The document discusses market-oriented livestock production and sustainable watershed management in Ethiopia's Atsbi and Mieso districts, focusing on addressing challenges like feed shortages and degraded natural resources. It outlines strategies to enhance productivity and income for smallholder farmers, including improved forage management, apiculture development, and crop diversification. The project aims to share innovative practices and promote scaling up successful interventions through training and community engagement.

1. Market-oriented livestock production and sustainable
watershed management in Astbi and Mieso districts,
Ethiopia: IPMS experience
Azage Tegegne, Berhanu Gebremedhin, Dirk Hoekstra, Gebremedhin
W/wahid, Zewdu Ayele, Kahsay Berhe
“Training on Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Planning and
Implementation”, Bahir Dar, 22-27 November 2012
Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) Project, International Livestock
Research Institute (ILRI), P.O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Corresponding Author: a.tegegne@cgiar.org

2. Who is responsible??

3. Background – Livestock in Ethiopia
 Large livestock population - cattle - 50 million, sheep – 25 million; Goats – 22
million; in crop-livestock mixed and pastoral/agro-pastoral production systems.
 Semi arid and arid lowlands cover 78 million ha (61-65 % of the land), home for
12% of human and 26% of livestock population; (agro)-pastoral system.
 About 80-85% of feed from natural pasture and quantity and quality varies. Feed
shortage is a key constraint and producers have developed innovations in feed
resources development and feeding systems.
 With increased population pressure and over use of natural resources watersheds
have reduced productivity often unable to feed the growing population.
 Our objective is to share innovative practices in market-oriented livestock
production within a watershed context in the dry highlands of Atsbi in Tigray and
the semi-arid areas of Mieso in Oromia.

4. Attributes of Astbi, Tigray study site
 Land area 1,223 Km2; Human population
110,578
 Altitude - 918-3069 (2212) masl 75% >2600 m
 Rainfall 365-678 (537) mm and temperature,
13-25 (17.8) oC
 Agro-ecologically classified as- dry highland
Major crops grown are: barley, wheat, teff,
faba beans, lentils, field peas, chickpeas,
irrigated fruits and vegetables
Livestock resources - Cattle (52,264); Sheep
(72,471); Goats (10,427); Camels (1,529);
Beehives (6,729)

5. Attributes of Mieso, Oromia study site
Land area of 2,574 Km2 and human population of
115,568.
Altitude - 900 to 1600 masl ; temperature varies
between 240C and 280C; annual rainfall -790 mm
Agro-ecologically - classified as semi-arid lowland
and only 12% land suitable for crop production
Major crops - sorghum, maize, teff, sesame,
haricot beans and sweet potatoes
Cattle (92,411), goats (41,869), camels (11,445)
and sheep (7,325)
Pastoralists - 80%, agro-pastoralists- 15%, crop-
livestock production – 5%.
About 73,658 ha (38%) of total land covered by
bushes, forests and grazing land, and are the
major feed resources (IPMS, 2006).

6. Watershed
 A watershed consists of a steep land as runoff generating
and valley bottoms as run-on zones in a continuum fashion.
 With increased population pressure, over use of natural
resources results in low watershed productivity often
unable to feed the growing population.
 In this regard, IPMS has been working on watershed based
market-oriented crop and livestock commodities
development to improve productivity and income of
smallholder farmers.

7. Implemented interventions

8. Intervention approaches
 Potentials, limitations and interventions (including GIS) of
market oriented livestock commodities were identified
along the value chain framework (VCF)
 Natural pasture improvement
 Crop residue improvement
 Introduction of improved forage species in conserved watersheds
 Introduction of cut and carry system of livestock feeding
 Interventions implemented along the commodity value
chain – Beef and goats in Mieso and sheep and apiculture
in Atsbi

9. Atsbi

10. Production Systems - crop-livestock system,
overgrazing, feed shortage and land degradation

11. Major livestock commodities - sheep and apiculture

12. Discussion with experts and the community
followed by training and exchange visit programs

13. FTCs as knowledge centres

14. Woreda Knowledge Centres – non-
electronic and electronic materials

15. Targeting, selection of suitable forage species,
community mobilization and action

16. Rehabilitated hillside areas

17. Phalaris aquatica

18. Area enclosures

19. Changes in biomass and forage composition -
backyard

20. Farmland/backyard forage development

21. Hillside rehabilitation

22. Gully rehabilitation

23. Changes in gully stabilization

24. System intensification -– cut and
carry system in bottomlands

25. Cut and carry system

26. Cut and carry system - bottomlands

27. Changes in biomass and forage composition:
irrigated sites

28. Farmland feed resources development

29. Changes in forage groundcover – slower
runoff, higher water infiltration

30. Changes –in groundwater recharge and streams
and spring development

31. Enriched Biodiversity – linked to
apiculture development

32. Water harvesting

33. Improved groundwater recharge, shallow wells,
water harvesting and Irrigated horticultural crops
development

34. Watershed treatment and apiculture development
Bee forages

35. Apiculture in area closure

36. Apiculture development

37. Queen rearing and training centre

38. Apiculture products marketing – linkage
with processors

39. Honey shop in Mekelle - branding

40. Sheep production and marketing

41. Diversification- Marketing feed for cash
income

42. Monitoring, evaluation and learning for scaling out lessons
through field visits and exchange programs

43. Atsbi –– forage development 2005 - 2009
Forage intervention type Demo area – ha or Scaled out coverage – ha,
cuttings PAs, cuttings
Degraded lands 26 ha 581 ha in 8 PAs, harvest
once/yr
Bottomlands; year round cut 69 ha 1746 ha in 13 PAs,
and carry harvested 3-4 times/yr
Bottomlands; partial cut and Modified/traditional 5764 ha in 16 PAs
carry
Private plots Emerged by itself 10 PAs
Irrigated sites and gullies 300 cuttings in FTCs > 45,000 cuttings
Grazing land transformed to 95 ha 4 PAs
cut and carry

44. Changes in biomass yield in the
watershed continuum

45. Changes in forage utilization: Sheep fattening
and innovation uptake

46. Improved forage uptake following demonstration

47. Apiculture and vegetables development
Apiculture
 Currently, there are 19,272 hives and colonies - worth of about USD 1.5 - 1.75
million from honey and colony sale benefiting 10,878 households
 Changes – Increased honey productivity from about 5 kg in 1997 to a record
high of 80-100 kg/hive/year in 2007; and improved honey quality
Vegetables
 In 2008, about 11,393 households (33% women) grew vegetables on 1,417
ha with total income of USD 2.5 -3.2 million
 Irrigated crop growers earn USD 250 - 350 per household per harvest.
 These innovative practices have been scaled up and out among PAs using
field visits, study tours and platforms

48. Mieso, Oromia

49. Pastoral and agro-pastoral system

50. Crop-livestock system

51. Major livestock species - cattle, goats, camels

52. Feed resources in the crop-livestock system

53. Participatory assessment of feed resources in
pastoral area

54. Intrusion of undesirable invasive species
Prosopis juliflora
Euphorbia spp. Acacia nubica

55. Major feeding systems

56. Re-habilitating degraded rangelands

57. Fodder enclosure management and strategic use
 The size of private enclosures varies from 0.5 to 1.5 ha.
 Only 47% practice cut and carry feeding while 53% allow
free grazing.
 The community also rehabilitated communal hill side
grazing lands through planting grasses and leguminous
forages; which improved NRM, controlled soil erosion and
enhanced soil moisture retention.
 The reward from productivity of enclosures is dependent on
management and utilization patterns

58. Crop residue improvement

59. Sorghum conservation, chopping and urea treatment for
improved animal production

60. Production of food/feed crops
 Sorghum, maize, haricot bean and sweet potato
production cover 73%, 22%, 3% and 1%, respectively
of the arable land area.
 They are used as food/feed crops, for cash income,
up keep of soil fertility and fulfilling social functions.

61. Sweet sorghum
 Cultivated in crop livestock and agro-pastoralist areas on 80%
of the arable land (about 13,000 ha).
 Hardy and drought tolerant, survives 7 shocks per cropping
season; stays on field for 7 months and produces tillers.
 Intercropped with cow pea, pigeon pea, sweet potatoes,
haricot beans.
 Is palatable, has higher voluntary intake, fresh stalk is eaten
by humans and stover is used for construction and firewood.

62. Inter-cropping sweet sorghum with pigeon
pea and Rhodes grass

63. Sweet potato
 Is a food/feed crop often inter-cropped with cereals and is also
used for income generation.
 Five types cultivated and criteria for selection are early maturity
(>120 days), drought resistance, yield and market demand.
 Tubers for fattening; leaves and vines for milking animals
(increases yield and shortens post-partum anoestrus period).
 According to farmers, cows become over fat and infertile when
supplemented with tubers, and fattening cattle do not respond
to supplementation with leaves and vines.

64. Sweet potato

65. Forage integration into cropping systems

66. Participatory selection of Napier grass varieties

67. Improved forages – Napier grass

68. Fodder development

69. Fodder development

70. Fodder development- forage integration into
cropping system

71. Construction of ponds and water
harvesting structures with feed resource

72. Diarrhea, pneumonia and tick infestation are major
health problems

73. Use of locally available concentrate feeds
and other farmer innovations
 Drenching fenugreek powder mixed with water to
clean up the digestive system and internal
parasites
 Feeding maize, haricot bean, sweet potato tubers,
grain flours and dough stage maize
 Drenching sugar, use of salt, mineral soil and small
quantities of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) to
supplement phosphorus

74. Concentrate feeds – oil cakes

75. Urea-molasses blocks

76. Use of fresh human urine and mineral soils
 Fresh urine is poured on crop
residues and fed to increase
feed intake, improve body
condition and temperament.
 Mineral soil (known as
‘Haya’) fed during the early
rainy season to provide
nutrients and reduce internal
parasite burden.

77. Use of manure and medicinal plants
 Producers indicated manure application improves water
retention and utilization, increases grain yield 2-3 folds &
biomass yield by threefold.
 Use of medicinal plants (‘Harmel’) widely spread innovative
practice.
 The root is chopped, dried, powdered, mixed with water and
administered around onset of short rainy season (March to
May) to treat diarrhea and internal parasites.
 Tubers shared as gifts and some sold in local markets.

78. Some medicinal plants

79. Input supply and services

80. Input supply and services

81. Concentrate feed supply system

82. Rural shops – Private vet drugs and forage
seed – agri-business

83. Improved Production

84. Cattle fattening (@ 20,000-35,000 Birr/head –
about 2,000 USD)

85. Improved animal production

86. Small Ruminants

87. Regular and strategic destocking
 In C-L system cattle fattened during abundant period (July - Nov)
and sale between Sept and Dec., using buy-plow-fatten-sale
and/or buy-fatten-sale system.
 Emerging system - fatten oxen for 3-6 mo by matching with feed
availability (June to Nov) and the market.
 (Agro) pastoralists annually destock young males before feed
exhaustion while in best body condition and fetch higher prices.
 Producers at best position to buy grain at cheaper prices as this
period coincides with the post harvest period of cereal crops.

88. Market-oriented production system and
marketing groups

89. Market promotion and linkage – Livestock fair

90. Marketing and linkages

91. Market promotion, recognition and
linkages – Awards during livestock fair

92. Beef and goat meat for domestic market

93. Farmer innovation in Mieso
 Fodder enclosure management and strategic use
 Regular and strategic destocking (matching livestock number with feed resources)
 Supplement locally available mineral soils
 Pouring urine/fresh urine from human/ on feeds to enhance intake
 Deliberate production of food/feed crops (sweet sorghum, maize, beans, sweet potato)
 Use of organic manure on crop fields
 Use of supplemental feeds like dough stage maize, sorghum and haricot bean and grains,
sweet potato tubers, and various multipurpose leguminous plants
 Targeted feeding to specific group of animals like lactating cows, fattening animals
 Cut and carry feeding system with proper shade and feeding and watering troughs

94. Farmer innovation in Mieso
 Improving the quality of feed resources through boiling, roasting,
soaking, and making flour from grains,
 Wilting feeds like sweet potato leaves and vines, various weeds and
grasses
 Use of salt consistently
 Use of locally available medicinal plants as wormicidal and false neem
tree seeds against mild level of bloat cases
 Improving presentation of crop residues like sorghum stover and maize
stalk by chopping
 Massaging finished cattle at night

95. Key issues for integrated approach
to commodity development
 Knowledge Management
 Capacity Development
 Commodity NOT Technology Development
 Production Technologies
 Input supply system and service provision including
innovative credit
 Marketing and linkages
 Lessons for scaling out and up

96. Conclusions and Outlook
 Key factors to stimulate local innovation - economic
incentives, erratic rainfall and drought, food
insecurity, strong social bond and agile community
asset, etc.
 Determination of the community to learn to
innovate and internalize innovativeness serve as a
spring board in adapting, sustaining natural
resources and transforming the livelihoods of the
rural community.

97. Some interesting landscapes

107. Thank You!!
www.ipms-ethiopia.org