Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia

The study was conducted in Gamogofa zone, southern Ethiopia, located 445-505 km south of Addis Ababa. The area is semi-arid lowland with altitudes ranging from 746 to 1450 m asl and mean temperature ranges from 22 to 25 °C. The dominant farming system is mixed crop-livestock. Cattle, goats and poult...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Mekasha, Yoseph, Tegegne, Azage, Dubale, T.
Formato: Póster
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Livestock Research Institute 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76994
_version_ 1855515206860406784
author Mekasha, Yoseph
Tegegne, Azage
Dubale, T.
author_browse Dubale, T.
Mekasha, Yoseph
Tegegne, Azage
author_facet Mekasha, Yoseph
Tegegne, Azage
Dubale, T.
author_sort Mekasha, Yoseph
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The study was conducted in Gamogofa zone, southern Ethiopia, located 445-505 km south of Addis Ababa. The area is semi-arid lowland with altitudes ranging from 746 to 1450 m asl and mean temperature ranges from 22 to 25 °C. The dominant farming system is mixed crop-livestock. Cattle, goats and poultry are the major livestock species, while maize, sorghum, teff, banana and mango are the major crops. Cattle fattening is an important undertaking and source of livelihoods. However, the fattening system is traditional low-input-low-output and producers are not benefiting much from the sector. This study evaluated the challenges and constraints, and cattle fattening innovations introduced through the participation of stakeholders in the study area. The study used focus group discussion, key informants interview, livestock commodity platforms and questionnaires for data collection. The major challenges and constraints identified are; a) feed and feeding related - lack of improved fodder and poor utilisation, lack of fodder conservation practices, poor natural grazing lands management and energy loss due to long distance grazing; lack of access for concentrate feed; b) cattle related - inappropriate cattle type for fattening; c) production related - long cycle fattening (> 8 months), poor housing and poor cattle management; d) market related - unorganised cattle marking, dominance of local markets with brokers which makes producers price takers, lack of market linkage; e) capacity related - lack of knowledge and skill on improved cattle fattening by producers, input providers and livestock extension staff. The following interventions were introduced: a) capacity related, which includes skill based training and coaching & mentoring of producers and livestock extension staff on improved cattle fattening, improved reproductive management and artificial insemination; b) fattening innovations which includes stall feeding instead of grazing, short cycle (3-4 months) multiple fattening per annum, improved on farm fodder production, improved fodder utilisation through chopping, fodder conservation through bag silage making & proper harvesting and storage of crop residues, initiation of commercial concentrate feed supplying business and use of concentrate supplementation, better animal selection from the market and deworming before fattening, establishment of fattened cattle marketing groups, and marketing linkage with buyers.
format Poster
id CGSpace76994
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher International Livestock Research Institute
publisherStr International Livestock Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace769942023-03-13T14:26:12Z Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia Mekasha, Yoseph Tegegne, Azage Dubale, T. animal feeding cattle value systems The study was conducted in Gamogofa zone, southern Ethiopia, located 445-505 km south of Addis Ababa. The area is semi-arid lowland with altitudes ranging from 746 to 1450 m asl and mean temperature ranges from 22 to 25 °C. The dominant farming system is mixed crop-livestock. Cattle, goats and poultry are the major livestock species, while maize, sorghum, teff, banana and mango are the major crops. Cattle fattening is an important undertaking and source of livelihoods. However, the fattening system is traditional low-input-low-output and producers are not benefiting much from the sector. This study evaluated the challenges and constraints, and cattle fattening innovations introduced through the participation of stakeholders in the study area. The study used focus group discussion, key informants interview, livestock commodity platforms and questionnaires for data collection. The major challenges and constraints identified are; a) feed and feeding related - lack of improved fodder and poor utilisation, lack of fodder conservation practices, poor natural grazing lands management and energy loss due to long distance grazing; lack of access for concentrate feed; b) cattle related - inappropriate cattle type for fattening; c) production related - long cycle fattening (> 8 months), poor housing and poor cattle management; d) market related - unorganised cattle marking, dominance of local markets with brokers which makes producers price takers, lack of market linkage; e) capacity related - lack of knowledge and skill on improved cattle fattening by producers, input providers and livestock extension staff. The following interventions were introduced: a) capacity related, which includes skill based training and coaching & mentoring of producers and livestock extension staff on improved cattle fattening, improved reproductive management and artificial insemination; b) fattening innovations which includes stall feeding instead of grazing, short cycle (3-4 months) multiple fattening per annum, improved on farm fodder production, improved fodder utilisation through chopping, fodder conservation through bag silage making & proper harvesting and storage of crop residues, initiation of commercial concentrate feed supplying business and use of concentrate supplementation, better animal selection from the market and deworming before fattening, establishment of fattened cattle marketing groups, and marketing linkage with buyers. 2016-09-19 2016-09-09T12:52:12Z 2016-09-09T12:52:12Z Poster https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76994 en Open Access application/pdf International Livestock Research Institute Tegegne, A., Mekasha, Y. and Dubale, T. 2016. Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia. Poster prepared for the Tropentag 2016 Conference on Solidarity in a Competing World—Fair Use of Resources, Vienna, Austria, 19–21 September 2016. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
spellingShingle animal feeding
cattle
value systems
Mekasha, Yoseph
Tegegne, Azage
Dubale, T.
Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia
title Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia
title_full Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia
title_short Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia
title_sort participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in gamogofa zone of southern ethiopia
topic animal feeding
cattle
value systems
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76994
work_keys_str_mv AT mekashayoseph participatoryevaluationofcattlefatteninginnovationsofsmallholderfarmersingamogofazoneofsouthernethiopia
AT tegegneazage participatoryevaluationofcattlefatteninginnovationsofsmallholderfarmersingamogofazoneofsouthernethiopia
AT dubalet participatoryevaluationofcattlefatteninginnovationsofsmallholderfarmersingamogofazoneofsouthernethiopia