Livestock and economic wellbeing

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ILRI@40 Addis: Livestock and economic well-being

Reported by Paul Karaimu and Tigist Endashaw??

#x-ILRI@40 Addis: Livestock and healthy lives-DAY ONE: 6 November 2014 at the Sheraton HotelDAY ONE: 6 November 2014 at the Sheraton Hotel

#x-ILRI@40 Addis: Livestock and healthy lives-Featured talk by Lorne BabiukFeatured talk by Kanayo Nwanze

Blogpost from keynote address: Help smallholders protect their environments and adapt to climate change–IFAD president challenges livestock researchers

Watch the livestream of the presentation

Roundtable discussion: Livestock and healthy lives

Moderator: Simeon Ehui, Manager, Agriculture Global Practice, South Asia Region, World Bank Panellists:

  • HE Wondirad Mandefro, State Minister, Agriculture, Ethiopia Ministry of Agriculture
  • Jurjen Draaijer, Global Dairy Coordinator, SNV
  • Tom Randolph, Director, CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish
  • Susan Minae, Officer in Charge, FAO Subregional Office for Eastern Africa and Interim Representative to the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Ethiopia

Key points forwarded

Overview How can smallholder farmers participate in this transformation? How do we make sure they are not left behind? How do we help smallholders create wealth? Issues

  • Need to fully understand the circumstances of smallholders, their labor and natural resource base.
  • Use marginal lands as source of livestock feed, which provides for livestock and provides jobs for rural folk.
  • Invest in pastoral and mixed systems to enhance market access and extension services and capacity development and inputs.
  • Smallholders should be enabled to see livestock production as a business-strategic thinking- not just something they do in the backyard.

At regional level

  • Strengthen institutions that support small-scale farmers and other chain actors, including traders and those providing value addition.
  • Regional economic blocs important could facilitate best practices exchange and networking between countries.
  • Make food safety issues key and nutrition to improve the food security of our communities.

Research

  • To protect small farming business and associated agribusiness in value chains to keep it growing and make it inclusive
  • Support systems to help farmers’ transition into other livelihoods, working with private sector and other players who better understand context and the needs.
  • Should help deliver food safety and deal with zoonotic diseases. Also must deal with GHGs from livestock and give options for reducing energy/renewable energy use from livestock production. Aim is more efficient livestock production systems.
  • Government to invest in basic services to reduce risks of investing with farmers.
  • Better use of cooperatives and farmer organizations that bring together farmers and operate on commercial basis.
  • Build farmers capacities to help them better adopt technologies such as improved breeds.
  • Institutional investment and capacity building needed to take subsistence farming towards commercialization.
  • Encourage women and youth participation in agricultural value addition activities.

Watch the livestream of the roundtable discussion on livestock and economic wellbeing

DAY TWO: 7 November 2014 at the ILRI Addis campus

Agenda

Presentations

  • Livestock and economic well-being - Isabelle Baltenweck