Dairy development for food security and improved livelihoods: experiences from Ada'a-Liben woreda dairy and dairy marketing association, Debre Zeit Ethiopia

Ethiopia has the largest ruminant livestock population in Africa estimated at about 32.8 million tropical livestock unit (TLU). The highlands of the country cover about 40% of the total area and in this area 88% of the country's human population and 73% of the cattle population are found. Livestock are sources of multipurpose uses such as meat, milk, draught power, skins, fiber, fertilizer, fuel and cash for smallholder farmers. Livestock products are also very important and accounts for 40% of agricultural economy of Ethiopia. Furthermore, livestock are closely linked to the social and cultural lives of several million resource-poor farmers for whom animal ownership ensures varying degrees of sustainable farming and economic viability thus contributing to and providing income, food security, social status and livelihoods. Today the human population in developing countries is growing at an unprecedented rate. Urbanization is advancing at a much more rapid rate and it is estimated to grow by over 6 percent per annum in Ethiopia. In Addis Ababa, the high rates of population growth has significantly contributed to fast deforestation, swallowing of agricultural lands, massive unemployment and huge economic and social problems including shortage of housing, poor social and infrastructure services, and mounting sanitation and environmental problems. Along with this rapid increase in urbanization, there is anticipated income growth among the different segments of the urban population. This will lead to increased demand for protein of animal origin, particularly milk and meat products. A number of urban and peri-urban dairy farms are evolving in response to the opportunities. However, most of the farmers do not have the basic education and training in dairy production in order to remain viable in a competitive market and ensure their survival and livelihoods. The complex nature of livestock production, coupled with a low technical base, has slowed down progress in dairy development. A part from policy and institutional factors, shortage of improved dairy breeds, shortage of feed, diseases and low level of management have hampered production and productivity of dairy animals. This paper explains the efforts of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its partners in providing technological options and training to improve the capacity of dairy farmers. In addition, the activities and best practices of the Ada'a-Liben dairy and dairy marketing Association will be presented in order to learn from their experiences and to create an enabling environment for sustainable urban and peri-urban dairy development in Ethiopia at large.