Increasing capacity for knowledge-based smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia

This working paper by Tesfaye Lemma Tefera, Azage Tegegne and Dirk Hoekstra of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), on Capacity for knowledge-based smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia: Linking graduate programs to market-oriented agricultural development: Challenges, opportunities and IPMS experience was released by ILRI in January 2012.

Graduate Programs in agriculture and allied disciplines in Ethiopia (henceforth the GPs) are expected to make concrete contributions towards achieving market-led and knowledge-based transformation of smallholder agriculture. To that end, strengthening capacities of the GPs and linking them to development deserve due policy attention. No panacea exists, however, as to how the programs can be better strengthened, linked, and become more responsive. Lessons from initiatives on the ground in the country and beyond are thus crucial to inform policy and the development of context specific innovative strategies. This paper aims to make a modest contribution to the discourse in Ethiopia and beyond on transforming GPs related to agriculture into ‘developmental institutions’. The paper highlights the imperatives for knowledge-based transformation of smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia and emerging roles of GPs; discusses key challenges of the GPs to realize their mandates and to meet ever changing expectations.

It also presents a case study of an initiative by +aimed at linking GPs through research by students to commodity value chain development and actors, and discusses qualitative and quantitative indicators of outcome in terms of enhanced research and learning experience. The paper draws out some lessons and identifies strategic and practical options, including from the review of good practices elsewhere, that may help to improve learning and research in the GPs. The analysis shows that the GPs are currently facing several challenges, which could not be solved by government or by the programs alone, but rather require multiple linkages and collaborations. The GPs, on the one hand, need to be more proactive in creating linkages and partnering with regional and federal governments, and with development/interventions, and, on the other, actors who are truly committed to sustainability should be more willing to integrate systematically into development programs, as a critical component, partnering with and strengthening capacity of key capacity building national institutions, such as the GPs. Revitalizing the programs calls for holistic approach from an innovation systems perspective, multipronged and multi-level strategies, and long-term commitments.

Download the working paper

 

Ethiopia gets sheep and goat production handbook

In Ethiopia, sheep and goats have traditionally served as a means of ready cash and a reserve against economic and agricultural production hardship.

However, the proximity of Ethiopia to large Middle Eastern markets demanding export quality sheep and goat carcasses and an increase in the domestic demand for small ruminant meat is leading to a change in the importance and scale of sheep and goat production.

No longer are sheep and goats subsistence livestock species only. Economic opportunities exist for small ruminant producers to supply animals to both the export and domestic markets.

This handbook – by the Ethiopia Sheep and Goat Productivity Improvement Program (ESGPIP) – is the first text devoted to small ruminant production written exclusively for Ethiopian conditions by Ethiopian scientists.

Its primary use will be as a training resource and reference handbook for Kebele Development Agents (KDAs) in their quest to transfer knowledge and skills to sheep and goat producers. Other stakeholders, such as non-governmental agencies and development workers will also find the book useful in their efforts to enhance sheep and goat productivity. The depth and coverage of information on all aspects of small ruminant production also renders the book usable in an academic environment as a resource or classroom text.

Topics covered in the handbook (available to download) are:

• Economic significance of sheep and goats
• Breeds of sheep and goats
• Sheep and goat production systems in Ethiopia
• Sheep and goat management
• Reproduction in sheep and goats
• Genetic improvement of sheep and goats
• Nutrition and feeding of sheep and goats
• Forage development for sheep and goats
• Sheep and goat flock health
• Sheep and goat products and by-products
• Sheep and goat economics of production and marketing
• Sheep and goat meat characteristics and quality
• Records and record keeping

The Ethiopia Sheep and Goat Productivity Improvement Program (ESGPIP) is a USAID-funded project operating with a goal to sustainably increase sheep and goat productivity in Ethiopia to consequently enhance economic and food securities.

 

 

Elevage en régions chaudes

L’agriculture – et plus particulièrement les productions animales – sont depuis quelques années au coeur des préoccupations mondiales, si l’on en juge par les nombreux rapports produits par diverses institutions internationales.

Les productions animales au Sud se trouvent ainsi dans une situation paradoxale : elles doivent faire face à une évolution importante de la demande à moyen terme, dans un contexte nouveau, marqué notamment par les tensions sur les disponibilités et les coûts des intrants et par la prise en compte impérative tant des contributions que des effets liés au changement climatique.

C’est dans ce contexte particulier, et en prolongement de la réflexion menée en France par l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) et le Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) dans le cadre du chantier ‘Production animale en régions chaudes’ (PARC) rappelé dans la préface, que la Rédaction de la revue INRA Productions animales a décidé de consacrer un numéro complet (Numéro 1 2011) au thème de l’élevage en régions chaudes.

Ce numéro spécial comprend les articles (complets) suivants :

• Introduction générale
• Évolution des productions animales terrestres et aquacoles dans le monde : tendances globales et implications économiques, sociales et environnementales
• Ressources tropicales : disponibilité et valeur alimentaire.
• Adaptation des animaux d’élevage aux multiples contraintes des régions chaudes.
• Spécificités de la santé animale en régions chaudes : le cas des maladies infectieuses majeures en Afrique.
• Elevage et qualité des produits en régions chaudes.
• Impacts et services environnementaux de l’élevage en régions chaudes.
• Conception et évaluation de systèmes d’élevage durables en régions chaudes.
• Élevage, filières et territoires en régions chaudes.
• Élevages et sociétés : les rôles multiples de l’élevage dans les pays tropicaux.

 

Strategic partnerships needed to build African scientific capacity for agriculture

A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies provides an overview of agricultural science cooperation within the African research system; the university system; and the role of partnerships with the private sector.

The report identifies four key approaches:

Focus on Problems. Achieving results will require serious focus. Focus on the most real and serious problems in African agriculture and attack them in a coordinated way in local settings. Ultimately it will be up to African partner countries to set, through consultation, their respective development and research agendas. Encouraging partners to formulate and articulate national research priorities will help guide U.S.-African partnerships and lead to greater coordination and synergies across multiple actors and institutions.

Prioritize Individual Capacities to Improve Institutions. The individual researcher is still the bedrock for strong scientific advancement and institutional capacity. Although improving individual capacity is not the only way to strengthen institutions, it is vital to building capacity for the long term.

Foster Collaboration within National Scientific Community. There are significant benefits of scientists working together—on a problem, in a laboratory, and in a way that encourages lasting communication.

Promote Institutional Coordination and Communication. It is vitally important for scientific research in Africa to be more coordinated—for goals and strategies to be set at the national level, and for all levels of research centers, universities, and partnerships to support these goals. It cannot be underestimated how crucial the role of good governance and leadership will be in promoting coordination, supporting innovation, and attracting essential private-sector investment

Watch a video on the report:

Download the report …

 

ILRI scientists map Kenyan watershed services to benefit people, crops, livestock and wildlife

A map of land use in the Ewaso Ng’iro watershed, taken from Mapping and Valuing Ecosystem Services in the Ewaso Ng’iro Watershed, published in 2011 by ILRI.

From Ecosystem Marketplace comes this review of a new publication from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

‘. . . As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of floods and droughts in [dryland pastoral] ecosystems, water catchment and management becomes a crucial tool in building ecosystems resilience. For practical water management, entire watersheds need to considered; from the water catchment in highland forests to the basins in the lowlands.

‘Understanding the dynamics of the watershed, conducting cost-benefit analysis of different land use practices, and determining the economic value of ecosystem services in particular water, forests and biodiversity plays a key role in advocating for conservation and sustainable development of landscapes, where linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being are well documented.

That’s why the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), a Nairobi-based NGO, published Mapping and Valuing Ecosystem Services in the Ewaso Ng’iro Watershed to inform the Government of Kenya on the latest developments on arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL’s) that cover approximately 80% of the country.

‘Typically, ASAL’s encompass a range between the savanna grasslands and desert areas. The extent of the Ewaso Ng’iro North watershed, the subject of the study, begins in the highlands of Mount Kenya where agriculture, logging and land grabbing have been documented, to the lower plains of Laikipia and Samburu which are famous for the wildlife and rich culture.

‘The step-by-step approach of mapping and valuing the ecosystem services of the watershed began with using spatial imagery to map the extent and characteristics of the watershed. This included water, biomass, livestock, wildlife and irrigated crops. These services were quantified and the demand for these services based on different land-use systems measured. An economic valuation of these services was then conducted.

‘The results of such a study are expected to inform the Government of Kenya on how to improve the standard of living in the region. This tool allows for a comparison of “alternative land and water uses between livestock, crop production, and wildlife-based tourism to enable future assessments of how and how much each use will improve the standard of living and whose standard of living.”

‘Determining the ecosystem services of the watershed takes into account more criteria than just water, but the categorization of water makes it possible to determine it’s unique value to human well-being.

The ILRI study priced the value of water based on what production systems water was a main contributor too, namely crop and livestock. It showed that value of water requirements for crops was much higher than livestock in the drylands, a cost that can now be used as a tool for various water pricing schemes and conservation incentives by policy makers.

‘The study also indirectly priced water’s contribution to tourism and biomass, values that can be used to compare different land use implications.

‘The use of such a study is not limited to policy implementation, but can inform a range of conservation and development initiatives on where to focus effort.

‘Considering different land use implications, energies can be directed towards opportunities that can deliver maximum benefit at least cost. This could be by developing conservation areas where agriculture may not be viable, or developing market mechanisms to boost livestock production. Payments for ecosystem services can also be developed for such watersheds to advocate for their conservation. . . .

[S]tudies such as the one conducted by ILRI take the first steps in informing us the how’s, why’s, what’s and how much ecosystems contribute to human well-being.

Read the whole article at Ecosystem Marketplace: Kenyan cattlemen map watershed services, 21 Dec 2011.

Read about the ILRI publication on the ILRI News Blog: Putting a price on water: From Mt Kenya forests to Laikipia savannas to Dadaab drylands, 19 Jan 2012.

Download the publication, Mapping and Valuing Ecosystem Services in the Ewaso Ng’iro Watershed, by Ericksen, PJ; Said, MY; Leeuw, J de; Silvestri, S; Zaibet, L; Kifugo, SC; Sijmons, K; Kinoti, J; Ng’ang’a, L; Landsberg, F and Stickler, M. 2011. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

 

Challenging dryland myths, seizing dryland opportunities

A human settlement in northern Kenya, from the air (photo on Flickr by Neil Palmer [CIAT]).

A fact-filled, thought-provoking and myth-busting book, which many researchers will have reason to hope will become widely influential, challenges the African ‘drylands myths’ that, despite decades of research that should have overturned them by now, remain entrenched in many general publics and policymaking circles.

The book, Dryland Opportunities, was written by Michael Mortimore and published in 2009 by IUCN.

Drylands, such as those in the drought-afflicted Horn of Africa, where famine continues to claim lives and livelihoods, cover 41 per cent of the earth’s terrestrial surface. Scientists are predicting that life in many of the world’s drylands may become even harsher in future due to more extreme and unpredictable climates. This book aims to apply the new scientific insights on complex dryland systems to practical options for development. A new dryland paradigm is built on the resources and capacities of dryland peoples, on new and emergent economic opportunities, on inward investment, and on the best support that dryland science can offer.

Primary author Michael Mortimore, now 74 and a consultant for aid agencies, is a British geographer and researcher on Africa’s drylands who spent over 25 years in Nigerian universities and is best known for his field-based studies of adaptation to drought and for an anti-Malthusian account of population-environment relationships, More People, Less Erosion, which is a revisionist account of livelihoods in Machakos, Kenya, written with Mary Tiffen and Francis Gichuki (1994). He and Tiffen now run a policy consultancy called Dryland Research.

Mortimore has conducted extensive studies of farming systems, environmental change and human adaptation to drought in the drylands of northern Nigeria, Kenya, Niger and Senegal and assessed local and regional human adaptations to harsh and complex environments.

Among his long-held views on African drylands are that even the most disadvantaged African smallholders ‘adapt’ more or less successfully to climatic change and severe drought, rather than submitting to it. He has been a long-term critic of the argument that the Sahara is ‘spreading’ as a result of poor land management, or that farmers and herders tend towards destroying their natural capital. He challenged the well-funded international desertification apparatus to listen to farmers who, with the right support, were improving biodiversity and halting land degradation without expensive and inappropriate interventions.

From 1991, in the Machakos Hills of Kenya, less than an hour’s drive from Nairobi, Mortimer, Tiffen and Gichuki discovered not the land degradation and human impoverishment widely believed at the time to have occurred there under high population pressure, but rather improved landscapes and resource management practices achieved through adoption of farming methods such as multicropping, mixed crop-livestock production and land terracing, as well as through strong community organizations. This much-cited finding, published in 1993, ‘controverted’ Malthusian thinking and has echoed through revisionist thinking about African degradation myths and agrarian policy ever since.

A PDF of the book is available on the IUCN website: Dryland Opportunities.

Source: This profile of Michael Mortimore is taken and condensed from Wikipedia.

 

Are politicians making political hay – and pastoral havoc – out of diminishing dryland resources in northern Kenya?

Northern Kenya from the air (photo on Flickr by Neil Palmer [CIAT]).

‘The chairman of [Kenya's] National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia, has singled out divisive politicians as the main cause of recent ethnic violence among some pastoral communities. He warned that stern action will be taken against such people.

‘Dr Kibunjia’s observation adds to a growing pile of evidence as to the causes of increasing violence among pastoral communities.

‘An analysis of climate reports by the Kenya Meteorological Department since the 1997–98 El Niño phenomenon have generally shown decreasing natural resources, especially in arid areas. . . .

A much more recent study by the International Livestock Research Institute has confirmed the hypothesis that the shrinking of grazing lands and increasing population are the main causes of recurrent hunger and conflict in the region.

In September, an international meeting was held in Nairobi over the hunger situation in Northern Kenya and the larger Horn of Africa region where these issues were discussed and a plan of action to mitigate future famines suggested.

Read the whole editorial in the Daily Nation newspaper (Kenya): Stop leaders inciting pastoral communities, 15 Jan 2012.

Read more about international meetings on the food crisis in the Horn of Africa held at ILRI’s Nairobi campus on 30 Aug and 1 Sep 2011, and about ILRI’s livestock-research-based recommendations for how to help livestock herders cope better with drought in Kenya and the greater Horn of Africa:

From the ILRI News Blog

Experts produce joint statement on long-term development needs of the drylands of the Horn, 13 Sep 2011.

‘Africa’s drylands are productive, and potentially very productive’–ILRI’s Bruce Scott, 5 Sep 2011.

CGIAR briefing on the food crisis in the Horn of Africa: 1 September at ILRI Nairobi, 30 Aug 2011.

Investments in pastoralism offer best hope for combating droughts in East Africa’s drylands–Study, 24 Aug 2011.

Ongoing drought in Horn may trigger first-ever insurance payments to remote African livestock herders, 16 Aug 2011.

What happens to pastoral children when the last goat dies: Ann’s story, 12 Aug 2011.

Best ways to manage responses to recurring drought in Kenya’s drylands, 7 Aug 2011.

From the ILRI Clippings Blog

Follow the tag: droughtinhorn2011

‘The food crisis in the Horn is essentially a livestock crisis’–Lloyd Le Page, CEO of the CGIAR, 2 Sep 2011.

‘It’s not drought, but vulnerability to drought, that’s eroding food security in the Horn’–USAID’s Jeff Hill, 2 Sep 2011.

East Africa can–and should–help livestock herders cope better with drought, 3 Sep 2011.

Problems in the Horn of Africa ‘ought not to be’–KARI’s David Mwangi, 4 Sep 2011.

Research for resilience: Helping the Horn’s food producers better absorb climate shocks, 4 Sep 2011.

Drought-tolerant crops and crop and livestock insurance can help farmers fight effects of drought in the Horn, 6 Sep 2011.

Horn of Africa drought: Short-term ‘Band-Aid’ thinking not enough–CGIAR, 8 Sep 2011.

CNN reports that drought in Horn is increasing conflicts between people and wildlife, 12 Sep 2011.

Prospects for greater agricultural investments in the Horn?, 4 Oct 2011.

Drought responses–New briefing paper on lessons still to learn, 24 Oct 2011.

 

Kenyan herders cope with drought by buying livestock insurance

Sake Dabasso Halake stands proudly in front of Equity Bank’s Marsabit branch. She smiles, clutching an envelope filled with 16,000 Kenyan shillings that she just received. It was her insurance payout for the 10 cows she lost during the drought. Photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins.

Jeff Haskins, director of the Nairobi office of Burness Communications, which works regularly with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and other centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and Neil Palmer, public awareness officer with ILRI’s sister center in Cali, Colombia, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, published an article yesterday in AllAfrica.com about an innovative livestock insurance project being implemented by ILRI and partners in a remote pastoral area of northern Kenya.

‘Marsabit District—The first thing that hits a visitor to Ginda village in northern Kenya is the smell.

‘Farmer Haro Sora’s land is littered with the carcasses of cattle and donkeys that have collapsed following an intense, prolonged drought. A skull here; half a ribcage there. In some places there are whole animals slumped on the roadside.

‘Ginda, in Marsabit District, has been hit by the Horn of Africa drought. It triggered a food crisis affecting around 13 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, by the time the rains finally returned to Ginda after more than a year.

‘The fact that the food crisis in the Horn was the result of a livestock crisis has been well documented. The area is a major pastoralist zone. When vegetation for grazing began to dry-up and livestock started to die, the knock-on effects on farmer livelihoods became strikingly clear.

‘Some observers balk at the idea of a financial institution selling insurance to already cash-strapped smallholder farmers to protect them against the risk of drought. The 650 livestock keepers in Marsabit, who are delighted to be receiving their first payouts, might give critics pause. . . .

‘The Index-Based Livestock Insurance scheme is run by a consortium . . . is an example of a market-based, climate-smart innovation that could gain much wider currency in Africa and beyond. It has completed its second year. . . .

‘In a district where food aid makes up 15 percent of the economy, ILRI estimates that the trade in livestock is responsible for about 65 percent of the money coming into households. While the new insurance product won’t be able to cover the total loss, it does offer participating farmers and herders an opportunity to recoup some of their losses. . . .

‘The project highlights the increasingly important role of Kenyan scientists and private institutions in developing effective initiatives for Kenya and its people. Civil society organizations, including a people-to-people effort called Kenyans4Kenya that sprung up to collect food and money in response to the famine.

Kenyans are stepping up for Kenya, not just in response to the region’s humanitarian emergency like the Kenyans4Kenya campaign, but also in developing long-term solutions that manage risk and reduce vulnerability,” said Jimmy Smith, director general of ILRI.

‘Global research and innovation partnerships with Cornell University, the University of California-Davis, Syracuse University and other partners also played an important role. . . .

Read the whole article at AllAfrica.com: Livestock insurance—A chance to outsmart drought?, and accompanying photoessay, Livestock insurance to combat food crisis, November 2011, posted 9 Jan 2012.

The Index-Based Livestock Insurance scheme is run by the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in collaboration with several technical partners, the government of Kenya and commercial implementing partners UAP Insurance and Equity Bank. The project is funded by UKaid/Department for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development and the World Bank among others.

To find other articles on ILRI’s IBLI project, just search for ‘IBLI’ on this ILRI Clippings blog and on its sister blog, the ILRI News Blog. Here are two examples:

Herders in drought-stricken northern Kenya get first livestock insurance payments, ILRI news release of 21 Oct 2011.

Livestock director and partners launch first-ever index-based livestock insurance payments in Africa, ILRI photoessay of 25 Oct 2011.

 

Transforming African agricultural systems through sustainable intensification: Project design workshops

As part of the US government’s Feed the Future initiative to address global hunger and food security issues in sub-Saharan Africa, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting three multi-stakeholder agricultural research projects to sustainably intensify key African farming systems. Based in three priority agro-ecological zones, the three projects are focused on sites in Ghana and Mali, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The regions were chosen based on analysis of cropping systems, poverty, population, country development priorities, and the potential for successfully improving agricultural productivity.

On 9 January 2012, a design workshop for the West Africa project starts in Tamale, Ghana. Led by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the ‘Sustainable Intensification of Cereal-based Farming Systems in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of West Africa’ project aims to improve livelihoods through sustainable increased productivity of maize-legume and crop/tree/livestock systems in the northern Guinea and Sudan savanna zones of Ghana and Mali.

The second design workshop, from 30 January – 2 February 2012 in Addis Ababa, is hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). This project – ‘Sustainable intensification of crop-livestock systems to improve food security and farm income diversification in the Ethiopian highlands‘ – aims to “identify options for sustainable intensification of mixed crop livestock systems in the Ethiopian highlands that will enable communities to participate in emerging market opportunities in environmentally friendly ways whilst improving resilience to risks.”

The third design workshop is in Dar es Salaam from 6-9 February 2012 will kick off the  ‘Sustainable intensification of maize-legume-livestock integrated farming systems in Eastern and Southern Africa’ project, also led by IITA.

The goal of this project is to “sustainably increase agricultural productivity growth, economic growth, food production, food and nutrition security and improve natural resource management in order to reduce poverty and hunger in the target areas in Tanzania and in the eastern and southern Africa region.” It will “increase the productivity of maize-legume-livestock production systems, system resilience and agro-ecosystem services including provisioning of food and feed; improved water and soil conservation, soil nutrient supply and cycling, soil health and soil structure; carbon sequestration and biodiversity; and adaptation to climate variability and change.”

ILRI is involved to various degrees in each of the projects, with a leadership role in the Ethiopian one. The projects each bring together a range of research for development expertise and partners, including US universities, international agricultural research centers, national agricultural research systems, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and local and international development donor communities.

———

In the project concept notes, sustainable agricultural intensification is defined as producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts, and at the same time increasing contributions to the natural capital and the flow of environmental services (Pretty et al. 2011).

 

Policies for pastoralists?

Pastoralists across the world suffer serious problems of poverty, vulnerability to shocks and political marginality.

Authored by WrenMedia, this series of Information Notes from the Natural Resources Institute outlines the major challenges to development of and for pastoralists.

1. Opportunities for Development
2. Challenges to Pastoral Development
3. Rights, Governance and Voice
4. Risk Reduction and Linking Relief with Development
5. Climate Change
6. Education
7. Facilitating Access to World Markets
8. Livelihood Diversification