A baseline survey was conducted for the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project in Sidama (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region), Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Kettema Yilma).
‘The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have launched a new project called “Livestock and [Irrigation] Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES)” to focus on livestock and irrigation. The project is expected to transform the lives and agricultural practices of smallholders to become market-oriented.
‘Speaking at the launching ceremony Tuesday, Agriculture State Minister Wondirad Mandefro said the project will have a substantial contribution to the already started task of transforming the country’s agriculture by creating new opportunities to pilot, practice and exchange new research-based skills and outcomes among smallholders. . . .
Wondirad also said the government has planned to give due emphasis to the livestock sector more than ever and the project’s focus on this sector could contribute to this aim and thereby enable to take bold measures together in the near future. . . .
‘LIVES Project Manager Dr. Azage Tegegne on his part said the project has a duration of six years and is aimed at supporting smallholders in ten zones of the Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, and SNNP states through various livestock and irrigation development schemes. . . .
‘The project is mainly aimed at creating base for research-oriented livestock development and betterment of pastoralists, farmers and the country at large, he noted. . . .
‘LIVES is a 19.26 million Canadian Dollar (CAD) project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) with a view to benefiting 200,000 households engaged in farming and livestock. The project is . . . focusing on ways of developing and improving livestock production systems and technologies in animal breeding, animal feed and science, sustainable forage seed systems, sanitation, animal health and higher market competitiveness.’
Read the whole article in The Ethiopian Herald: Institutes launch smallholder life-changing project, 25 Jan 2013.
Visit the LIVES web site.
ILRI Clippings 