Feed Enhancement for Ethiopian Development (FEED) III

Background Narrative

Ninety percent of crop production is dependent on draft animals. Despite the scale of the livestock industry in Ethiopia, it is constrained by a lack of quality feed. The FEED program, in its third iteration, aims to increase the incomes of Ethiopian smallholder livestock producers by improving access to, and use of, consistent, affordable, high-quality animal feed that can support greater livestock productivity and efficiency. The current program builds on FEED I, which piloted our approach to feed sector development, and FEED II, which scaled up those efforts and greatly increased feed and forage production capacity. FEED III scaled out dramatically to reach even more households. It did so by creating an extensive primary cooperative-based sales and distribution network that provided access to feed resources for livestock-dependent households

  • Deepen capacity of agricultural enterprises to participate at scale in the livestock value chain and strengthen sustainability through greater integration with the private sector
  • Expand trade of agricultural products in the livestock and poultry sectors by enabling growth of feed, forage, fattening, poultry, and dairy enterprises and expanding market opportunities for their products
  • Contribute to increased resilience of livestock-owning households
  • Build institutional capacity of private and public stakeholders by supporting improved feed policies and regulations
  • Build capacity and grow feed sector enterprises through sales and marketing training to cooperative unions, increasing access to finance, and expanding sales and distribution networks
  • Develop sustainable forage production systems through a video training pilot, trade shows, and business-to-business events
  • Help feed manufacturers adapt feed formulations including alternative ingredients: molasses, brewers’ grains, fish meal, and fruit waste
  • Partner with ILRI to build a national feed resource database and improve legal and regulatory environment
  1. Increased income of dairy farmers by 36 percent and of poultry farmers by 51 percent
  2. Increased unit productivity of poultry by 148 percent and of milk by 87 percent
  3. Increased the number of farmers selling dairy milk by 65 percent
  4. Increased quantity of milk sold per household from 611 liters to 931 liters or 50 percent
  5. Increased engagement of women feeding cows from 23 percent to 85 percent
  6. Increased farmers’ ownership of different breeds of chicken by 2.2 chickens on average, net
  7. Increased the number of forage growing households from 9 percent to 30 percent
  8. Over 29,000 farmers have applied improved farm management practices
  9. Established 103 new feed value chain groups/enterprises

View the final FEED brochure (April 2021) that details the impact of FEED I, II, III, implemented by ACDI/VOCA since 2009.


Funder: USDA-Food for Progress

Carl-Birkelo

Chief of Party: Carl Birkelo

Project Director: Nadia Namken, NNamken@acdivoca.org

Project Specialist: Ayo Egunyomi, aegunyomi@acdivoca.org

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