Produced by

International Center for Research in Dry Areas

Published by International Livestock Research Institute

November 2014

www.africa-rising.net

Characterization of the farming and livestock production

systems and the potential to enhance livestock productivity

through improved feeding in EnbaHasti, EndaMehoni District,

Ethiopia

T. Hagos1, T. Tesfay2, S. Wayu2, T. Atsbha2, T. Yikaalo2, T. Zeberh2, T. Teshale2, M. Ebrahim3 and J. Wamatu4

1TARI, Mekelle Agricultural Research Center 2TARI, Alamata Agricultural Research Center 3Africa RISING 4International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas ICARDA)

The Africa Research In Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program comprises three research-for-development projects supported by the United States Agency for International Development as part of the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative. Through action research and development partnerships, Africa RISING will create opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base. The three regional projects are led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (in West Africa and East and Southern Africa) and the International Livestock Research Institute (in the Ethiopian Highlands). The International Food Policy Research Institute leads the program’s monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment. http://africa-rising.net/

This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

This document was made possible with support from the American people delivered through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the US Government’s Feed the Future Initiative. The contents are the responsibility of the producing organization and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of USAID or the U.S. Government.

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Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 2

Study site ..................................................................................................................................... 2

Sampling method ........................................................................................................................ 2

Selection of kebeles ................................................................................................................. 2

Selection of participants .......................................................................................................... 2

Survey structure and format ................................................................................................... 2

Data analysis ................................................................................................................................ 2

Major results ................................................................................................................................... 3

Overview of the farming system ................................................................................................. 3

Livestock production system ....................................................................................................... 5

Management of livestock species ............................................................................................... 7

Veterinary and AI service ............................................................................................................ 7

Feeds and feed resources ............................................................................................................ 8

Problems, issues and opportunities .......................................................................................... 11

Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 13

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Introduction The sub-alpine Highlands of the Tigray region in Northern Ethiopia are characterized by a cold and frosty climate. They have a rough and steep land scape with rugged terrain which has resulted in degraded soil and low crop production. Livestock, particularly sheep production is the mainstay of farmers’ livelihoods. Livestock production is constrained by ecological, technical and economic limitations which result in severe feed shortages. The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) is a systematic and rapid method to assess local feed resource availability and use at site-level. It helps in the design of intervention strategies aiming to optimize feed supply and utilization through technical and organizational interventions.

FEAST was used to characterize the livestock production system and in particular feed‐related aspects of smallholder farmers of EnbaHasti kebele in EndaMehoni District located in the sub-alpine highlands.

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Methodology

Study site The survey was conducted at EnbaHasti kebele. The kebele is located 12 km north of EndaMehoni District in the southern zone of the Tigray Regional state. It lies 675 km north of Addis Ababa and 112 km from Mekelle (the regional capital city) on an altitude of 2909m above sea level. The average temperatures are between 6-15oC with a mean annual rainfall of 850 mm. The kebele has a total land area of 3528 ha, out of which 836 ha is cultivated and 269 is non arable. The kebele has1303 households with an average family size of six. The livelihoods depend predominantly on both crop and livestock production.

Sampling method

Selection of kebeles

EnbaHasti kebele was selected using a purposive sampling method. It is one of the AfricaRISING project intervention sites from EndeMehoni District. The project selected the kebele based on accessibility and proximity to the Mekelle.

Selection of participants

Selection of participants considered gender, age and wealth classes based on landholding (small, medium and large).

Survey structure and format

Two tools were used for the survey, a focus group discussion using the participatory rural appraisal approach and individual interviews. A total of 20 farmers (9 women and 11 men) were selected for the focus group discussion. From the three landholding categories (small, medium and large farm size), 9 respondents (3 respondents from each categories) were selected for individual interviews. The surveys were conducted on 26 – 27th December, 2013.

Data analysis The FEAST excel macro program (www.ilri.org/feast) was used for data analysis. Narrative responses collected from the group discussions were examined and reported.

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Major results

Overview of the farming system EnbaHasti has a mixed farming system with a subsistence mode of production. Average household size in the study area is 6. Most of farmers fall in the medium category (40%) based on land size (Fig. 1). Large farmers are 20% and landless households are 15% of the population. There is an increase in the number of landless households due to increasing family size. Cash crops (23%) and food crops (17%) such as salsa, cabbage, carrot, potato and cereal crops like barley and wheat are the major income source of livelihood in the study area (Fig. 2 and 3). Fattening of cattle and shoats (14%) are also major income sources and contribute to livelihood of farmers in the study area.

Figure 1: Average land size owned by various categories of farmers in EndaHasti

The kebele has a bimodal rainfall pattern and the cropping seasons are ‘tsideaya’ which is the longest season starting from June to November and ‘bulgi’ the short cropping season starting from January to June. The major crops grown in the study are barley, wheat, faba bean and field pea (Fig. 2). Farmers are face shortage of land for cultivation. 10% of the cultivated land is covered by fallowing practices. The available land is used for more than one crop per year. Crop rotation is practiced to enhance the production by conserving the fertility of the land. 50% of the households have access to irrigation regardless of the land size. The dominant crops grown are sasla, cabbage, carrot, potato and maize. Three types of irrigation exist. Natural spring wells and motor pumps are commonly used in the study area.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Landless Small farmer Large farmer Medium farmer

0 up to 0.25 more than 0.5 0.26 up to 0.375

% o

f h

ou

seh

old

s th

at f

all i

nto

th

e ca

tego

ry

Range of land size (ha)

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Figure 2: Major crops grown in study area

Human labour is very crucial for agriculture production in the study area. labour is needed during planting, weeding, harvesting and threshing. To some extent labour is also required during collection of crop residue. labour cost in the area varies depending on the season and activities. During peak periods such as planting and harvesting, labour costs 90 Ethiopian Birr (ETB; $4.5) which includes a lunch cost of 20 ETB ($1) per man. The cost of labour goes up to 100 ETB ($5) during threshing including 29 ETB for lunch and local beer per man. However, labour is cheaper during weeding time (60 ETB) including a lunch cost of 20 ETB. Farmers have a common practice of traditional labour sharing ‘meyefan’ when farmers face labour shortage during ploughing and harvesting. Around 2% of the population leaves the kebele for education and in search of jobs elswhere. Farmers in the kebele have access of credit facility and service. Farmers received easily credit from Credit and Saving Institution like Dedebit Microfinance, cooperatives and REST (GRAD). However, farmers complain that credit given in groups is not a comfortable criteria for them. Agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, improved seed and livestock technologies (sheep, beehives, poultry, artificial insemination, forage seed) are available in the study area. Similarly irrigation equipments such as motor pumps, drip irrigation and “stena” are also obtained from the agricultural offices.

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

Barley Wheat Fababeans

Field pea Sasla Lentils Tef Chickpeas Oats

Ave

rage

are

a p

er h

ou

seh

old

(h

a)

5

Figure 3: Contribution (%) of livelihood activities to household income

Livestock production system The proportion of households that own sheep and local poultry local is 95 and 96% respectively (Table 1). On average, the number of sheep and local poultry per household is 10 and 5 respectively. Sheep rearing is dominant. The proportion of households that own local dairy cows and draft cattle is 80 %. On average, the number of local dairy cows and draft cattle per household is 2 and 1 respectively. The proportion of households that own donkeys is 80%. Donkeys are used for any labour activities including transportation. Moreover, fattening and draft cattle are the dominant species and have an average livestock holding per household in tropical livestock unit (TLU) of 1.2 TLU (Fig 4.). Goat production is less dominant and has an average of 0.14 TLU.

Cash crops 23%

Food crops 17%

fattening- sheep and

goats 14%

fattening- cattle 14%

Dairing 10%

remittances 9%

equalapytus tree 5%

Poultry eggs 3%

poultry meat 3%

charcoal making

2%

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Figure 4: Average livestock species holdings per household in Tropical Livestock Units (TLU)

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

Fatteningand draft

cattle

Local DairyCattle

Donkeys Sheep Goats Horse ImprovedDairy cattle

Poultry -village

conditions

Poultry -commericalproduction

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Table 1: Livestock species and use

Livestock species Uses % of household

that own the

species

Average number of

animal per household

Local dairy cows Milk production, breeding, income

source, manure, fuel(dung)

80 2

Improved dairy

cow

Milk production, breeding, income

source, manure, fuel(dung)

1 1

Draft cattle Plough, Threshing, Income source,

Manure, fuel(dung)

80 1

Sheep Meat, breeding, income source,

manure

95 10

Goats Milk production, Meat production,

Breeding, Income source, Manure

30 2

Local Poultry Meat Production, Egg production 96 5

Improved poultry Meat Production, Egg production 20 1

Horse Transportation, Breeding, Income

source, Manure

1 1

Donkey Transportation, Breeding, Income

source, Manure, threshing

90 1

Management of livestock species Livestock are housed in traditional houses constructed using plastic sheets for roofing and open walls. Animals such as oxen, cows and equines are housed together in one barn and sheep, goats and calves are housed together in other barns. Animal husbandry is given very poor attention by farmers. Cleaning animal barns is rare. Stall feeding is practiced during the cropping season starting from July to October. After harvest, farmers practice open grazing. From October to June, tethering is also practiced for cattle to some extent. There is no feed processing or nutritional enhancement practiced even though crop residues are the major feed resource. Few households practice mix wheat bran with the local beer residue (‘atela’) for specific animals like dairy and draft animals.

Veterinary and AI service The major veterinary services in the study area are deworming, vaccination and spraying for different parasites and disease. There is no regular veterinary service, it is by appointment and communication when diseases occur. The cost of vaccine per cattle and shoats for a single dose is two and one ETB, respectively. Moreover, the cost of spraying for cattle and small ruminants per head is 2 and 1.25 ETB, respectively. Generally veterinary service in the study area is not

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adequate. Artificial insemination (AI) service is not available in the study area. However, there is AI service at woreda level about 12 km away from the kebele. Even though farmers are interested in improving their breeds, they are not satisfied by the AI service offered and its effectiveness. The cost for AI service at woreda level is 5 ETB/head. Currently, farmers breed the local dairy cows using mainly local bull service.

Feeds and feed resources The feed availability in relation to the rainfall pattern of the study area is shown in Fig. 5. Cereal crop residues, legume residues, green forage and grazing are the main feed resources in the study area. Grazing and crop residues are available the whole year round. Green forage from roadsides or weeds are mainly available during the rainy season (July-September).

Figure 5: The composition of the livestock diet throughout the year in relation to the rainfall pattern in EnbaHasti

Farmers purchase feed during feed shortages. The proportion of barley straw purchased over a year is 52% followed by hay 13% (Fig 6). Atela, wheat straw and barley are purchased during feed scarcity. Naturally occurring and collected feeds highly contribute to the total diets in terms of DM, ME and CP (Fig 7, 8 and 9). Grazing also contributes to a total diet. This implies that livestock in the kebele depend on low nutritional feeds that do not meet even needs for maintenance. Improved forages such as alfalfa and phalaris grass are the major fodder grown in the study area.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

20

40

60

80

100

Feed

Ava

ilab

lity

(%)

Concentrates Crop residues Grazing

Green forage Legume residues hay

9

Figure 6: Purchased feed source over a year

Figure 7: The contribution of various feedstuffs to the dry matter content of livestock diets in EnbaHasti

Barley 52%

Wheat bran 9%

local grass hay 13%

Wheat 11%

Naturally occuring pasture -

8% atela 7%

Crop residues

5%

Grazing 41% Naturally

occurring and

collected 49%

Purchased 5%

10

Figure 8: The contribution of various feedstuffs to the metabolizable energy content of livestock diets in EnbaHasti

Figure 9: The contribution of various feedstuffs to the crude protein content of livestock diets in EnbaHasti

Crop residues

4%

Grazing 40%

Naturally occurring

and collected

52%

Purchased 4%

Crop residues 3%

Grazing 36%

Naturally occurring and

collected 57%

Purchased 4%

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Problems, issues and opportunities Livestock production is an integral source of livelihood and income generation activity in the kebele. However, there are a lot of technical and non-technical factors that constrain production. The major problems and their priority ranking according to farmers are presented in Table 2. Feed shortage in quality and quantity, disease, financial problem are the major problems. Feed shortage in quality and quantity is identified by farmers as the most important problem for livestock production in the study area. The sub-alpine highlands in Tigray region are characterized by high soil degradation, frosty and sub-moist climate and land shortage. However, livestock productions in Tigray region mainly depends on natural pasture and grazing land which is low availability and quality. The above characteristics also limit the development of planted forages and the availability of crop residues. However, Farmers have an indigenous coping mechanism to mitigate the major livestock production constraints (Table 3). Potential interventions are suggested considering proposed solutions from farmers. Table 2: Major livestock production constrains in EnbaHasti kebele

Constraints FS LPB D FP MP Score Rank

FS X FS FS FS FS 4 1

LPB X D FB LPB 1 4

D X D D 3 2

FP X LPB 2 3

MP X 0 5

FS= Food Shortage, LPB= Low Potential Breeds, D= disease, FP= Financial Problem, MP= market problem

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Table 3: Farmers coping mechanisms and suggested solution

Major problem Farmers coping mechanisms Suggested solutions

Feed shortage Collecting green forages during rainy season from road side and weeding

Collecting crop residue after crop threshing

Straw and industrial by products such as wheat bran purchasing

Improved forage species planting at border of farm land and intercropped with cereal crops.

Conserve fodder plants

Planting forages at irrigation and backyard

Supplementing green forages to crop residue

Introducing cut and carry system

Introduction of improved forage species

Introduction of crop residue improvement technologies such as urea treatments

Capacity building on feed improvements technologies

Low performance breeds

Using local bull with good phenotypic traits

Establishment of AI service at peasant association level

Introducing improved bulls

Introducing adaptable breed for the agro ecology

Introduction Community based breeding approach

Disease Vaccination, deworming and spraying

Establishment of near veterinary clinic

Availability of animal health professional at kebele level.

Regular animal health supervision

Financial problem Selling of small ruminants

Rearing of low investment livestock production such as poultry and sheep and goat production

Taking credit from microfinance

Individual credit should be available

Market problem Selling neighbour markets

Selling with cheap price

Conserve and Selling during expensive season

Cooperative establishment

Access to market information

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Conclusions Although farmers depend mainly on income generation from cash crops and food crops, fattening of cattle and shoats also contribute to livelihoods. This implies that attention should be given to livestock production in order for farmers to get benefits from their stock. Almost half of the population has access to irrigation regardless the land size. This is an opportunity for forage development. Currently this is low attention by extension and research. Livestock management and husbandry are very poor and still follow traditional practice. Veterinary and AI services are not adequate and not regularly available. There is an opportunity to improve nutritional value of the diet by seeking out cost effective and appropriate methods to enhance the nutritive value of crop residues, since they are a dominant feed resource.