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 3 Enhanced capacity of project partners to experiment with and use fodder innovations through effective communication, technical information and training 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 3. Enhanced capacity of project partners to experiment with and use fodder innovations through effective communication, technical information and training

3. Activity 1 - Development of appropriate communication strategies for joint learning within and between countries

4. In Ethiopia the main strategy developed for communication and joint learning has been establishment of active stakeholder groups. In Ada’a woreda, the activities of the stakeholder group have supported establishment of a dairy cooperative, procurement of cross-bred cows and improved milk marketing mechanisms Cross-site visits in Ada’a and Alamata have also proved to be an effective tool for inspiring both farmers and wider stakeholders to take concerted action on livestock development. Stakeholder groups have also organized within-site learning visits bringing in multiple stakeholders

5. Fodder Roundtable FAP Research Team A A A A A C A C A C A C A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Mieso Alamata Ada’a

6. Used Fodder Field Days as a mechanisms for bringing key stakeholders together in a relaxed forum

7. Used Cross-visits as a way of building knowledge and momentum among farmers – But .... organised by Stakeholder Platform

9. Activity 2 - Identification and participation in training modules for innovation systems (with DFID project)

10. Getting to grips with innovation thinking Cross-project learning with Fodder Innovation Project: Alan Duncan participated in FIP project meeting Jan 2008. Alan Duncan participated in FIP stakeholder meeting in Hyderabad - May 2010 Mona Dhamankhar joint stakeholder workshop in Nazareth, Ethiopia FIP co-ordinators (Peter Bezkorwajnij and Ranjitha Puskur) and researchers (Rashid Sulaiman) have participated in all FAP co-ordination meetings. FIP-FAP meta-analysis was commissioned (Seife Ayele)

11. Within-country activities Initial cross-project training in Ethiopia in April 2008 Ethiopia sharing workshop at Nazareth in June 2009 Short trainings at project sites in 2010 - Kebebe But mainly ... “learning through doing” at project sites. Getting to grips with innovation thinking

12. Activity 3 - Identification of partner capacity building needs

13. A pronounced technical capacity gap on establishment, management and utilization of planted fodder - both farmers and extension personnel. Series of technical training events have been provided in project sites in Ethiopia. Trainings have been run in collaboration with regional research colleagues. Also, a series of fact sheets on fodder management are being developed and will be translated into local languages. Many existing fact sheets have already been distributed.

14. Summary of trainings conducted

15. Activity 4 - Development of project communication material

16. Fodder fact sheets

17. Developed project blog

18. Blog hits

19. Developed project wiki

20. Fodder Roundtable flyers and D-Group

22. Key messages Existing approaches do work: cross visits, farmer field days, simple information leaflets in local languages, practical training on technical aspects We embedded these within the activities of the stakeholder platforms: farmer field days used to build bridges between stakeholders; joint delivery of training with permanent stakeholders helped to make things sustainable We both facilitated the stakeholder groups (Years 1 and 2, devolved in Year 3) and were a member: one thing we could offer was technical support – this was important for our credibility.