In low- and middle-income countries women form the largest proportion of the poor livestock farming workforce, constitute less than 19% of the agricultural holders, and receive 5% of all agricultural extension services and 10% of total agricultural development funds. Yet, women allocate more than 70% of their income to household needs, mainly to ensure household food and nutrition security and general well being. Livestock are one of the few farm resources women can own and control. Livestock provide nutritious food daily, that women in their social role as nutrition providers, can use to feed themselves and their families. The sale of animal source foods can provide cash for household expenses in areas where alternative opportunities for income may be rare.    

However, despite the livestock sector being a viable contributor to women’s source of income and livelihood, women face many challenges that hinder their ability to produce and benefit maximally from the sector. In developing nations, women have limited access to productive resources, information and even markets. These barriers are persistently maintained through social norms, which deter women from participating in decision making, owning resources, and traveling to reach markets or extension services. The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated gender-based constraints: it has compounded further the challenges women face owing to movement restrictions that made it impossible for women to buy livestock inputs and sell their produce. Women have sold the livestock species they controlled at a higher rate than men, to deal with the COVID-19 emergency. Under COVID-19 women have had to deal with increasing care for the sick, childcare burdens, and domestic violence among others.  

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ”Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” It is aimed at celebrating the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Women have played crucial roles in the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, as health care workers, caregivers, innovators, community organizers and as some of the most exemplary and effective national leaders in combating the pandemic. They have continually demonstrated their skills, knowledge and systems to effectively lead in response and recovery efforts.

At ILRI, we sought to mark the day by reflecting on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women and the leadership strategies they are implementing to manage the situation. We interviewed some of our leaders at ILRI to highlight gender research at the Institute and the One-CGIAR platform. Iain Wright, the Deputy Director General at ILRI and also Chair of the CGIAR GENDER Platform Interim Management Committee notes that ILRI continually provides and also seeks to avail further opportunities for women advancement not only at career level, but in all aspects of their lives. He adds that the One CGIAR platform offers additional opportunities and encouraged staff to seek out advise or mentorship from women leaders who have attained what they aspire to attain in life.

Here is a link to the interview conducted by Esther Mungai-Njuguna as Senior Scientist at ILRI with Iain Wright, Deputy Director General, ILRI.

We also spoke to Alessandra Galiè, the ILRI’s Gender Team Leader – one of the few women who took up leadership positions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alessandra has a great vision to steer the ILRI gender team forward. She notes that the team needs to take stock of the available information on gender and livestock, to identify knowledge gaps and develop a research agenda that addresses these gaps. In regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alessandra says it’s also important for scientists within the One CGIAR to harness synergies across the various agricultural commodities and systems to address gender issues more comprehensively and effectively. 

Here is a link to the interview conducted with Alessandra Galiè, Team Leader: Gender, ILRI.

Nicoline de Haan is the Director of the CGIAR GENDER Platform, a role that she also took up during the COVID-19 crisis. We also spoke to Nicoline in a bid to find out what the GENDER platform is implementing, and she outlines the approach that the platform is leading in putting gender equality at the heart of food systems research. In regard to the COVID-19, Nicoline notes that the pandemic has not only highlighted the important role women play in society, but also availed lessons on the importance of including women in decision making.

Here is a link to the interview conducted with Nicoline de Haan Director of the CGIAR GENDER Platform

We also spoke to women vendors involved in the ‘Women in Business’ (WiB) research project that aims to develop, promote, and test women-led chicken businesses with the goal of promoting the economic empowerment of young rural poor women and improving the food and nutrition security of their households. We captured the experiences of women chicken vendors under the COVID-19 pandemic situation and also to identify opportunities and avenues for WiB to support.

Elizabeth Swai, the Chief Executive Officer at AKM Gliters Company Limited based in Tanzania. Listen into to her story of resilience that runs up into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tatu Ibrahimu, a unit brooder leader under AKM Glitters in Tanzania highlights her situation.

Grace Bruno Duncan, a chicken business entrepreneur in Tanzania narrates her experience further.

The situation is no different in Ethiopia. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the challenges women face in the livestock sector. We also spoke to some of the women taking part in the Women in Business Project in the nation to highlight the plight they have had to combat with during the pandemic. Visit the links below to access the videos.

Women in Business Ethiopia videos

We have all these and so much more on the ILRI International Women’s Day 2021. Click here to visit.

#IWD2021 #InternationalWomensDay @ILRI

See gender publications here …

See more from the CGIAR GENDER platform here …

Happy International Women’s Day 2021!

The level of chronic malnutrition among children in Rwanda remains high. Only 30% of children aged 6-23 months consume a diet that meets the minimum dietary diversity requirements, while just 47% achieve minimum meal frequency. Furthermore, 38% of children under five years are stunted according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.

Under the Feed the Future Innovations Labs for Livestock Systems research project, the ‘Enhancing milk quality and consumption for improved income and nutrition in Rwanda’ project has been working to improve child nutrition in the country through the ‘Gabura Amata Mubyeyi’ (which means ‘parents, give milk’) intervention. The intervention focuses on using social behavioural change communication to promote animal-source foods consumption, particularly the drinking of milk among ‘Girinka’ households.

Three Stones International, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Research Triangle International (RTI), liaised with the nationally appointed officers and technical working groups for approval of the developed messages, images and counselling cards. They were also shared with the team tasked with updating the nationwide counselling package used by community health workers. This approach allowed for integration of the intervention counselling cards into the existing national maternal and child nutrition (MIYCN) programs and related activities implemented by community health workers.

The ‘Gabura Amata Mubyeyi’ intervention was implemented between February and September 2019, reaching about 3,500 mothers in Ruhango and Nyabihu districts on average per month. Social behaviour change communication intervention materials intended to improve animal-source foods consumption were designed in collaboration with Rwanda’s National Early Childhood Development Program, which coordinates nutrition activities in the country. The materials consisted of five counselling cards, one poster, and one brochure translated into Kinyarwanda for effective language reach to the locals.

A counselling card specifically dedicated to the promotion of animal-source foods did not exist in the previous national MIYCN counselling package, which was developed in 2011. Revised national counselling cards were developed with a message titled ‘Your baby needs animal-source foods’ during stakeholder design workshops in which Three Stones International, the project implementing partner, shared the tested messages from the Gabura Amata Mubyeyi intervention, promoting animal-source foods for young children. These updated counselling cards were validated at the national level through the National Child Development Agency and have now been adopted into the national community health workers curriculum.

Much debate between the project team and stakeholders went into the discussion on the appropriate time to introduce cow’s milk to young children, before it was agreed to continue emphasizing that cow’s milk be started at 12 months. Specific messages on this and the importance of hygiene, safe handling and storage of fresh cow’s milk were also developed.

The intervention counselling cards were designed with culturally appropriate messages and images targeting the pregnant and lactating women with children under five years of age. Their key messages focus on: 1) the importance and benefits of animal-source foods and milk consumption; 2) the appropriate quantities of animal-source foods and cow’s milk to be consumed by pregnant and lactating women and young children; 3) the appropriate time to introduce cow’s milk and animal-source foods to young children; 4) recognizing cow’s milk allergy or animal-source food intolerance symptoms and treatment; and 5) the importance of hygiene, food safety and storage of fresh milk. The key messages, images and counselling cards were also developed with a gender sensitive lens that promotes the inclusion of mothers, fathers and caregivers in the initiative and translated into Kinyarwanda.

From the selected model families of the Gabura Amata Mubyeyi intervention, it was evident that inclusion of men in the counselling card images showing them engaging in child nutrition activities led to positive behaviour changes at home. The inclusion of husbands in nutrition education sessions led to greater understanding of the importance of animal-source foods and mothers found it easier to discuss their household nutritional needs and priorities with their husbands. The men too were delighted to acquire new knowledge.

Following the successes registered in the course of the project, behaviour change messaging targeting mothers, fathers and caregivers has emerged as a key means to increase animal-source food consumption, especially milk, at the household and community level.  Communicating compelling messages that promote the consumption of animal-source food through various channels (interpersonal and print) results in behaviour change that increases diet diversity and reduces child stunting.

See more on the Feed the Future Innovations Lab for Livestock Systems project here and here.

Visit the Rwanda National Early Childhood Development Program website here.

While the demand for livestock-derived-foods is increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), livestock productivity remains low, limiting the opportunities offered by this sector to enhance livelihoods. One of the key constraints faced by livestock keepers in these countries is limited access to affordable and quality inputs and services.

The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock (Livestock CRP), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners contribute to improving access to these services with the aim of maximizing livestock-mediated livelihoods and resilience to risk among smallholder and pastoral livestock producers in LMICs. To consolidate the work done, a research topic in Frontiers entitled ‘Ensuring animal health and other services for efficient and inclusive livestock value chains in LMICs‘ was started. The goal of this research topic is to facilitate research and stimulate discussion on access to affordable and quality inputs and services that ultimately improve livestock sector production and productivity in sustainable and equitable ways.

Why such a topic?

Accessing affordable and quality animal health inputs and services, feed and breeding, and extension or advisory services remains a key challenge for livestock keepers in LMICs. Different arrangements for the delivery of such inputs and services have emerged, especially in the dairy and poultry sectors. Some of these arrangements are led by the value chain actors themselves, while others have been promoted and supported by development agencies, the public sector and donors. The effectiveness of these organizational arrangements is poorly documented, limiting the opportunity to learn and apply lessons across value chains and countries.

Given the livestock sector characteristics, in particular its products’ perishability, high value and seasonality, both the public and private sectors are proposing and implementing new ways to improve delivery of inputs and services. These inputs and services include digital technologies, incentive-based payment and public private partnerships. It is therefore the opportune time to contrast these different experiences to derive recommendations on approaches for more effective and inclusive delivery of livestock inputs and services.

Out of 28 abstracts submitted following a call to contribute to the research topic (which started in February 2020), 21 were selected for submission as papers. Twelve of these papers are outputs from the research done under the Livestock CRP and nine others share perspectives on the topic from different research organizations. Eleven of the submitted papers have a focus on delivery of animal health services. Other papers cover topics such as feeds, genetics, food safety, output marketing and policy. Ten papers cover the livestock sector in general, while cattle and small ruminants are covered in three papers. Other species targeted by the papers are pigs, poultry and dairy cattle. In terms of geographical coverage, four papers take a global view while the other papers, except one, cover sub-Saharan African countries.

The journal issue about this research topic will be available in 2021 with all papers in open access. A webinar to discuss the main findings will also be organized.

The Research topic’s guest editors are Isabelle Baltenweck and Bernard Bett from ILRI and Simeon Kaitibie from Lincoln University in New Zealand.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is implementing a Uganda priority country project to address specific constraints in the pig value chain. The ‘Improving pig productivity and incomes through an environmentally sustainable and gender-inclusive integrated intervention package’ project, which is also known as ‘MorePORK II’ focuses on developing the capacity of value chain actors in best-bet interventions through an information and communications and technology (ICT) platform known as PigSmart.

The PigSmart platform is an ecosystem of digital players and contributors working towards efficiency, quality of pigs, profits, and cost reduction among other aspects in the value chain. It links smallholder pig farmers to quality-controlled input and service providers and offers a two-way flow of information that also enhances extension work.

The project’s main aim is to improve the livelihoods of women and men farmers through a market systems approach, which supports stronger and more profitable market links between pig buyers and producers. PigSmart is a tool intended to enhance and strengthen these linkages.

This is achieved through market arrangement approaches that also strengthen links between producers and inputs and service suppliers, thereby incentivizing adoption, by value chain actors, of the integrated productivity-enhancing integrated ‘best-bet’ interventions that are pre-tested through the research program.

The best-bet interventions in the PigSmart innovation are designed and availed to all value chain actors. These include best practices in information and education products and tools such as the feed calculator, disease reporting channels and information technologies on herd health, community-based artificial insemination, improved forages, manure management, heat stress and a business model for improved commercial feeds through training and certification. Extension services are enhanced digitally on multiple channels – Short Message Service (SMS), interactive voice response (IVR) and video. The project envisages that the PigSmart partnerships will attract private sector digital players into the pig value chain so that farmers and other value chain actors can also benefit from the efficiency and other products that these solutions already provide to other livestock value chains.

Key problems being addressed

• Lack of access to timely and appropriate extension services and quality inputs.
• Limited knowledge of best practices in husbandry, disease prevention and control, poor access to quality veterinary inputs such as drugs, including use of antimicrobials.
• Poor disease management, inadequate feeding and hygienic practices.
• Existing main channels of information to pig farmers do not necessarily ensure farmers access information to resolve their problems.
• Inability of the current channels such as face-to-face and training workshops and seminars to deliver information efficiently.
• Farmer’s failure to act on the information received during face-to-face meetings and training workshops.
• Lack of information by farmers and extension officers to better enhance the pig value chain processes.
• Poor access to market information.
• Poor quality commercial feeds on the market.

Examples of the PigSmart digital innovations

Innovation type	Innovation description and functions
	The feed calculator is a mobile-based app that computes least cost and balanced feed for livestock based on the local feed ingredients available to a farmer. The app is used for training extension staff and village agents on formulating feed based on local feed ingredients rather than commercial feed ingredients. The solution can help change the farmer’s mind-set on pig feeding from the belief that pigs eat too much and shift practices from reliance on commercial feed concentrates to use of local ingredients with similar outcomes in growth rate and pork quality among other variables.
	The gross margin calculator, which is dubbed AgriTechTalk International, targets farmers with the help of village-based agents to calculate basic input and output costs on their pig farm enterprises. The objective is to instill farming as a business which has knock-on effects on efforts towards reducing costs by improving efficiency in farming practices.
	The Akorion Company Limited, which is also known as EzyAgric, focuses on digitizing the agricultural value chain to efficiently deliver production, financial and market information and bundled services. This is done through the EzyAgric App that serves as both a hub for knowledge and an e-commerce for production, produce marketing and access to finance. It is data-driven and inclusive, enabling inputs and product demand reports and facilitates record management at cooperative or group level. Using a network of community-based enterprises (EzyAgric market agents) and individuals (EzyAgric village agents), this solution aggregates farmer demand for inputs and delivers the same at a competitive market rate from a quality-assured source thereby linking farmers and groups to cheaper and quality assured inputs and services. This digital solution strengthens the overall pig value chain system.

With such innovations in use, it is expected that pig farmers in Uganda will increase productivity in quantity and quality, reduce costs and increase their income as a result of better access to timely, relevant and actionable information besides quality-controlled inputs and services.

All agricultural production—whether of crops, trees, forages, livestock or fish—starts with seeds, making seed security vital to food security. Seed security means that producers—smallholder women and men farmers especially—have permanent and unrestricted access to adequate quantities of quality seed that is suitable to their agro-ecological conditions and socio-economic needs. Efforts to enhance seed security should be inclusive, without disparities related to income, social class, age or gender. Yet, gender gaps reveal themselves across the seed system, including in the breeding, production, selection and distribution stages, as well as in how the seeds are used and who reaps the benefits from this use.

While there is extensive literature on seed systems and how they should be organized to ensure seed security for smallholder farmers, a body of research unpacking gender dynamics within these systems has just begun to emerge. This includes a portfolio of projects initiated and funded by the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research, which was hosted within PIM’s Flagship 6: Crosscutting Gender Research and Coordination from 2017–2019. A new PIM Synthesis Brief summarizes this early work and provides an outlook for future research to mainstream gender analysis in seed systems development.

Click here to read more the key messages, download the full Synthesis Brief and to learn more!

Farming dominates the economy of The Gambia, a small, narrow West African country (the smallest country in mainland Africa, which is less than 50 km wide at its widest point). Surrounded on three sides by Senegal, the country has an Atlantic coastline to the west, with its borders mirroring The Gambia River, which flows through the centre of the country before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. (That the river is navigable deep into the continent made The Gambia central both to the slave trade in the 17^th—18^th centuries and to its subsequent abolition in the 19^th century.) 

A third of the Gambian population of some 1.7 million people, still live below the international poverty line of USD1.25 a day, with most of the poor living in rural areas. With its fertile land, agriculture accounts for some 23% of gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 75% of the labour force. Within agriculture (which is dominated by groundnuts), livestock account for 5.3% of GDP.

Last week (on 19 Nov 2020), a ‘livestock master plan’ was launched by the country’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ebrima Sissaho, at the Department of Livestock Services headquarters in Abuko, just outside the capital of Banjul. The plan is a detailed roadmap for enhancing investment in the country’s livestock sector. Based on recent research evidence, the plan provides a vision and strategy for the country’s livestock sector, targets for the country’s livestock sector to meet, a budget covering both the human and financial resources needed for a growing livestock sector, and a sequential plan of action to meet the new targets.

This new livestock master plan is an integral part of The Gambia’s ongoing Small Ruminant Production Enhancement Project (SRPEP), which is funded by the Islamic Development Bank. The small ruminant project works to improve the livelihoods of members of more than 30,000 livestock-producing households. It does this by improving the productivity of local breeds of goats and sheep through enhanced feeding and husbandry practices, fostering greater access to veterinary services as well as boreholes and other production infrastructure and bolstering livestock markets.

During a first meeting to launch The Gambia’s livestock master plan, Karl Rich, principal scientist in the Policies, Institutions, and Livelihoods (PIL) Program of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and Njie Mamud, program director of SRPEP, both pointed to an increasing demand for animal-source foods (milk, meat and eggs) locally and internationally that the country was as yet unable to supply due to challenges in the country’s livestock production and feed systems, fragmentation of its livestock value chains and poor infrastructure. Rich argued that by working with many diverse stakeholders to implement its new livestock master plan, The Gambia will be able to help its smallholder farmers transform their largely subsistence livestock systems into a profitable and thriving livestock sector.

Mamadou Ceesay, chair of The Gambia National Assembly Select Committee on Agriculture, stressed the need to obtain data still missing on various components of the country’s livestock sector. Permanent Secretary Sissaho said he was convinced that ‘implementing the livestock master plan will help restore the country’s export capacity in small ruminant production to previous levels.’

Souleymane Kebe, of the Islamic Development Bank, expressed gratitude that ‘the livestock master plan provides The Gambia not only with a viable action plan but also, from surveys to be conducted, with credible evidence of the current status of the sector.’

Describing the whole of The Gambia’s livestock master plan project, Isabelle Baltenweck, leader of ILRI’s PIL Program, said: ‘ILRI is delighted to work with The Gambia and the Islamic Development Bank in this project, bringing its many years of experience and expertise in livestock master planning to support this nation in meeting its ambitious and sustainable livestock-sector development goals.’

The Gambia’s livestock master plan is expected to enhance the livelihoods of rural and peri-urban communities not only by strengthening the productivity and resilience of their ruminant production systems but also by supporting the creation of livestock businesses, particularly those run by young people and by women.

The project will focus on enhancing the sustainable development of small ruminant production systems specifically through greater support for herd health, improved genetics, greater access to animal feeds and pastures, better management of livestock production and marketing systems, adoption of innovative techniques for processing livestock products, and by providing small-scale livestock producers with greater access to finance.

The Gambia’s Livestock Master Plan will be implemented in all 39 districts of the country, providing both a useful national-level overview of the sector and a practical roadmap distinguishing many opportunities for smart investments in the country’s all-important meat, milk and poultry value chains.

Broadcast media coverage of The Gambia-ILRI livestock master plan meeting can be found on GRTS TV, https://fb.watch/1Tki8PU0jx/, and on QTV, https://fb.watch/1TjaHRck8a/.

The Indian state of Odisha has officially rolled-out the process of designing a ‘livestock master plan’ (LMP) with the support of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

The process started on 22 Oct 2020 with a virtual inception meeting in which R Raghu Prasad, the commissioner-cum-secretary of the Fisheries and Animal Resources Department (FARD) of the Government of Odisha praised the initiative saying the LMP would help in leveraging the ‘tremendous opportunities for growth in the sector.’ The share of the livestock sector’s contribution to farmer’s incomes in the state has risen to the current 7% from 1.5% in 2000 and the Odisha LMP will focus on helping small-scale livestock farmer groups, semi-commercial and commercial farmer groups and other stakeholders benefit more from the sector.

In many developing countries, chronic under investment in the livestock sector is a major constraint to national development goals. Livestock master plans aid in making a case for sustainable livestock investments by providing evidence on returns on investment from agriculture and livestock that the related ministries often lack. This evidence is essential to get financial resources for livestock development from ministries of finance, donors, and public and private investors.

Livestock master plans are detailed sector analyses and investment plans, comprising a livestock sector analysis of the current situation and trends, a long-term forecast (usually 15 years) of the impact of livestock sector strategies, and a medium-term (usually five years) investment plan with commodity value chain road maps. The road maps include a vision, targets and goalposts, a strategy, a sequential plan of action, and financial and human resources budgeting. During the LMP development process, the Odisha state human capacity for quantitative livestock sector analysis and planning will also be enhanced.

In Odisha, livestock is the most important economic activity only next to crop farming. Eighty per cent of the rural population owns livestock, which is predominantly the endeavour of smallholders, including marginal and landless household owners. Smallholders own 60% of the milch animals, 55% of the draught animals, 75% of poultry, over 80% of the goat, and almost the entire sheep and pig populations. Even so, most smallholders live below the poverty line. Income from livestock is expected to continue playing a crucial role in supplementing the limited income and employment opportunities.

Given that livestock contributes significantly to the gross state domestic product in the state, the LMP is expected to inform the desired sector development. Sirak Bahta, who leads the project at ILRI, notes that ILRI’s main goal is to provide technical support to the livestock experts and planning staff of FARD to develop a quantitative, evidenced-based, long-term livestock sector strategy and a medium-term investment plan whose implementation will lead to modernization of the state’s livestock sector and help achieve the state government’s societal development goals.

It is expected that the Odisha LMP will attract substantial and better targeted livestock sector investments from the finance ministry, development partners and private sector investors. The LMP process will accomplish this by first identifying needed investments and policies to develop the livestock sector and then carrying out foresight or ex-ante investment analysis to document and demonstrate the potential returns on investment of combined livestock technologies and policies that increase the livestock sector’s contribution to poverty reduction, food security while taking gender, equity, and other social factors into account.

During the inception meeting, Isabelle Baltenweck who heads the ILRI Policies, Institutions and Livelihoods Program that will spearhead the work, highlighted ILRI’s engagement in similar projects previously. ‘ILRI will bring in expertise from the successful design and implementation of the LMP in Bihar and its over 40 years experience in working towards socio-economic uplifting of smallholders,’ she said.

Drawing attention to the key constraints in the Odisha livestock economy; which include inadequate feeds, high disease prevalence, and limited market linkages; Habibar Rahman, ILRI’s regional representative for South Asia, said the LMP will address these and other matters related to youth inclusion, women empowerment, resource management, mechanization, and financing for greater development in the sector.

A draft Odisha livestock sector analysis is expected to be ready for submission by the end of 2020, while the preparation of the LMP with short- and long-term plans for implementation is expected to be completed by mid-2021.

Five national LMPs have been developed to date by ILRI and partners, and are being implemented in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, and Bihar State of India.

See ILRI’s work in Odisha State here and more on LMPs here.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development have been collaborating to develop tools that help planners in the livestock sector generate evidence that is crucial in decision-making. The process is embodied in the livestock master plan (LMP) initiative. The LMP is a detailed sector analysis and investment plan comprising of a livestock sector analysis of the current situation, trends, long-term forecast of the sector strategies impact, and a medium-term investment plan with commodity value chain ‘road maps’. The road maps include the vision, targets, goalposts, strategy, sequential plan of action, and financial and human resources budgeting.

The evidence generated through this process provides policymakers, private investors, donors and development partners with information to support national development objectives, and continental and global commitments as embodied in the Malabo Declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The LMP process supports countries to generate the evidence needed to develop a livestock sector strategy and livestock commodity specific roadmaps using a set of analytical tools. The LMP is then incorporated in the national agriculture investment plan (NAIP), a nationwide agriculture sector document that defines national priorities, goals and outcomes over a defined time frame.

At ILRI, the eastern and central Africa node of the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System Project (ReSAKSS) supports efforts to promote the use of the LMP process in evidence generation and outcome-based policy planning and implementation through the NAIPs. ReSAKSS is an Africa-wide network of regional nodes established in 2006 under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). It supports the implementation of CAADP efforts of high-quality analyses and knowledge products use in policymaking, tracking progress and deriving lessons.

Integration of livestock into national agricultural investment plans

Joseph Karugia, the ReSAKSS eastern and central Africa coordinator, notes that ‘in the CAADP/Malabo framework, NAIPs are the blueprint investment documents for the agriculture sector. NAIPs, therefore, ought to capture the investment commitments of both the public and private sector, other non-state actors and development partners’.

An evidence-based planning and stakeholder consultation is firmly embedded in the CAADP/Malabo principles. It is used in the development of NAIPs and aids in the identification of challenges, prioritization of investment and policy measures required for agriculture growth and development. The NAIPs provide a good opportunity to capture the role of the livestock sector and adequate direct investment to it.

Roles of the livestock sector in NAIPs

Evidence generated in NAIPs shows that the livestock sector contributes significantly to socio-economic development. But this role is often not fully appreciated, partly due to a lack of empirical evidence to counter prevailing perceptions.

The sector contributes towards livelihoods and income generation for smallholder farmers. Livestock provide high-value products, a household asset base for finance and insurance, household nutrition security (especially for vulnerable members such as children, the sick and elderly), and contribute manure that improves soil fertility.

Criteria for assessing the livestock sector’s inclusion in NAIPs

1. Recognition of its importance/contribution to economic growth, livelihoods and poverty reduction. The sources, date and methodology of existing statistics is assessed.
2. Clear identification of challenges, constraints and opportunities in the sector.
3. Consultation in NAIP preparation to ascertain the diversity of stakeholders’ representation and representativeness by region, gender, minority and the private sector among others.
4. Use of evidence and the type of analysis employed.
5. Review of livestock specific programs and their links with identified constraints and opportunities.
6. Review of the decision-making (central or local) and the funding processes to show whether public funding complements private funds and the existent mix of program funding (external or local funds).
7. Resource allocation is also assessed to show the proportion allotted in the NAIP compared to other subsectors, the actual expenditures incurred and the monitoring of activity implementation done.

The incorporation of livestock in the NAIPs is crucial for the achievement of national livestock sector development plans in addition to the Malabo Declaration commitments and even SDGs.

Compelling evidence for the livestock sector must be assembled to showcase the envisioned development and investment needed. The LMP initiative serves a key role, given that it also incorporates capacity development for the planners and implementers.

Lessons learned from Ethiopia

‘The process of producing the Ethiopia livestock master plan was not smooth. The initial plans were hampered by lack of strong institutions and competent staff members to support the development of an effective livestock sector transformation plan,’ says Tadesse Gobena, head of the dairy sector in the Ministry of Livestock, Ethiopia. The process was delayed for about six years but resumed after demand for quality evidence from partners, donors and the development community. ILRI was then approached to support the process.

The process of coming up with a national livestock master plan takes time, requires lots of data and analysis and, as such, needs the strong commitment of all stakeholders. In addition, the process needs to be consultative and inclusive to ensure precision in planning and implementation. Given that many governments may not have the requisite expertise, it is important to engage experts to support the process and build their capacity.

Benefits of taking up the LMP process

1. The livestock sector development needs in Ethiopia were identified and recognized since there was convincing analytical data.
2. Ethiopia initiated a five-year growth and transformation plan (GTP), which is intended to move the nation to a middle-income status. The LMP was incorporated in the GTP.
3. The government committed funds to bring about the sector’s growth and transformation.
4. Development partners were attracted to support the nation’s livestock sector in the identified development aspects.
5. The private sector was motivated to invest in the livestock sector.
6. Women and youth now participate in the sector due to awareness creation. They act on the information available to develop their livestock activities.

See more on the livestock master plans here

Since 2017, as part of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and RTI International, the University of Rwanda, and TechnoServe have been implementing a research project that is enhancing the quality and consumption of milk to improve the income and nutrition in Rwanda.

TechnoServe’s work focuses on assessing and enhancing the performance and capacity of dairy producer organizations to improve access to markets for smallholder milk producers.

Building the capacity of producer organizations

One of the project’s strategies for increasing the quantity and quality of milk in the value chain in Rwanda was to build the capacity of producer organizations to profitably procure and supply high-quality milk. Intensive capacity development was done that included training managers and boards of directors of producer organizations on different aspects of dairy cooperative business management and governance. The strategy also focused on closing other capacity gaps that were identified through continuous sustainability assessments.

The sustainability assessments were based on the Agriculture Producer Organizations Sustainability Assessment (AgPOSA) tool. This tool is composed of six priority sustainability dimensions that are applicable to an organization like a smallholder producer organization. It identifies and prioritizes gaps that need to be addressed for the organization to gradually grow into a mature and sustainable collective business. The project tracked the progress of the organizations over time.

To accelerate performance improvements by the producer organizations, TechnoServe also developed a performance support system linked to the AgPOSA outputs. The purpose was to offer targeted in-kind support to four producer organizations whose staff were undergoing intensive capacity building interventions to effectively close the identified capacity and capability gaps. The in-kind support offered was not monetary but rather in tangible ways intended to meet the identified capacity gaps. For instance, two cooperatives namely Cooperative des Eleveurs de Kayenzi, and Koperative amizero y’aborozi received water tanks to mitigate water shortages and milk quality challenges. As part of the in-kind support system, TechnoServe provided each of the producer organizations with a tank (10,000-liter capacity) while the producer organizations contributed by constructing the base of the tanks. The contribution by the producer organizations was intended to convey and instill a sense of ownership. It is expected that with the now readily accessible clean water, milk quality will improve and with it, benefits from premium prices.

In yet another case, Cooperative des Eleveurs Moderne received a cargo tricycle that was paid for by TechnoServe, while the cooperatives ownership stake was to transport it from Kigali to its premises located in Nyabihu District. The cargo tricycle will be used to transport milk from a satellite center to either the PO premises for chilling or directly to the processor.

From the project, it is notable that the in-kind support system to the producer organizations offered numerous benefits to their operations through reduction of costs, enhancing hygiene and milk quality, easing of transportation and access to inputs, as well as job creation – for instance for the cargo tricycle driver. It is anticipated that other cooperatives with similar challenges will adopt the solutions introduced.

ILRI provided the funding that was administered through TechnoServe who served as sub-awardees, and hence actualized the in-kind provisions. Additionally, ILRI and TechnoServe developed the POSA tool which was used during the study. The Agricultural Producer Organisation (AgPrO) tool was developed by Land O’Lakes Venture 37 and part of its elements combined with POSA.

Results

A review of the performance of the producer organizations whose capacity was enhanced showed that:

• Enhancing the performance and capacity of smallholder dairy producer organizations can contribute to increases in quantity and quality of milk in the value chain.
• The producer organization capacity development initiatives need to be participatory, as identification with and ownership of the initiative make success more likely.
• Well targeted in-kind support needs to form a core part of a producer organization’s capacity development since it can potentially accelerate performance improvements.
• Incentivizing producer organizations and other actors to contribute to their key interventions creates shared values, thus boosting project sustainability.

The project is still ongoing and implementing its bid to enhance the quality and consumption of milk to improve the income and nutrition in Rwanda.

Read more here.

Given that there are many priorities competing for stakeholder attention and scarce resources, research should not only help generate and promote new strategies, but also demonstrate how they contribute to sustainable livestock development.

Demonstrating how research contributes to development can, however, be difficult and complex. As such, efforts to make agricultural research-for-development more outcome-based in demonstrable ways has influenced experimentation with various approaches.

One such case was reflected by scientists implementing the Maziwa Zaidi Program in Tanzania. They adopted the ‘theory of change’ approach, which they say has proven more satisfactory in showcasing outcomes from research. Amos Omore, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) country representative in Tanzania, notes that ‘despite challenges, the approach was found useful for planning, communication, managing complexity, monitoring behavioural changes and deriving lessons to adapt in future program activities.’

He further notes that the approach was also used to showcase how the theory of change approach can be adapted and applied in broader research-for-development contexts. Practical application to contextualize it in smallholder dairy value chains was tested with a view to generating appropriate evidence and evaluating progress from research towards development outcomes.

Results showed that the appropriate use of the theory of change helps scientists to better understand how research can more effectively contribute to alleviating persistent constraints in value chains. Its application permitted a clearer definition and agreement on key changes, their linkages and assumptions along the impact pathway.

Read the full study on ‘Using “theory of change” to improve agricultural research: Recent experience from Tanzania’.

Read more about the Maziwa Zaidi program here.

See other output from the Maziwa Zaidi Program here.