IW_Intro+to+the+project


 * Introductory remark by Dr. Edmealem Shitaye, Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture.**


 * The Government of Ethiopia recognizes the importance of agricultural policy.
 * The agriculture sector in general, and livestock sector in particular, recieve significant attention at all levels.
 * Feed above all is a critical constraint.

"//We need simple but effective tools.//"


 * Fodder and feed in livestock value chains in Ethiopia – trends and prospects**
 * An introduction to the project by Alan Duncan, ILRI**

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 * Why are we here?**
 * Feed scoping
 * The timeline is very tight, so we need to be focusing our minds and doing things quickly
 * The project is about tools... refining tools for FRA, VCA, RMA and FTP
 * Doing some value chain analysis and also interested in feed within the chain (will be developing a database for this)
 * There's an emphasis on sheep in this project – it fits into the wider CGIAR project 'CRP 3.7' (milk, meat & fish for and by the poor)
 * Secondary database assessment on the Menz area
 * Synthesis workshop in late May
 * This is a small project. Because it’s small, and because it’s a scoping project, the hope is to link in with larger initiatives
 * Larger initiatives include: (a) Gates funded East Africa Dairy Development project (EADD) running for the last 4 years and now expanding into Ethiopia and Tanzania – “EADD II” (b) Livestock Growth Program (c) CIDA-funded Livestock Value Chain Enhancement project (LIVES) (e) Market-linked Innovation for Dairy Development program (MIDD) and //all of these projects could use simple, rapid tools.//
 * This is a scoping study, which might yet become a bigger initiative
 * Evolving the objective means putting boundaries around ambitions because of the size of project and time available
 * Developing three refined tools – Value Chain Assessment (VCA), Feed Asssessment Tool (FEAST), Feed Tech Prioritization (Techfit)
 * FEAST is a PRA exercise involving structured questions and a quantitative assessment to support the first step
 * Techfit was developed last year at a workshop in India and is less developed that FEAST (through this workshop we are hoping to develop it further)


 * Techfit --**
 * Is **feed** the issue?
 * All possible feed technologies (74)
 * 'Discussion tools' were popular at one stage, but are not very effective.
 * Often tools are applied only by researchers, but need be applied by a consortium of people – i.e. researchers //and// those who work in the development sector
 * Gap = How can we use these tools to initiate action, not just for diagnosis, but to lead to some change


 * Deliverables**
 * Hoping to run trainings and begin field testings in March
 * Challenging meeting key deadlines
 * Light not extensive fieldwork
 * Light not lengthy reports
 * Need to match ambitions to the amount of time available