Better Animals, More Jobs

In 2022, ICARDA collaborated with a Community of Practice (CoP) to train a group of 150 farmers, mainly youth and women, about the importance of livestock nutrition and the value of feed components. The training empowered the farmers to produce their own cost-efficient and nutritious feed concentrate using locally available resources and a tailored small-scale feed processing unit.

The next step was to evaluate the economic feasibility of feed processing as a business opportunity for the youths and women. ICARDA and the CoP developed business plans that compared the production costs, and nutritional value of a rich compound feed produced using local resources such as barley and sorghum grains, wheat bran, lentils, faba beans and peas screenings (broken grains), and oil cakes versus expensive imported concentrates. The new locally-made feed was competitive in both areas.

Following this positive evaluation, in 2023, ICARDA distributed three locally manufactured feed processing machines, which included a grinder, conveyor, and feed mixer, to sheep-fattening youth groups in Bassona Werena (North Shewa), Boka-shut (Bonga), and Serara (Doyogena) in Ethiopia. The machines meant these groups could now produce and sell compound feed concentrates to their members and neighboring farmers.