Improving the Performance of Pro-Poor Sheep and Goat Value Chains for Enhanced Livelihoods, Food and Nutrition Security in Ethiopia

About

The project aims at enabling small scale sheep and goat farmers and other poor value-chain actors in Ethiopia to increase their share of the benefits from sheep and goat production and marketing. This will be achieved through developing, adapting and disseminating innovative approaches and technologies, together with enabling policies and institutions jointly with all actors along the value chains, to achieve impact at scale and to increase availability and affordability of meat and milk.

Impact

Goals

The goal of the project is to improve livelihoods and assets, particularly of women, through increased incomes, reduced risk and improved market access in selected sheep and goat meat value chains in Ethiopia.

Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to test appropriate approaches and strategies to increase herd productivity, producers’ income, and meat production. This will be achieved by identifying and addressing key constraints and opportunities, improving institutional and governance arrangements and capacities, and supporting the establishment of enabling pro-poor policy and institutional environments.

Impact pathways

The project targets (resource-) poor actors along selected Ethiopian sheep and goat value chains – from producers to consumers. Poor sheep and goat keeping households (1150 in 16 villages) will benefit from productivity enhancing interventions ensuring that women and other vulnerable and disadvantaged groups benefit equitably, and that benefits include enhancing household food and nutritional security and incomes. Other beneficiaries along the value chain will include: small-scale traders (about 40) and feed manufacturers (2 to 3), as well as other input and service providers (about 15 veterinary service suppliers). Rural and urban consumers will benefit from more affordable and safer sheep meat due to increased supply and better animal and public health measures. Seven VC sites have been selected as part of the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on small ruminant value chains in Ethiopia, including 4 sheep and 1 goat value chain in the highlands and one goat and one mixed sheep/goat site in the lowlands. The project will use these sites as pilot and model sites and benefit from and build on the initial research that has been done on these sites.