete floors and corrugated iron roofing. Hay and other such materials are used for bedding. The major challenges the team observed and that he reported were: poor feed quality, waste management and water shortage. Fufa says waste disposal is the number one challenge. He might get the required skills and knowledge to solve these problems if he takes part in LIVES demonstration and knowledge sharing events that are organized on topics such as treatment of hay and crop residue with urea, preparation of urea molasses block, demonstration of small-scale bio-digester technology, use of cow mats to minimize discomfort of the animals and reduce waste of hay for bedding materials. LIVES also organizes study tours to improved dairy farms to share better knowledge and skills on dairying.

Written by Gemeda Duguma, Zewdie Adane, Amenti Chali and Nigatu Alemayehu.

Rhodes grass at the edge of the primary canal in Koga irrigation scheme (photo credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegne).

Koga irrigation scheme is one of the few large scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia. The 7,000 hectares scheme is located in Mecha District, in the West Gojjam zone of Amhara region at about 530 km northwest of Addis Ababa. It serves about 10,000 smallholder households. The scheme has a well organized and coordinated irrigation system with infrastructure that includes a 19.7 km primary canal, 42.3 km secondary canal, 117 km tertiary canal, 783 km quaternary canal and 12 night storage structures for delivering water to each plot of land.

The canals and water storage structures were constructed at a high cost and the efficient use of these facilities requires proper handling to increase their lifespan. In order to stabilize the infrastructure, the Koga irrigation project office introduced Rhodes grass on the edges/borders of the primary, secondary and 80% of the tertiary canals, water storage structures and periphery of the dam.

A green carpet of Rhodes grass can be seen from a distance along the canals and storage structures. The grass contributes to extending the lifespan of these structures by reducing the effects of erosion and siltation. It also reduces the area of wasteland in the scheme.

In addition to stabilizing irrigation canals and night storage structures, farmers from the surrounding area have more awareness about the adaptability, feed value and propagation methods of Rhodes grass. Subsequently, the irrigation scheme is serving as source of Rhodes grass  seed  for the district and beyond and Rhodes grass planting at the edge of irrigation canals and farmlands is steadily expanding. In addition, Rhodes grass seed producers, collectors and traders are steadily emerging.

Farmer harvesting Rhodes grass seed in Koga (photo credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegne).

The seed yield of Rhodes grass in the scheme ranges from 300 to 500kg/ha. Annually over 20,000 kg of Rhodes seed is supplied to the local market. Farmers sell Rhodes grass seed to local collectors at a cost of ETB 80-100/kg (USD4-5/kg); local collectors sell to traders at a rate of ETB 150-160/kg and local traders sell to users at more than ETB 200/kg. Therefore, ETB 1.6-4 million income is generated annually from Rhodes grass seed production.

The LIVES project supports Rhodes grass producers and seed traders at the Koga irrigation scheme by mentoring and demonstrating propagation methods, production practices, seed harvesting, processing and handling practices. The project has also linked Rhodes grass seed traders with buyers from other parts of the country. In addition, LIVES is introducing and demonstrating the multifaceted benefits of Rhodes grass in irrigation schemes of other project districts and zones.

Written by Yigzaw Dessalegn & Teshome Derso, LIVES  Project, Amhara region.

Written by Solomon Gizaw

A ‘Ram selection committee’ selects breeding rams for the cooperative breeding group in Tigray, Ethiopia. (Photo credit: ILRI\ Solomon Gizaw)

Cooperative breeding groups are village-level community organizations where smallholder sheep and goat keepers cooperate to improve the genetic merits of their flocks through selective breeding. Smallholders may not be in a position to implement effective selective breeding within their individual flocks due to small number of animals and uncontrolled grazing/mating system.

Indeed, cooperation seems to be mandatory for smallholders as some of the village resources are owned and managed communally. These include grazing lands and watering resources, and even breeding rams are used communally under uncontrolled communal grazing/ mating systems such as in the Ethiopian highlands. Thus implementing genetic improvement, grazing land management and disease control programs would be challenging unless all or most of the villagers participate in the program.

Cooperative breeding group goats are identified by ear tags, West Shoa, Ethiopia. (Photo credit: ILRI\Addisu Abera)

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project has initiated cooperative village sheep and goat breeding activities in its four project regions, namely Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ (SNNP), Tigray and Amhara. Sheep and goat groups have been organized and training has been provided on cooperative breeding and other value chain interventions to villagers and Bureau of Agriculture experts. Also, the villages’ sheep and goat flocks have been identified with individual animal ear tags, and cooperative selection and use of breeding rams and bucks is underway.

The cooperative breeding groups are a key entry point for introducing other value chain interventions and facilitating collective action by smallholders. Cooperation is increasing economies of scale of smallholders to access inputs and services and profitable markets. LIVES staff coach and mentor cooperative breeding groups to function as collective input providers and marketing groups. The cooperative group will also serve to introduce planned lamb/kid production through hormone-synchronized breeding to produce large cohorts of lambs/kids at a time (a LIVES’ intervention). This leads to more lambing/kidding during the best seasons to maximize lamb/kid survival and higher economies of scale to access profitable markets.

Structured sheep/goat selective breeding programs are non-existent in Ethiopia. Cooperative breeding groups could form a basis for designing structured breed-level or regional sheep and goat breeding programs. There has been quite a number of initiatives in setting up village level cooperative breeding groups for sheep and goat in Ethiopia by the national research system and CGIAR centres. Currently, quite a few cooperative breeding villages have been established for Menz, Bonga, Horro, Wollo, Arsi-Bale, Tigray Highland sheep types and Abergelle, Central Highland and Konso goat types/breeds.

Cooperative breeding group sheep receive strategic deworming, W. Shoa, Oromia, Ethiopia.

It is high time that coordination and structuring of individual activities into breed-level regional breeding programs is initiated. Existing collaboration/coordination among institutes needs to be built and expanded upon (e.g. LIVES with Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, the International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Livestock Research Institute-Biosciences eastern and central Africa (ILRI-BecA) Hub with the national research system).

The way forward could include institutionalization of the individual breeding activities, standardization of breeding scheme designs, technical coordination, central databases, and adopting value chain approaches.

Written by Yigzaw Dessalegn and Worku Teka

Banana bunch ready for harvest (Photo credit: ILRI\LIVES)

Amhara region has a diverse agro-ecology with altitudes ranging from 500 to 4620 metres, huge surface water resources and different soil types. This type of environment is conducive to growing both tropical and temperate fruit crops. However, according to a Central Statics Authority  (2014) report, fruit crops account for only 0.09% of the total cultivated land in the region. To tap into this unexploited potential, the Livestock and irrigation value chains for Ethiopian smallholders (LIVES) project planned some activities towards the fruit value chain development. Preparing a geographic information system (GIS)-supported suitability map for the production of major fruit crops and sharing the outcome with partners was the first project activity. The second step involved organizing a training for farmers and experts on fruit production and propagation practices. In addition, the project introduced and demonstrated improved varieties and recommended management practices of major fruit crops (apple, avocado, banana and mango) in North Gondar, South Wollo and West Gojjam zones.

Map of banana suitability in Amhara

Lay Armacheho District was one of the potential districts identified through the suitability map for banana production in North Gondar zone. The LIVES project introduced and demonstrated the performance of an improved banana variety (Dwarf Cavendish) with recommended management practices on the farms of 10 intervention households in Musie Bamb Kebele in the district. Each intervention household received 75 suckers from the project, which also regularly provided coaching on irrigation, soil nutrient management and sucker management. The banana suckers came from Metema District where banana was introduced a few years ago by the IPMS project. Woretaw Abuhaye is a farmer in one of the intervention households targeted for this trial. He planted the suckers on 5 December 2013 at a spacing of 3m x 3m, irrigated them at three-day interval during the dry season, and applied compost. The banana plant started flowering 10 months later on 27 September 2014 and was ready for harvest on five months from flowering on 24 February 2015. The number of banana fingers per bunch ranged from 160 to 200 and each banana fruit was sold at a price of ETB 2.00 (USD 0.097) in the local market. Woretaw is earning ETB 320-400/bunch sold. So far, he has harvested and sold over 20 banana bunches from the banana suckers initially planted. Secondary suckers also started setting fruit. Observing this economic benefit, Woretaw started expanding his banana orchard. Similarly, his neighbors started banana production by purchasing suckers from him at a price of ETB 15-20/sucker and they showed interest in working with him on a greater scale by renting land as well. ‘Having observed this development, the Office of Agriculture in Lay Armacheho District purchased about 6,000 banana suckers and introduced it in five peasant associations (PAs) in the district,’ says Assefa Zeleke, the district horticulture expert in Lay Armacheho. As a result of these and other efforts, banana production is expanding in the district and the all-rounded efforts by farmers and district Office of Agriculture are helping in scaling out/up of best technologies. The next LIVES project interventions in the district will be to introduce and demonstrate better banana varieties and train traders on banana ripening techniques.

H.E Ato Abay Woldu, President of the Tigray  National State, handing over the trophy to LIVES’ Regional Coordinator, Dr Gebremedihin Woldewahid during  Farmers’ Festival        (photo credit: ILRI\Dawit Weldemariam)

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project was honored with a trophy award by the Tigray Regional Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development (BoARD) during the 8thRegional Farmers Annual Festival that was held on May 28th, 2015 at the regional capital city of Mekelle. H.E Ato Abay Woldu, President of the Tigray Regional State handed over the trophy to LIVES’ Regional coordinator, Dr. Gebremedhin Woldewahid.The festival was held in the presence of high level federal and regional government officials including H.E. Ato Tefera Derbew, Minister of Agriculture (MoA) and H.E Ato Kiros Bitew, Vice President of the Tigray Regional State and Head of the Tigray Regional BoARD.

LIVES received this award for introducing new technologies for market oriented livestock and irrigated commodities, promoting new and innovative methods of extension and input supply services, capacity building of farmers and public sector staff, and promoting innovative agricultural knowledge management system.Contributions to strengthen the Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) was another consideration for giving the award. Recently the LIVES team members were also awarded certificates by the regional government for their contributions in improving smallholders’ access to improved dairy genetics through introduction and implementationof hormone assisted oestrus synchronization and mass insemination technology. The Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project, predecessor to LIVES, had also received four awards in a row for its contributions in research and development in the region.

In addition to the farmers selected as development heroes and heroines, more than 700 participants attended the festival. Zonal and district administrators, regional and district BoARD heads and senior extension staff, and development and research partners also took part in the festival.

By Yigzaw Dessalegn and Worku Teka

Priest (Kese) Belete Mola with pumps brought for maintenance in Dembia District (photo credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegne).

Dembia District of Amhara region has a huge potential for irrigation development. The district is located at the shore of Lake Tana, along several streams and rivers and has a plain topography. Farmers produce vegetables by pumping water from Lake Tana, Megech River and a number of streams.

In support of this effort, the local government arranged access to credit for smallholder farmers there to enable them to buy irrigation pumps. As a result, between 2005 and 2014, 862 pumps were distributed in the district. Because of the economic benefits of irrigated agriculture, many farmers have bought their own pumps, some owning more than one, which they use to move water to distant farmlands through a relay system or rent to other farmers.

But pump break downs are common because of incorrect operation and lack of maintenance. Many farmers are unable to read and understand the pump manuals which are written in English and pump maintenance services were available only at Kola Diba, the district capital where they were offered by a few people and are expensive.

A participant in a platform meeting organized in Dembia by the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders project (LIVES) project, acknowledged this problem saying ‘the pumps are in the field but service providers are found several kilometers away from the irrigation sites, in town’.

The meeting discussed ways of providing practical training to farmers and service providers on pump operation and maintenance. It also offered training to 13 experts and 59 farmers from Dembia, Gondar Zuria and Lay Armacheho districts in two cycles in December 2013 and July 2014.

Priest (Kese) Belete Mola was one of the farmers in the district who received the training on pump operation and maintenance service. During this training he learned about the different parts of irrigation pumps, proper operation procedures, signs and most common causes of pump failure and assembling and disassembling pumps.

Following the training, he purchased the necessary tools for ETB 660.50 (USD 32) from Gondar town to test his knowledge and skill by disassembling and assembling his own pump. He succeeded on his first attempt and started providing pump maintenance and repair service to farmers in his village, Guramba Michael. Having found about his skills, farmers from neighboring Kebeles now bring to him pumps for repair. Kese Belete says he repaired and maintained 40 pumps in the 2013/14 irrigation season and 87 pumps in the 2014/15 irrigation season. The maintenance and repair service charge ranges from ETB 150 to 200 per pump depending on the type of service he provides and farmers can pay for maintenance service charges in the form of labour if they are short of cash.

He says the use of poor quality oil is the most common cause of pump failure which causes the pump to overheat. Kese Belete provides free advisory services on how to keep the pumps well maintained his customers. Other trainees in the district such as Yirga Atalo, have been inspired by Kese Belete Mola to start providing pump repair and maintenance service in their villages.

Farmers bring their water pump for maintenance to district office of agriculture Gondar zuria (Photo credit:ILRI\Fanos Mekonnen)

Farmers say the availability of repair services at the kebele level has helped them reduce the time needed to access these services, offers alternative payment methods apart from cash and is much cheaper. Farmers can now easily repair their equipment which prevents frequent breakdowns and they get advisory service on effective pump operation.

According to Elfeneshe, a development agent at the Guramba Michael peasant association, the availability of these services has helped many farmers’ whose crops would have failed during drought’.

This story also proves that farmers have the ability to maintain or repair pumps if they are trained practically and are coached/mentored as well. However, inadequate availability of pump spare parts in the capital of the district remains a challenge to this system but LIVES is working, with partners to improve availability of pump spare parts in Dembia.

Dr Amare Hailessilassie showcasing Wetting Front Detector (WFD) to Mr. Taye Tulu, guest of honor and delegate from MoA and Dr. Mitslal Kifleyesus, President of Ecological Products of Ethiopia (ECOPIA) at the Ethio Earth Day Expo (Photo Credit: ILRI\Dessalegn Tadesse)

The second annual Ethio Earth Day was celebrated on June 6 -7, 2015 at the  Tropical Garden in Addis Ababa. It was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and EcoRemedy Publicity and Communications PLC. Mr. Taye Tulu, guest of honor and delegate of H.E. Sileshi Getahun, State Minister, Ministry of Agriculture Ethiopia and Dr. Mitslal Kifleyesus, President of Ecological Products of Ethiopia (ECOPIA) and Chairman of the Ethiopian Earth Day inaugurated the Expo that was organized with the theme green life style.

The Livestock and irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES)/International Water Management Institute (IWMI) took part at the expo. To create awareness and sensitization among the wider public, LIVES/ IWMI displayed and circulated working papers, production manuals and other publications. Furthermore, new technologies that have been introduced to smallholders through LIVES/IWMI have been displayed. Bio-gas technology, solar pump and Wetting Front Detector (WFD) were among the technologies that attracted the attention of visitors mainly of university students and researchers. These technologies will support Ethiopia build a green economy that utilize resources sustainably in line with the country’s green plan and vision, the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) and the national environmental policy.

Participants at the LIVES/IWMI stand at the 2nd Ethio Earth Day Expo , June 6th, 2015 at Tropical Garden

During the expo, the Ethiopian soil campaign 2015 was launched with the theme Healthy Soils for Healthy Life. The campaign will be held throughout the year with a range of activities and events. The campaign is aimed at raising public awareness and collaboration for healthy soils and lives in Ethiopia.

In general, the expo was aimed at bringing the green movement to the public and stress on environmental issues to assure the wellbeing of our planet in general and Ethiopia in particular. More than 50 Private companies, small and medium enterprises, local and international NGOs and governmental offices took part at the expo. These include Ministry of Water Irrigation & Energy (MoWIE), Ethiopia Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Amerf Health Africa in Ethiopia, Rang Solar, EcoGreen, Hope University College, Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) Ethiopia and Eden Field Agri-Seed Enterprise.

LIVES Steering Committee members and LIVES staff members group photo during the 5th PSC meeting at ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa. (photo credit: ILRI\ Aklilu Bogale)

The 5th meeting of the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders Project (LIVES) Steering Committee was held on 12 June 2015 at the ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Siboniso Moyo, Program Leader for Animal Science for Sustainable Productivity (ASSP) and Director General’s Representative in Ethiopia. Participants of the meeting included representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) of Canada, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs) and Regional Bureaus of Agriculture (BoAs).

During the meeting, the annual progress of the project in the areas of value chain development, capacity development, knowledge management, promotion, research and documentations at all levels were presented. In addition, committee members discussed the annual work plan and budget for the upcoming fiscal year April 2015 – March16.

The LIVES Project Manager Dr. Azage Tegegne noted the past year was a year of consolidation and expansion as LIVES moves into its third year of implementation. To this effect, there have been a series of revisions to key strategic directions, approaches and interventions. In particular,the Performance Monitoring Framework (PMF) was revised to make project targets more realistic, achievable and easier to monitor. In the upcoming fiscal year, project activities and interventions will be intensified further; and results and lessons learned will be scaled out beyond project areas. In addition, new beneficiaries will be selected and included to reach project targets.

Dr. Azage Tegegne (LIVES Project Manager) explaining about the new milking technology introduced through LIVES (photo credit: ILRI\Aklilu Bogale)

During the meeting which also consisted of plenary sessions, committee members provided productive thoughts and inputs on the way forward. It was stressed that further efforts need to be put in place to strengthen gender balance in capacity development and knowledge management activities of the project. It has also been noted to further align project strategies and interventions with the work plans of the Woredas.

LIVES ultimate outcome is  increased economic well-being for male and female smallholder producers in the regions of Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) through the development of livestock and irrigated value chains .