Presentation by Alan Duncan, Kebebe Ergano, Aberra Adie and Abate Tedla at the FAP End of Project Workshop, Luang Prabang, Laos, 15-19 November 2010

1. Enhancing livelihoods of poor livestock keepers through increasing use of fodder: Ethiopia Report on Output 2 Options for effective delivery systems including innovative communication strategies and on farm interventions to improve fodder supply Fodder Adoption Project (FAP) (IFAD Technical Assistance Grant 853) Presentation by Alan Duncan, Kebebe Ergano, Aberra Adie and Abate Tedla at the FAP End of Project Workshop, LuangPrabang, Laos, 15-19 November 2010

2. Output 2. Options for effective delivery systems including innovative communication strategies and on farm interventions to improve fodder supply

3. Activity 1 - Innovative approach for evaluation of year-round feed inventory, assessment and database

4. Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST)

5. Originally developed at cross-country workshop in Hyderabad

6. PRA plus quick quantitative assessment of feed resources PRA Quantitative assessment

7. Has been extensively improved and a sharing site created

8. Countries where FEAST has been applied

9. Dietary composition of dairy cows

10. Dietary composition of dairy animals according to season

11. Khairpura, Bangladesh

12. Gitanagar, Nepal

13. Activity 2 - Collection of baseline data

14. Baseline data Socio-economic baseline data was collected in a total of 560 households in 3 sites. Findings show: a near absence of improved genetic stock at study sites minimal marketing of livestock products high proportion of feed resources being used to support draught animals. very little planted fodder

15. Percentage of households citing various constraints to high productivity Lack of feed Disease/water - Mieso X-breds – Ada’a

16. Prioritizing livestock classes for feeding Draught oxen are major demand on feed

17. Perceptions of importance of income from livestock products No dominant product

18. Previous forage development efforts Surprising number have tried but currently not present

19. Also conducted baseline innovation capacity diagnosis Already talked about under Output 1

20. Reflections on baseline survey We could have done it better! Difficult to where and what to ask at the start of the project Project evolved to focus on actors – meant we focused more on baselining innovation processes We have some good data on initial target and random households that could be followed up later on through re-survey

21. Activity 3 - Evaluation of fodder and seed delivery/input supply mechanisms

22. Seed supply activities Forage seed supply remains an issue in Ethiopia

24. Other actors are also investigating fodder seed supply as a commercial enterprise – Eden Field Seeds Cowpea seed production by Eden Field at Melkawerer NGO’s dominate market

26. NGO’s are major buyers of forage seed in Ethiopia – they pay above affordable levels and this distorts the market..“Risks associated with the long seed-fodder-livestock commodity chain are significant for potential seed producers who cannot predict future demand”

27. Experience from study sites ... Once there is demand for forages, seed supply issues begin to resolve Farmer-to-farmer exchange Development of local markets

28. Other input supply activities Other input supply issues have been addressed through stakeholder platforms Supply of cross-bred cows at DebreZeit AI study commissioned at DebreZeit Input supply mechanisms were addressed at a Fodder Roundtable Meeting in June 2010

29. Key messages Preliminary open-minded diagnosis of the feeding/livestock issues (e.g. Feast) useful starting point We became rather locked into planted forages – using Feast early on might have widened the array of intervention options and led to faster progress Conventional baseline surveys were of limited use in the way we applied them – need smarter approaches Seed issues tend to sort themselves out provided forages are perceived as valuable by farmers