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Contents 1. Executive summary ................................................................................................................................ 2
2. Introduction/background ....................................................................................................................... 4
3. Project design ......................................................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Context and rationale ......................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Logic model ......................................................................................................................................... 7
3.3 Reach ................................................................................................................................................... 8
3.3.1 Beneficiaries .............................................................................................................................. 8
3.3.2 Geographical project areas ..................................................................................................... 11
3.4 Gender equality strategy ................................................................................................................... 11
3.4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 11
3.4.2 Gender assessment and strategy ............................................................................................ 12
3.5 Cross cutting ...................................................................................................................................... 15
3.5.1 Environment ............................................................................................................................ 15
3.5.2 Governance/partnership ......................................................................................................... 16
3.6 Risk register ....................................................................................................................................... 16
4. Project Management and Governance ................................................................................................ 16
4.1 Result-based Management Approach and Structure ....................................................................... 16
4.2 Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Stakeholders .................................................................... 16
4.3 Project Committees........................................................................................................................... 19
5. Project implementation ....................................................................................................................... 20
5.1 Work breakdown structure ............................................................................................................... 20
5.1.1 Capacity development ............................................................................................................. 20
5.1.2 Knowledge management & learning ....................................................................................... 26
5.1.3 Promotion ................................................................................................................................ 27
5.1.4 Value chain development ........................................................................................................ 28
5.1.5 Documentation and monitoring .............................................................................................. 31
5.2 Gantt chart ........................................................................................................................................ 32
6. Result based project monitoring and reporting ................................................................................... 33
6.1 Performance measurement framework ........................................................................................... 33
6.2 Performance reporting format.......................................................................................................... 33
6.3 Stakeholder communication Plan ..................................................................................................... 33
Abbreviations AGP Agricultural Growth Program
AI Artificial Insemination
ATVET Agricultural Technical Vocational Education and Training College
BoA Bureau of Agriculture
BoW Bureau of Water
CA Contribution Agreement
CAD Canadian Dollar
CIDA Canadian International Development Agency
CRPs CGIAR Research Programs
EAP Ethiopian Agricultural Portal
EIAR Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research
EADDP East Africa Development Project
EMDTI Ethiopian Meat and Dairy Technology Institute
ARDPLAC Agricultural and Rural Development Partners Linkages Advisory Council
FTC Farmer Training Center
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GIS Geographic Information System
GoE Government of Ethiopia
GO Government Organization
GTP Growth and Transformation Plan
HABP Household Asset Building Project
HH Household
HQ Head Quarter
ICARDA International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas
ILRI International Livestock Research Institute
IPMS Improving Productivity and Market Success
IWMI International Water Management Institute
LA Livestock Agency
LIVES Livestock Irrigation Value Chain for Ethiopian Smallholders
MoA Ministry of Agriculture
NGO Non-government Organization
PA Peasant Association
PARS Participatory Agricultural Radio Series
PIP Project Implementation Plan
PMF Performance Management Framework
PSNP Productive Safety Net Project
RARI Regional Agricultural Research Institute
RBM&E Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation
SLM Sustainable Land Management
SNNPR Southern Nation Nationalities People’s Region
ToT Training of Trainers
WBS Work Breakdown Structure
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1. Executive summary The Livestock and Irrigation Value chain for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project aims at supporting
the GoE’s efforts to transform the smallholder subsistence agricultural sector to a more market-oriented
smallholder sector to contribute to the new Growth Transformation Plan (GTP). The project is aligned
with this Government strategy and will be implemented jointly by ILRI, IWMI and the MoA and EIAR at
Federal, Regional, Zonal and District levels.
LIVES will work with the public and private sector partners by developing livestock (dairy, small and large
ruminants, poultry, apiculture) and irrigated (fruits, vegetables and fodder) value chains in District
clusters in 10 Zones in 4 Regions i.e. Tigray RS: Central and Eastern Zones; Amhara: North Gondar, West
Gojjam, South Wollo Zones; Oromia RS: Jimma, West Shoa and East Shoa Zones; SNNPRS, Sidama and
Gamo Gofa Zones. Primary production of the commodities will take place by producers in these zonal
clusters, using advanced commercially-oriented practices. Following the value chain approach and the
IPMS result, LIVES will focus on improving the supply of inputs and services for the production of these
commodities, by linking producers with input and service supply entities at District, Zonal and Regional
level. LIVES will also emphasize the development of alternative small-scale input/service business
systems at District/Zonal level, including production of fruit seedling, vegetable seed, day old
chicks/pullets, bee colonies, heifers and breeding rams by individual farmers/groups/cooperatives. To
improve the supply of services, LIVES will focus on improved AI service delivery by zonal mobile teams
for dairy and beef production, development of animal health system for livestock in general and
irrigation pump repair services and (community) irrigation scheme management for irrigated areas.
Linkages will also be made between producers and other value chain actors, who add value to the
primary product, such as traders, processors, and retailers at District, Zonal, and Regional/National and
International levels. Particular attention will be paid to improving quality standards and food safety by
producers and other value chain actors. For each value chain, the project will identify gender and
environmental friendly interventions.
To facilitate the introduction/evaluation of livestock and irrigated value chain interventions, enhanced
capacity will be built in the public sector extension system through training, coaching and mentoring by
project staff and other experts. This will include market-oriented extension, gender mainstreaming,
knowledge management, and sustainable livestock and irrigated crop value chains development. To
institutionalize the market-oriented approach in the project areas and beyond, a contribution will be
made to reduce diagnosed gaps in the existing capacity by providing 100 scholarships to upgrade staff to
MSc and BSc degree levels. Also, training materials developed by IPMS and other projects should be
used and further developed and translated as needed. Special training, coaching and mentoring will also
be organized for the suppliers of inputs and services, producers and other value chain actors.
Facilitating the assessment, storing, learning and sharing of knowledge gained by the value chain actors
are seen as another important task of the public extension system. LIVES will facilitate the development
of an operational knowledge management system for the value chain actors and service providers for
the targeted value chains. This will include providing equipment (computers/printers/TVs/DVD
players/cameras) supplies (videos, training materials, off-line copies Ethiopian Agricultural Portal, copies
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of Participatory Agricultural Radio Series), internet connection to District and Zonal offices to increase
access to knowledge by the extension system. To facilitate the use of these materials, Zones/Districts
will be encouraged to dedicate one of their rooms/buildings to be used as a knowledge center. LIVES
will also facilitate the use of various knowledge sharing and learning activities aimed at producers and
other value chain actors, including study tours, field days, exhibitions, seminars, workshops and
platform meetings. To inform project partners of progress and results, a social media system will be
developed as well as a project website. Use of participatory video, mobile phone technology and e-
readers will be tested to enhance knowledge management.
An important component of LIVES is the documentation and monitoring of the project interventions,
since the results will be used as a source of learning by project partners. At the same time these will
provide evidence for development of staff and policy makers to scale out interventions beyond the
project area. The project will therefore develop an assessment program with the research partners
based on the targeted commodities and proposed interventions, including diagnostic, action and impact
studies. The studies will be conducted jointly by ILRI, IWMI and the national and regional research
partners, including an estimated 100 MSc thesis students. To measure progress, LIVES will conduct
baseline and end of project studies to assess the status of ultimate and intermediate outcome
indicators. Annually, progress will be measured on intermediate outcomes and processes.
While LIVES is introducing and testing value chain interventions in selected project territory, several
market-oriented programs are already operational in Ethiopia and elsewhere, including AGP, HABP,
PSNP. These programs can benefit from LIVES and vice versa and the project therefore includes a
promotional component which aims at scaling out its approaches and interventions beyond the directly
targeted project areas. Part of the promotion will take place by creating linkages with nearby Zones/
Districts which have similar value chain potentials. The other strategy will be creating linkages with
other programs at national and international level (AGP, HABP, PSNP, SLM and CRPs). Linkages will be
created with these programs by combining capacity building efforts in the selected project areas as well
as providing technical advice for implementers of the programs. Concrete arrangements can only be
made once capacity development needs have been established in the planned zonal workshops; staff of
these programs will be included in these programs. Needs and collaboration will evolve over time. To
stimulate promotion in and outside the project areas, LIVES will contribute to the further development
of the Ethiopian Agricultural Portal and Participatory Agricultural Radio Series (PARS) and Videos.
During the project planning phase the identification of the zones, commodities, producers, other value
chain actors and public and private input and service providers were assessed, together with a potential
set of interventions for the different project components. Based on this assessment, LIVES targets the
development of 40 zonal value chains. The estimated number of households presently involved in the
production of these commodities, varies from around 54,000 in apiculture to 310,000 in irrigated fruits
and vegetables, of which 10-15 % will be positively affected by LIVES activities. This should lead to an
increase in the sales of the commodity by 100% during the project life. The number of female producers
varies from 10 to 20% and LIVES aims at increasing participation by female producers by 25%.
Furthermore, the project will link producers to about 350 (25% female) other value chain actors involved
in trading, processing and sale of products at District, Zone and Regional/Federal level. Also, the project
will establish/strengthen 2,100 input/service suppliers at District and/or Zonal level (25% female) and
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link them to regional networks. The project will partner with staff of the MoA & BoA at various levels
and the research system to accomplish these results and it is expected that 5,400 staff members will be
affected directly and indirectly in the process.
2. Introduction/background After the Contribution Agreement (CA) was signed between CIDA and ILRI on March 23, 2012 a project
team of ILRI/IWMI staff and consultants was established at HQ and at regional level to start the planning
activities (see Annex 1 for the composition of the teams).
A standard presentation on LIVES was developed, as well as a set of guidelines for the regional planning
activities (see Annex 2 for the guidelines). Also the project HQ staff developed a series of GIS maps and
tables to facilitate planning activities in the Regions.
At the national level, ILRI management started discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and
the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) on project content and governance structure
based on comments from a high level MoA/EIAR technical committee, which had reviewed the project
proposal. Similarly, CIDA Ethiopia held discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce the
project and its funding modalities. The MoA/EIAR technical committee found the project is in line with
GoE strategies/objectives and recognized the fact that the project has a testing/action research oriented
orientation. After several consultations/meetings, an agreement was reached on the governance and
ownership of the project which is reflected in the PIP.
At the regional level, introductory/consultative meetings were held with representatives of the BoA,
BoW, Cooperative and Women’s bureau and RARIs. During these meetings, the project’s overall strategy
was presented and discussed, commodity choices and zones reviewed and members from regional
organizations were appointed to join the LIVES team and assist in the subsequent zonal/district level
planning activities.
Once Zones/commodities were identified, each regional team visited all of the selected zones to
introduce the project, to select clustered Districts targeted for the production of the selected
commodities and initiate the collection of District/PA level data on the selected commodities.
Information thus collected was transmitted to LIVES HQ for compilation into maps and tables. It is
planned that further refinement of the choice of commodities and Districts will take place at the zonal
stakeholder meetings during the project implementation phase.
At the same time, each regional team identified other value chain actors and service providers at
District, Zonal and Regional level for the selected commodity value chains. Capacity of key service
providers, for joint project implementation, was also assessed.
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To inform members of the regional teams and HQ staff about progress and lessons learned while
conducting the regional planning activities, LIVES started a wiki1 (http://lives-
ethiopia.wikispaces.com/LIVES-+PIP) to enter minutes of meetings and data collected by the Regions.
At the national level, the team started working on a review of the proposed logic model, the
performance measurement framework (PMF), the budget and the work breakdown structure (WBS),
with emphasis on year one. An initial draft of the PIP was prepared and shared with CIDA to ensure it
was in line with CIDA’s overall expectation of the project and its computerized Investment Performance
Reporting (IPR).
The draft PIP was presented in a two day national consultative stakeholder workshop (held July 11 and
12, 2012) in which about 80 major project stakeholders from Federal and Regional agencies were
represented. The comments received during this workshop were incorporated in to the final PIP
document and the first year program of work and budget (see LIVES wiki for workshop report).
Following the review of the project’s PMF, indicators for each of the outcomes and outputs were
reviewed and annual targets were set vis a vis the baseline. Once the initial set of PA level data on
number of households for the interventions were received/compiled at HQ, a sample frame for the
baseline data collection was developed with the assistance of ILRI’s statistical unit. A survey
questionnaire was developed and regional teams were trained in data collection in the selected
PAs/Zones/ Regions.
While some of the team members from the IPMS project will be moved to the LIVES team, recruitment
of additional staff at HQ, Regional and Zonal level was initiated by ILRI and IWMI by developing job
descriptions and advertising vacant positions. Recruitment will be effected after approval of the PIP.
Recruitment of the international project manager’s position was completed at the start of the planning
phase.
3. Project design
3.1 Context and rationale
Agriculture has contributed significantly to Ethiopia’s growth in recent years and continues to be the
country’s most important sector accounting for about 45% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), almost 90
percent of exports, and 85 percent of employment. Although recent agricultural performance has been
good, many Ethiopians still suffer from food insecurity. Current estimates place the number of food
insecure Ethiopians at 8 to 15 million people or ten to twenty percent of the population. Of this, nine
percent of the population or 7.5 million Ethiopians are listed as chronically food-insecure.
Promoting agricultural development is a central component of the CIDA 2009 Country Strategy for
Ethiopia, in particular for its Food Security thematic priority and is a key element of the Government of
1 A wiki (which means quick/fast) is a website which allows its users to add, modify, or delete its content via a web
browser using a simplified markup language or a rich-text editor. Wikis have many different purposes such as knowledge management, note taking and learning.
6
Ethiopia (GoE) poverty reduction strategy, the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) 2010-2015. To
promote growth in the sector, the government’s current policy environment attempts to encourage
market led production of agricultural products in order to increase competitiveness in domestic,
regional, and international markets. An essential component of this strategy is to develop robust and
responsive value chains for a select number of commodities with high potential for growth. These
include dairy products, apiculture products, meat products, and horticultural commodities. A value
chain is the full range of activities that are required to bring a product or service from conception
through the different phases of production, delivery to final customers, and final disposal after use.
One of the major instruments for achieving the agriculture development goals under GTP is the GoE’s
new Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) established in September 2010. AGP aims to increase
agricultural productivity and market access for key crop and livestock products in targeted districts by
strengthening the institutional capacity of farmer organizations and advisory services to support farmers
and to capitalize on opportunities to improve productivity, processing, and marketing of key
commodities.
Despite a favorable policy environment and programming, limited access to credit, private land
ownership, and agricultural inputs constrain agricultural development. Lack of knowledge and weak
capacity of both public and private agents regarding their potential role in market-led agriculture
development has also seriously hampered growth. Notwithstanding, there is an important demand by
actors for technical assistance, improved production technologies, business development services and
linkages to commercial agents along value chains.
In this context, the proposed Livestock and Irrigation Value-chains for Ethiopian Smallholders Project
(LIVES) will promote market-led agricultural development and capitalize on the successes of the CIDA
funded, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)-implemented project “Improving Productivity
and Market Success of Smallholders in Ethiopia” (IPMS) – implemented from 2004 - 2012. LIVES will
scale out the successful approaches and interventions acquired under IPMS while focusing on a limited
number of key high-value livestock and irrigated crop commodities. It will encompass all actors starting
from smallholder producers to regional markets.
Unlike past interventions, the focus of the LIVES Project will be on “longer” value chains at the district
and regional level, instead of within district value chains (short value chains). Longer value chains have a
wider geographic range and involve more productive smallholders and larger input suppliers and
wholesalers. Value chains targeted will include large urban centers at some distance from production
zones. These value chains have greater volume of product demand; greater long-term sustainability
associated with that larger demand, and increased opportunity for niche market and product
differentiation allowing potentially greater value addition. On the inputs and services side, these value
chains also offer greater diversity of improved technology and services that LIVES interventions will
require. To make such value chains attractive (create economics of scale) to regional and national level
public and private agribusinesses, linkages will be created with clustered Districts, instead of a single
district. As a result, clusters of districts will be targeted and support provided to administrative zones.
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LIVES will focus on a select number of livestock and irrigated high-value commodities that are integral to
the government’s development strategy and that are among the core competencies of the Project
proponents. In addition to profiting from the experiences its predecessor programs, LIVES will benefit
from ILRI’s extensive expertise and experience in supporting market-oriented smallholder livestock
production in Eastern Africa and in other developing regions. It will also profit from IWMI’s experience
of working with a wide range of development partners and strong record of successfully addressing
constraints to irrigated crop production.
LIVES will work in AGP, PSNP Regions, Zones and Districts. At regional level (all 4 LIVES Regions overlap
with AGP and PSNP). LIVES will link/benefit from MoA/donor funded agribusiness development
interventions at Federal and Regional level, such as the USAID funded ACDI/VOCA AGP value chain
project, the (planned) Livestock Growth Program (LGP) and the (planned) Bill and Melinda Gates/ Dutch
Government funded East Africa Development Project (EADDP). At Zonal level (6 of the LIVES Zones
overlap with AGP, 5 Zones overlap with PSNP) LIVES will also link/benefit some the same projects. At
District level only one District is included in AGP and 13 in PSNP (see maps in Annex 3). However all
Districts have regular government programs and most are also supported by NGOs. LIVES will work with
the public sector partners and NGOs in the Districts to have impact on producers, and small scale agro
businesses.
3.2 Logic model
Ultimate outcome:
The project’s ultimate outcome is “Increased economic wellbeing for male and female small holder
producers in the regions of Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples
Region (SNNPR) through the development of livestock and irrigated value chains.”
Intermediate outcomes
The project will arrive at the ultimate outcome through two intermediary, linked, outcomes i.e.:
1000 Increased use of improved knowledge and capacity by (♀♂) livestock and irrigation
agriculture value chain actors and service providers to develop gender sensitive and
environmentally sustainable market oriented livestock and irrigated value chains
2000 Increased adoption of gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable market oriented
value chain interventions by (♀ ♂ ) livestock and irrigation agriculture value chain actors and
service providers.
Immediate outcomes
The project will arrive at the intermediate outcome through five (5) immediate outcomes, which take
into consideration gender equality and environmental sustainability i.e.
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1. Improved capacity of (♀ ♂ ) livestock and irrigation agriculture VC actors and input/service
suppliers to participate in improved gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable VC
development models in project areas – referred to as capacity development (1100)
2. Increased access to knowledge by (♀ ♂ ) livestock and irrigation agriculture VC actors and
input/service suppliers in project areas on improved gender sensitive and environmentally
sustainable VC development models, referred to as knowledge management (1200)
3. Increased access to project generated gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable results
and lessons learned by (♀ ♂ ) value chain actors and service providers outside the project area –
referred to as promotion/scaling out (1300)
4. Increased access to improved gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable VC
interventions by (♀ ♂ ) livestock and irrigation agriculture VC actors and input/service suppliers
in the project areas – referred to as value chain development (2100)
5. Increased number of gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable documented project
generated results and lessons learned for (♀ ♂ ) VC actors and service providers in project areas
and beyond – referred to as documentation and monitoring (2200)
Outputs /activities
To influence the capacity/performance of value chain actors and service providers (outcomes 1 to 3),
gaps in knowledge and skills are identified initially and progress and new gaps are assessed annually and
incorporated into the proposed annual work plans. Different interventions are formulated to address
these gaps at district/zonal level as well as at Regional/Federal level.
To support the development of the value chains, (outcome 4), including primary production, supply of
inputs and services and processing and marketing to add value by agri-businesses, the project will use
participatory approaches to match potential generic interventions with broadly defined diagnosed
problems and/or potentials. This will be followed by participatory implementation in which detailed
interventions are designed with the stakeholders using diagnostic tools. Progress will be reviewed,
through various learning events (see knowledge management) and additions, modifications will be
incorporated in annual plans. The introduction of interventions will be documented (outcome 5)
through diagnostic, action and impact research. Results will feed into each of the other outcomes.
The complete logic model is shown in Annex 4
3.3 Reach
3.3.1 Beneficiaries
The project distinguishes between value chain actors and service providers.
Value chain actors are defined as individuals and businesses that own an agricultural product at
different stages of the transformation process and add value. By far the largest groups of actors – i.e.
the main project beneficiaries, are the smallholder farmers engaged in the primary production of
livestock and irrigated crop commodities. During the PIP, regional teams collected (♀♂) information on
the producers of the selected commodities in selected Zones, District and Peasant Associations (PAs).
The summary results are presented in Table 1, details can be found in the Zonal Profiles in Annex 5. On
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average, between 10 – 15% of these households is expected to improve its production of the commodity
(at the intermediate outcome level) through LIVES supported value chain, capacity development and
knowledge management activities. LIVES will increase the involvement of women in the various
commodities on average by 25%.
Table 1 Estimated number of households producing selected commodities in target areas
Commodity No of PAs Total number of households in selected PAs % Female Male Female Total
Dairy 346 161,117 41,947 203,064 20.6
Large ruminants 402 57,542 6,643 64,167 10.3
Small ruminants 208 246,029 49,696 295,725 16.8
Poultry 371 149,523 37,878 187,401 20.2
Honey 199 49,127 5,120 54,247 9.4
Irrigated fruits/veg 430 264,765 45,621 310,386 14.7
Source: PIP regional planning teams – initial baseline data, to be adjusted after detailed
baseline study
Next are individuals, private businesses and cooperatives involved in trading, processing, wholesaling
and retailing of the commodity – these businesses are referred to as other value chain actors. Such
actors can be found at district, zonal, regional and federal level. During the PIP planning phase, a
preliminary identification of these other value chain actors at different levels was conducted and
linkages between federal/regional, zonal and district levels were examined (see Annex 5 for details).
Most of these actors will be indirectly affected by the project activities as a result of the expected
increase in production (the number of actors thus benefitting indirectly will be assessed during the
detailed part of the baseline study). The project will directly influence (immediate outcome) the
performance of about 353 (25% female) of these actors by facilitating linkages with the producers,
through training, coaching and mentoring and involvement in knowledge sharing activities - Table 2.
Table 2 Estimated number of affected other value chain actors by zonal value chain
Commodity No of Regions
Regional actors
No of Zones
Zonal actors
No of Districts
District actors
Total actors
Dairy 4 4 8 16 25 50 70
Small ruminants 3 3 7 14 22 44 61
Large ruminants 3 3 4 8 12 24 35
Poultry 4 4 7 14 21 42 60
Apiculture 3 3 4 8 13 26 37
Irrigated fruits/veg 4 8 10 20 31 62 90
Total 25 80 248 353
Service providers deliver services and inputs to the value chain actors, which enables them to add value
to their product. A distinction can be made between technical assistance, knowledge and skill services –
hereafter referred to as extension services and suppliers of physical inputs and services such as AI
service, seed/seedlings, pump repair, veterinary drugs, agro chemicals, crop spraying, and financial
10
service (credit). A further distinction can be made between public and private service providers. Most
public service providers render services/inputs for free or at a subsidized rate – costs are absorbed by
the public sector. Private services providers normally charge commercial fees for their service or inputs.
Private and public sector physical inputs and service providers
During the PIP planning phase, the regional project team identified the main service providers by
commodity and type of service at district, zone, and regional/federal level and made a preliminary
assessment of the linkages between service providers at different hierarchical levels (see Annex 6 for
details). Most of these service providers will be indirectly affected by the project activities as a result of
the increase in production (the number of service providers thus benefitting indirectly will be assessed
during the remaining part of the baseline study).
The project will directly (at the immediate outcome level) influence the performance of approximately
2,000 (25% female) public and private sector service providers (see Table 3) through capacity
development (including mentoring and coaching) and involvement in knowledge management activities
and creating linkages with suppliers at zonal/regional level.
Table 3 Direct LIVES targeted public and private service and input suppliers
Commodity Supply systems for improved varieties and breeds
Number of Zones/ Districts
Total number of people
Other supply interventions
Number of Districts
Total number of suppliers or members
Dairy Mobile teams 10 Zones 50 Forage seed/planting materials multiplication Communal grazing area committees Veterinary drugs supply
25 25 25
125 250 25
Large ruminants
Small ruminants
Community ram breeders
22 220
Poultry Pullet producers
21 420 Poultry feed supply coops/shops
21 21
Apiculture Bee colony producers
13 260 Apiculture shop/cooperative
12 12
Vegetables Onion seed producer
31 300 Pump repair services Water user groups Crop and input supply shops
31 31 31
31 310 31
Fruits Nurseries 75
Total 1,325 805
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Public agricultural extension services
During the PIP, the teams also identified the extension services in support of the value chain
development (including natural resource management and gender in agricultural offices) by the public
sector at Regional, Zonal and District level for the selected commodities – results are summarized in
Annex 6. A total of 5,407 public sector staff in agricultural, livestock and cooperative agencies (see
Zonal Profiles – Annex 5 for details) are involved in livestock and irrigated agriculture value chain
development in the project.
Table 4 Gender disaggregated public sector staff* to be targeted by LIVES
Level Number Male Female Total % Female
Regional 4 456 136 592 23
Zonal 10 297 53 350 15
Districts/PA 31 3679 786 4465 18
Total 4432 975 5407 18
*Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperative offices
Source: Regional planning teams – baseline data, to be adjusted during project implementation
3.3.2 Geographical project areas
The project area is defined as geographical locations in which commodity value chains are developed,
starting from a cluster of Districts in which the production of primary agricultural products and
production of agricultural inputs/services is developed/strengthened2. During the PIP, District
commodity clusters were identified in 10 Zones through a participatory process (see value chain
section). A summary table is presented in Annex 3 and details can be found in the Zonal profiles in
Annex 5.
Besides the targeted project areas, the project will also indirectly influence commodity development in learning districts/zones, which are closely linked to the project areas through growth corridors, milk sheds, irrigation schemes and, government programs. In the learning Districts/Zones, LIVES will promote its approaches and lessons learned through facilitation in capacity development and knowledge management activities3.
3.4 Gender equality strategy
3.4.1 Introduction
Rural women in Ethiopia contribute significantly to the growth of the agricultural sector (see various
IPMS publications). Studies affirm however, that economic constraints and traditional norms have
hampered the contributions of women by undermining their control over productive assets and the
benefits gained from the sale of marketable high value commodities. At policy level, despite the
2 Clusters are formed by neighboring Districts which have similar production potentials for which economics of
scale can be obtained in terms of providing technical assistance and organizing supply of inputs and services and marketing and processing of products at zonal/regional level. 3 IPMS has supported MoA/AGP in capacity building in RBM&E, Gender mainstreaming, hormone assisted mass
insemination
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introduction of a number of new initiatives to improve existing inequalities, gender roles particularly in
rural areas are affected by the work load on women. Furthermore, the unbalanced ownership and use
of productive resources and unfair benefit sharing from the sale of products which cast its shadow on
the realization of gender balanced growth across the commodity value chains. There is a growing
concern that the enhancement of market-oriented production and marketing of high value commodities
may bypass women. If this gender concern is not properly addressed, it will affect the long term
sustainability of the envisioned growth and transformation of the agricultural sector in Ethiopia.
Gender balanced action will therefore remain at the center of the LIVES project implementation
priorities, based on tools/approaches and lessons learned from the IPMS project as well as from findings
documented during the preparatory stage of the PIP.
3.4.2 Gender assessment and strategy
Gender will be mainstreamed within the overall project implementation strategy i.e. immediate
outcomes 1 to 5.
Gender assessment of value chains and identification of potential interventions (outcome 1)
The data collected during the PIP (see Table 1 and Zonal Profiles in Annex 5) indicate that involvement
of women in the different commodities varies from around 20% for dairy, small ruminants and poultry
to around 10% for honey and large ruminants, while involvement in irrigated fruits and vegetables is
around 15%. Although the data confirm the general trend, some more in depth studies will be
conducted during the project implementation phase. This is because the available statistics mostly
reflects participation in commodities by female-headed households, excluding participation of women in
male-headed households. Participation of women in supply of inputs and services as well as in
trading/processing and selling to consumers is limited.
To determine the role of women in the value chains, the planning team developed a set of generic
interventions for each of the commodities during the PIP. It also highlighted commodities and
interventions, which can contribute to a more gender balanced development (see Annex 7 for details)
In order to have a more gender balanced development of the value chain actors, LIVES will strengthen
the role of women in production (25% increase), input and service supply (25% women) and other value
chain activities (25% women).
During the project’s implementation phase, location specific (district) value chain interventions for each
of the commodities will be identified through a rapid participatory diagnostic process. Each intervention
will subsequently be screened, to determine whether it addresses the diagnosed gender equity
problems and takes into account potential gender sensitive interventions4.
4 Diagnostic tools have been developed by IPMS/ILRI and lead to a better understanding of the gender context of
priority commodity value chains, including gender differences on resource utilization, decision making, labor use, and marketing. These tools deal with the different aspects of the value chains including supply of inputs/services as well as processing and marketing of products.
13
Based on the IPMS experiences, strategies to promote the introduction of gender sensitive value chain
interventions have been summarized (see: IPMS gender brochure) into the following categories, i.e.
- Strengthening enterprises traditionally undertaken by women, examples are poultry, including
raising pullets by individuals women/groups for sale to egg producers
- Promotion of technologies requiring lower amount of resources, an example would be the
involvement of (landless) women in fruit/vegetable seedling production
- Increase women’s participation in commodities for which they share responsibilities but are not
rewarded; an example would be sheep fattening by women/groups
- Explore opportunities for women’s participation in men dominated commodities: an example
would be more women friendly modern bee keeping.
- Explore opportunities for increased role of women in irrigated value chains, for example
representation on water users associations
Gender assessment of value chain capacity development/knowledge management and intervention
strategy (outcomes 1 and 2)
As indicated in the previous section, the involvement of women in value chains (producer – other value
chain actor) as service providers, and input suppliers for the selected commodities is limited. Based on
experiences gained in IPMS, non -commodity specific strategies aimed at increasing the role of women
in value chain development were identified and will be applied in LIVES when appropriate:
- Increase women’s access to knowledge and skills about market-oriented agricultural production,
services and inputs. To facilitate such access, the following measures were found to be helpful,
i) venue of training and timing, ii) couples training, iii) involvement of women in experience
sharing events, iii) facilitating access to inputs and services, including credit; and facilitating
access to markets through group formation
- Recognition of women’s achievements using contests (used for large and small ruminant
fattening) and organization of women field days
- Targets have been set for the involvement of women in the project’s capacity development
knowledge management activities
- Promoting women’s achievement during agri-business exhibitions to be organized at different
levels
The capacity of the extension system (agriculture, livestock and cooperatives) to assist in increasing the
capacity of women value chain actors and service providers is limited by the fact that female staff are
under-represented at all levels. Table 4 indicates that on average 18% of the staff is female. Further
analysis of the data indicate that female participation varies considerably by level of education, with
female representation being the highest at the lowest level (diploma and certificate level) – Figure 15.
Distribution of female staff at regional, zonal and district level varies considerably between Regions (see
5 The % of female staff is relatively high because the total number of PhD trained staff is low (6) and one is female.
14
Figure2)6. This information will be used during the implementation phase to specifically target women
to improve skills to BSc/BA level, as well as fill gaps at the different levels. The project will aim for 50%
selection of female candidates (also see capacity development).
Source: base line data – see Zonal and regional profiles for details
To address gaps in skills and knowledge of the public sector service support system, a program of in-
service training will be conducted on approaches for value chain development which will include gender
mainstreaming as an integral part of the value chain development training.
The assessment on gender mainstreaming in the agricultural sector has revealed that there are
structural (staffing), systemic and linkage related problems at all levels. Lack of ownership to responsibly
handle the gender issue as a crosscutting one, the inadequacy of vertical and horizontal, internal and
external collaboration, linkage and network among offices, units and projects equally affected the
gender performance of AGP so far. Following the IPMS experience, this problem will be addressed by
creating better linkages between the gender desks and the other service providers in the agricultural
offices, especially the extension services (see proposed interventions in Annex 7).
Gender research and learning (outcome 5)
Once interventions have been introduced, more in-depth studies will be conducted on different
components of the value chain. To determine the studies, a research planning meeting is scheduled with
the project’s international, national and regional research partners. Gender studies to be considered
may deal with more in-depth gender diagnosis of the different value chains (single or multiple sites),
action research on gender sensitive interventions, and impact studies of various interventions on gender
equity. Every year, progress in research will be reviewed through general or topic specific meetings.
Furthermore the project’s M&E system will be used to measure the gender disaggregated targets for
each of the indicators set for the outcomes and outputs.
6 The % female staff at zonal level in Tigray is low since zonal offices have not been fully developed in that Region.
0
10
20
30
40
Fig 1 Percent of female staff by
educational level
0
50
Fig 2 Percent of female staff at regional zonal & district
District Zonal Regional
15
3.5 Cross cutting
3.5.1 Environment
As mentioned in the CA, LIVES will not be involved in physical infrastructure development for which
formal environmental assessments have to be conducted. Rather, it will make use of existing
infrastructures commissioned by development projects.
The use of irrigation infrastructure for the development of fruit, vegetables and fodder value chains can
potentially have negative environmental influences such as potential hazards of salinization of soils.
Also the use of pesticides can result in the death of bee colonies, other fauna in rivers and lakes as well
as negative impact on human health. Water users associations and community leaders will be made
aware of such potential dangers/potential and appropriate management (IPM) practices will be
discussed. Another main concern is the depletion of ground and surface water resources due to
uncontrolled use. Over-extraction may lead to reduced water resources for the future, downstream
users or other environmental uses. IWMI will monitor such potential negative effects and use its
hydrological and landscape models to predict and mitigate some of these potential dangers in the
selected project areas (part of outcome 5 activities).
Similarly, intensification of livestock production can have negative environmental impacts, particularly in
peri-urban areas where close contact between humans and animals (poultry, dairy) may lead to spread
of zoonotic diseases. Extension staff and urban administrators will be made aware of such dangers in
order to allocate special areas for intensive livestock keeping in and around towns. Intensification of
livestock in rural areas can also have negative environmental impacts, in particular, the removal and use
of crop residues as animal feed. Potential negative impacts on soil fertility could be mitigated by
introducing alternative soil fertility enhancing measures such as the use of manure/fertilizers, crop
rotation with legumes, etc. On the other hand, more intensive livestock keeping can also have positive
environmental effects including reduced land degradation as a result of less trampling of grazing areas
when animals are stall fed. There are also other positive environmental impacts because of improved
diversity of flora as a result of area enclosures aimed at increasing fodder production. Extension staff
will be made aware of these potential effects as an integral part of the value chain development. To
enhance staff capacity in this area environmental assessment will be integrated within sustainable
livestock and irrigated agricultural value chain development training in the first project year. Based on
experience from IPMS and other projects, a set of likely negative and positive environmental impacts
and mitigating measures are summarized by commodity in Annex 7.
During the location specific diagnosis of individual commodities in the project areas, value chain
interventions promoted by LIVES will be assessed in more detail. During implementation, these potential
negative effects and mitigating measures will be monitored, using the formats already agreed upon by
CIDA and used during the IPMS project. IWMI will be responsible for monitoring water specific
environmental aspects. Reporting of negative and positive environmental effects will be made in the
project’s six monthly reports and best practices will be posted on the LIVES website as well as the EAP
for use by others.
16
3.5.2 Governance/partnership
CIDA supports its partner countries' efforts to build the conditions for secure, equitable development by
promoting good governance. LIVES will contribute to these efforts by building the capacity of the
national public sector partner institutions. Specific focus will be given to extension and research as an
integral part of the project as well as private sector input/service suppliers and value chain actors. These
institutions/individuals will be supported to develop a more participatory market-oriented approach
using a combination of in-service training and formal training.
Also, LIVES will facilitate linkages between government services, value chain actors and other service
providers, thus improving participation in the development of the agricultural sector.
3.6 Risk register
The risk register in the contribution agreement was revised by the project implementers and CIDA. The
revised Risk Register is shown in Annex 8. Most risks are similar as during the project proposal
development, accept that working relationship with the federal government partners was much
improved during the PIP, thus reducing the risk of several indicators.
4. Project Management and Governance
4.1 Result-based Management Approach and Structure
The project developed a work breakdown structure by activity following the five component outputs
and outcome results structure. To ensure that results are obtained, the project has developed a staffing
structure which reflects the inputs required for the different project components. Most staff will have
cross cutting responsibilities; however as compared to the IPMS project considerable attention will be
paid to the coordination of the documentation component to ensure delivery of results.
To further strengthen cohesion between the different work elements and results sections, the project
will hold quarterly meetings with the internal project management committee – led by the program
coordinator. The internal project management committee is comprised of project staff only (LIVES HQ,
Regional and Zonal), and IWMI staff. Their mandate is to report progress and issues to be brought to the
attention of project management. Other issues will be dealt with in a smaller internal committee (with
LIVES HQ staff) and will meet as needed.
4.2 Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Stakeholders
The MoA and EIAR have agreed to jointly implement the LIVES project with ILRI as the coordinating and
lead institution, which is responsible and accountable to the donor, CIDA. It was agreed that
development activities carried out by the Regional agricultural and livestock offices will be coordinated
by the MoA and regional research activities by EIAR. The MoA has contacted the Regional BoA to
integrate LIVES activities in the Regional, Zonal and District programs. EIAR has contacted RARIs to
integrate LIVES research activities in their programs.
17
PROJECT PARTNERS
To manage the project, a coordinating team comprised of Dr. Azage Tegegne (Project Manager), Dr.
Edmealem Shitaye (representing MoA), Dr. Getnet Assefa (representing EIAR) and Dr. Berhanu
Gebremedhin (LIVES Research Coordinator) and Dr. Simon Langan (IWMI representative) has been
established to discuss project progress, requests and to plan future activities once a month and liaise
with the project’s Steering Committee and the project implementation committees. The ToR’s for the
Coordinating Team can be found in Annex9.
IWMI will partner with ILRI for the implementation of the LIVES project, in particular for irrigated
agricultural value chains development, capacity development and documentation activities. To effect
this partnership, IWMI will recruit two experts who will be integrated into the LIVES team, with
additional part time support for specialized inputs as required. IWMI inputs in the project will cover
sustainable and efficient use of irrigation water for crops and livestock from different irrigation sources
(surface, ground water) and use systems (individual, groups). It will also contribute to the sustainable
development of irrigated fruit and vegetable value chain development.
To implement LIVES, ILRI proposed an implementation team (see Table 5) at three levels – national,
regional and zonal.
For the national level team, Dr. Azage Tegegne has been recruited as Project Manager through a
competitive process. Dr. Berhanu Gebremedhin will be in charge of coordinating outcome 4 i.e. all
documentation of the project implementers and partners and monitoring based on the RBM. ILRI will
furthermore recruit one full time livestock expert and a part time small ruminant’s expert. Other ILRI
international livestock expertise will be linked to the project on a part time basis including poultry, food
CIDA (Donor)
ILRI (Lead Institute)
Regional Agric & Livestock Offices
(Development Activities)
EIAR (Partner)
RARIs (Research Activities)
MoA (Partner)
18
safety, animal health, gender, impact assessment, and learning. ILRI has subcontracted the development
of irrigated vegetable and fruit value chain development to IWMI, who will recruit and contribute as
detailed in the paragraph above. At the national level, the LIVES team will be assisted by a project
coordinator who will be responsible for finance, HR, planning processes and partnership arrangements.
Furthermore, local staff will be recruited to deal with livestock/irrigated agriculture/environment,
gender, agri-business extension, knowledge management/communications, research assistants, GIS and
M&E. This team will be assisted by a Program Assistant and drivers.
At the Regional level, LIVES will provide a 3 person team comprised of a livestock and irrigated
agriculture expert and a research assistant with a social science background. One of the regional experts
will be appointed as regional coordinator. Each regional team will be assisted by an administrative
assistant and drivers.
At the zonal level, LIVES will recruit a coordinator (on a needs basis – see below) who will facilitate the
project’s development and documentation activities at zonal/District level.
LIVES adopted a concept of more specialized staff – as compared to IPMS where field staff were
supposed to be “jacks of all trades”. By targeting 30 Districts, the number of specialized staff would
become too large hence more staff at Zonal and Regional level to be “shared” between Zones and
Districts. While most staff will be based above District level, all staff at National, Regional and Zonal
levels will have to travel to the Districts to provide coaching and mentoring support. Depending on the
nature of the interventions, regular scheduled visits will be prepared for each Zone/District in annual
work plans for each staff member including gender and environment. As implementation progresses,
many of these visits will take place around learning/planning events. Such visits will be monitored and
increased access to knowledge skills will be reported in the project’s PMF. Once implementation starts
we will review the staffing regularly to see if it works properly.
To facilitate project implementation at the regional and zonal levels, the MoA will request the BoAs to
appoint one focal person in each of the BoAs (4 in total) as well as one focal person for each Zone (10 in
total). Similarly EIAR will request the RARIs to appoint a focal person from each Region (4 in total). These
focal persons will be responsible for coordinating/reporting LIVES activities within their own institution
and liaising with the LIVES regional and Zonal teams. All focal persons will be members of the regional
planning teams.
Table 5 Proposed LIVES staffing
Federal Level
Project Manager Communications Expert Research coordinator/livestock VC expert Gender Expert Livestock Expert Extension/agri business expert Small Ruminant Expert M&E expert Irrigation specialist (IWMI) GIS expert Irrigated agriculture VC expert (IWMI) Research assistants (2) Program Coordinator Program assistant Crop/Livestock/Env’t Expert Drivers (2)
Regional Level
19
AMHARA OROMIA SNNPR TIGRAY
Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator
Livestock/Irrig Expert Livestock/Irrig Expert Livestock/Irrig Expert Livestock/Irrig Expert
Research Assistant Research Assistant Research Assistant Research Assistant
BoA Focal Person BoA Focal Person BoA Focal Person BoA Focal Person
RARI Focal Person RARI Focal Person RARI Focal Person RARI Focal Person
Admin Assistant Admin Assistant Admin Assistant Admin Assistant
Driver Driver Driver Driver
Zonal Level
Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator
ZoA Focal Person
ZoA Focal Person
ZoA Focal Person
ZoA Focal Person
ZoA Focal Person
ZoA Focal Person
Driver Driver Driver Driver Driver Driver
Names in blue are GoE staff
Once the zonal and national workshops have identified the main project interventions for value chain
development, capacity strengthening, knowledge management and promotion (scheduled in January)
funds will be channeled through MoA/BoAs for agreed upon development activities and to EIAR/RARI
for agreed upon research activities.
As can be seen from the tables in Annex 3, two major government programs overlap at Zonal level with
the 10 LIVES Zones. The project will work closely with these partners in the selected LIVES
Regions/Zones/Districts with Federal level program coordinators, to create synergy in value chain
development interventions, capacity development/knowledge management and research and learning.
Additional measures include participation of staff from major programs in events organized by LIVES and
sharing of IPMS documentation (also see promotion component of the PIP – including linkages through
ARDPLAC). To effect such partnerships, the project will encourage cooperation with such partners in
training and knowledge management, initiated either by LIVES and/or the partners. Potential for
linkages also exist with the close involvement of LIVES in national planning and reporting meetings
(observers in AGP, SLM and PSNP steering committee members).
4.3 Project Committees
The project will be governed by a national project Steering Committee comprised of ILRI, IWMI, MoA,
EIAR, BoAs, Livestock development agencies and RARIs, which will meet once a year. The main task of
the steering committee is to ensure that project activities are aligned with national and regional
research and development priorities, identify gaps in value chain research and development which may
be filled within the project logic framework, create synergies with major government programs;
review/make recommendations for annual program of work and budget for consideration and approval
by CIDA.
Project implementation committees will be established at regional level to oversee and guide project
implementation at the regional level. They will meet twice per year. Each regional committee will be
20
comprised of zonal and regional focal persons and LIVES staff. Terms of References for these
committees are presented in Annex 9.
PROJECT COMMITTEES
5. Project implementation
5.1 Work breakdown structure
The work breakdown structure (WBS) for LIVES follows the immediate outcome logic structure,
complemented by project management activities. The Gantt charts with the WBS for the remaining part
of year 1 (August 2012 – March 2013) and for the whole project life can be found in Annex 10.
5.1.1 Capacity development
Capacity gaps identified (1110)
LIVES capacity development activities will focus on producers and other value chain actors, the public
sector extension system and district level private/cooperative input/service suppliers and the public
sector AI service system.
PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE (PSC)
(ILRI, IWMI, MoA, EIAR, BoAs,
Livestock Devt Agencies, RARIs, CIDA,
MoWE)
PROJECT COORDINATING TEAM (PCT)
Azage Tegegne – LIVES Edmealem Shitaye – MoA
Getnet Assefa – EIAR Berhanu Gebremedhin – LIVES
Simon Langan – IWMI Muluhiwot Getachew – LIVES
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEES (4) (PIC)
(one for each region) Regional focal persons (BoA, RARI, Livestock
Agency/Process – BoWE) Zonal focal person
LIVES staff
CIDA
21
During the PIP planning and subsequent workshop, the capacity information was assessed and
presented. As can be seen from the value chain assessment (see 5.1.1), producers, other value chain
actors, input and servicers providers in most Districts have limited capacity to engage in market-oriented
agriculture and therefore need input in building capacity. Also, women’s participation in production is
less than 20% in most commodities (See Table 1 and gender assessment). For the extension service in
general, it was noted that the Water offices and Bureaus were not the most important partners for
project implementation, since the Offices/Bureaus mainly deal with design of irrigation schemes and
drinking water development, while BoA and LIVES will focus on the use of water for agricultural
production. The workshop participants also stressed the importance of including cooperatives and
marketing agencies in the list of stakeholders. Staff capacity for agriculture, livestock and
cooperative/marketing at the Regional and selected zonal and District level has been presented in Table
4. Further analysis of the data show that staff capacity in terms of numbers at the District level is
adequate (on average 144 staff members from agriculture, livestock, cooperative and
marketing/district), which is a reflection of the government’s efforts to train staff through the ATVET
system. Staff capacity at LIVES zonal level varied considerably with highest average capacity in Amhara
Region 60/zone and 32 and 34/zone respectively in Oromia and SNNPRS. Average staff capacity in the
LIVES Tigray Zones is lowest i.e. 4 since the zonal structure for agriculture in Tigray is not well developed.
While staff numbers are adequate, in the PIP planning meeting, participants ranked staff capacity to
implement market-oriented livestock and irrigated value chain development at District and Zonal level
as very low.
Capacity development interventions identified (1120)
To fill the gaps in capacity, a program will be developed based on the following components: training; mentoring/coaching and follow up7 and institutionalization8. Zonal stakeholder meetings and project implementation committee meetings will be used to identify and review capacity development interventions annually and adjustments will be made as required. During the PIP, Regional teams also identified projects and educational institutions which can contribute to the capacity development activities for the different commodities (see Regional Profiles in Annex 6). LIVES can address the issue of staff turnover through discussions/consultations with the concerned authorities, especially for key staff such as focal persons. To further alleviate the effect of staff turnover, LIVES will also put considerable emphasis on provision/distribution of training materials which may be used for self-training.
The following capacity development activities are planned for the public sector extension system.
TOT & specialist training/mentoring completed (1130)
Participatory planning for potential gender and environmental friendly value chain interventions
To start up activities in each of the Zones/Regions, four (4) Regional teams (6 persons/region – 24 in
total) will establish the identification of an initial set of value chain interventions, using participatory
methods (see section 5.1.1 on value chain development).
7 Follow up can include refresher courses, mentoring and coaching (see previous footnote) and various knowledge
capturing and sharing interventions, which have been dealt with in a separate section 5.1.3 8 Some aspects of institutionalization have been covered under pillar 5 – promotion and scaling out.
22
The training will be conducted by LIVES/ILRI/IWMI HQ staff and specialized staff from federal partner
institutions (MoA, EIAR). Training will include review of data and maps collected during the PIP planning
phase, familiarization with rapid value chain assessment tools including gender and environment, and
familiarization with potential value chain interventions. Each regional team will have an experienced
(former IPMS staff) team member as well as members from regional partner institution (BoA, RARI and
BoW), including a gender specialist.
Market oriented project implementation for public sector extension staff and specialists
Upon completion of the participatory identification of interventions, extension and specialist staff will
be trained for project implementation i.e. extension approaches and sustainable livestock and irrigated
crop value chain development. The training will comprise of 3 components targeted at different groups
i.e. i) approaches, ii) livestock value chain development and iii) irrigated crop value chain development
The training on approaches is meant to fill gaps in knowledge on market-oriented extension for
extension staff at Zonal and District/PA level9. It will include an introduction on market oriented
extension, gender mainstreaming, knowledge management and environmental assessment – training
materials developed by the IPMS project will be used. A national level TOT approach will be followed
targeting all 4 teams of regional trainers comprised of regional extension, gender, marketing staff drawn
from the BoAs, RARIs, Agricultural Universities, ATVETs and Regional LIVES staff (7/regional team – 28 in
total for 4 Regions). Each regional team will then train extension, gender and marketing specialists from
Zones and Districts targeted by LIVES (on average 30/region – 120 in total for 4 Regions). These
zonal/district specialists can include NGO and/or government staff operating in the Zones/Districts. The
specialists will then use these skills to plan and implement gender sensitive livestock and irrigated value
chain development programs in their Zones/District. The initial training in year 1 will be followed by
refresher training in year 2 and will be supported by knowledge sharing and mentoring. The
mentoring/coaching of staff will take place in the Districts and Zones during regular visits by extension,
gender experts and zonal staff of the LIVES project teams (HQ, Region and Zonal staff) and partner
institution staff. The training program will be guided/conducted by federal level specialists drawn from
LIVES, ILRI and IWMI staff, MoA, EIAR and consultants, who will also be responsible for assessing the
impact of the trainings at different levels.
The training on livestock value chain development is meant to provide public sector livestock specialists
with an understanding of livestock value chain concepts/interventions for each of the selected livestock
value chains (i.e. dairy, small and large ruminants production, poultry and apiculture (honey)). Resource
materials in the form of brochures and power point presentations on each of these commodities have
been developed by IPMS. A TOT approach will also be followed starting with national level training of
four (4) regional teams comprised of regional staff from the BoAs, RARIs, Agricultural Universities,
ATVETs and LIVES Regional Staff (7/regional team – 28 in total for 4 Regions). Each regional team will
then train zonal and district level livestock specialists in value chain concepts/interventions (30/region –
120 in total). These zonal/district specialists can include NGO and/or government staff operating in the
9 In Districts overlapping with PSNP/HABP, staff is also expected to benefit from the CIDA funded Safety Net
Support Facility (SNSF) project which provides training in facilitation and leadership skills. CIDA’s TA funds may furthermore be leveraged to bring these skills to the project partners through the SNSF staff.
23
Zones/Districts. These specialists will use these skills to plan and implement livestock value chain
programs in their Zones/District. The initial training in year 1 will be followed by refresher trainings in
year 2 and will be supported by knowledge sharing and mentoring. The mentoring/coaching of staff will
take place in the Districts and Zones during regular visits by livestock, gender and environment staff
members of the LIVES project teams (National, Region and Zonal staff) and partner institution. Training
programs will be guided/conducted by federal level trainers, who will be drawn from LIVES/ILRI staff,
EIAR and MoA staff, who will also be responsible for assessing the impact of the training at different
levels.
The training on irrigated agricultural value chain development is meant to provide public sector
irrigation and horticultural staff with an understanding of irrigated fruits and vegetables value chain
concepts and interventions. Resource materials in the form of brochures and power point presentations
on each of these commodities have been developed by IPMS. National level TOT training of four (4)
regional teams comprised of regional staff from the BoAs, RARIs, Agricultural Universities, ATVETs and
LIVES Regional Staff will start in year 1 (7/regional team – 28 in total for 4 regions). Each regional team
will then train zonal and district level irrigated agricultural specialists in value chain
concepts/interventions (30/region – 120 in total for 4 Regions). These zonal/district specialists can
include NGO and/or government staff operating in the Zones/Districts. These specialists will use these
skills to plan and implement irrigated agriculture value chain programs in their Zones/District. The initial
training in year 1 will be followed by refresher trainings in year 2 and will be supported by knowledge
sharing and mentoring. The mentoring/coaching of staff will take place in the Districts and Zones during
regular visits by irrigation, horticulture, gender and environment staff members of the LIVES project
teams (HQ, Region and Zonal staff) and partner institution. Training programs will be guided/conducted
by federal level trainers, who will be drawn from LIVES/ILRI HQ staff, EIAR and MoA staff, who will also
be responsible for assessing the impact of the training at different levels.
The training on livestock and irrigated value chain development will focus on the concepts of value chain
development for each of the targeted commodities. However more in depth technical training of public
sector staff on good production practices for these commodities will in principle be the responsibility of
the regular government extension training program. Since lack of technical capacity on water/irrigation
management was diagnosed during the PIP, trainings will be organized for public sector specialists from
Region/zones and Districts (on average 15 staff/Region – 60 in total for 4 Regions). Similarly, production
technology oriented training for livestock (including grazing area development) and crops will be
organized on a need basis (on average 15 staff/Region – 60 in total for 4 Regions).
To institutionalize capacity strengthening for the public sector extension system, the project will support
the following activities:
MSc/BSc education for public sector staff completed (1140)
Following the positive responses to the MSc/BSc support program in the IPMS project, as well as requests received by regional governments during the PIP planning phase, LIVES will fill gaps in supervisory specialist capacity in consultation with federal/regional partners. A total of 100 staff members will be selected from the public sector extension and research system. To avoid capacity gaps during their studies, the majority of the selected staff members will be enrolled in 3-month summer
24
courses in local universities. Due consideration will be given to female candidates (around 50%), however minimum academic qualifications should be met by all candidates in order to be eligible for further education10. The project will pay for female candidates to take preparatory courses in order to meet the minimum qualifications. The candidates for the MSc program are also expected to be coached by project and partners staff during their MSc thesis research and need to have good English writing skills.
Training materials and guidelines updated and/or translated (1150)
Several guidelines and manuals have been developed by projects (including IPMS) and government
programs. As much as possible, LIVES will make use of existing training materials including the following
IPMS materials:
Synthesis of value chain development on dairy, improved small and large ruminants/meat
production, apiculture, fruit and vegetables (these brochures are available in English and
Amharic).
Gender mainstreaming manual (translated in Amharic)
Gender brochure, highlighting good gender strategies and practices (English and Amharic).
Market – oriented extension training manual (English only)
Knowledge management – best practices (English Only)
Technical training manuals on agricultural water management (developed by IMWI)
Community based breeding manual for small ruminants (developed by ICARDA)
Apiculture development manual including colony splitting (Amharic only)
All this material will be updated and improved upon during LIVES and/or translated into Amharic. The
translation of training materials in local languages was stressed by the participants of the PIP planning
workshop. Training guidelines and materials on technical issues will be developed with partner
institutions based on needs, i.e. in Amharic for materials targeting extension workers and other
languages upon request. An overview of available training materials/guidelines on different practices
can be found on the EAP (see Annex 11 for details).
Training of educational institutions in value chain approaches completed (1160)
Staff of Agricultural Universities will be included as trainers in the TOT and specialist training in the
Regions. Once trainings have been completed, the third project year will be used to train University
trainers to enable them to include the teaching materials in their curriculum. It is expected that 60
University/ATVET staff will be trained in 3 separate trainings
Trainings/mentoring suppliers of inputs/services completed (1170)
A key component of the value chain development approach is to ensure an adequate supply of
agricultural inputs and services, which in turn will benefit producers of primary products. As observed in
the value chain development assessment (section 5.1.1) little or no private/group production of inputs is
10
Selected candidates will be subject to the normal government procedures for serving the system after completion of the training.
25
taking place (also see Annex 6). To support the development of a more efficient input/service supply
system, the project will pay particular attention to capacity building with public and private sector
input/service suppliers in year 1 and 2. Capacity development will mostly be mentoring and coaching,
complemented by knowledge management activities such as field trips, study tours and platform
meetings. LIVES will target the following input and service supply system/participants:
- Nursery development for fruits and vegetable seedlings – in particular women farmers/groups -
with the help of horticultural specialists from the EIAR and RARI l – 5/ fruit producing district
- Vegetable (onion) seed production/sale by individual farmers/groups – with the help of
EIAR,RARI and IWMI specialists – 20/onion producing district
- Breeders for small ruminants – with the help of ILRI/ICARDA and Regional institutions – 10
farmers/ small ruminants producing Districts
- Pullet producing (women) groups/individuals – with the help of LA (Livestock Agency) staff, RARI
and LIVES/ILRI staff – 20 for poultry producing Districts
- Bee colony splitting by individuals/groups – with the help of apiculture specialists 20/honey
producing districts
- Forage seed/planting materials multiplication (including FTCs) with the help of RARIs and ILRI - 5
in Districts producing meat or dairy
- Apiculture supply shops (private/coops) – 1 per honey producing District
- Hormone assisted mass insemination zonal mobile teams - with the help of LA, and regional AI
center, EMDTI and LIVES staff – 5 persons per dairy or large ruminants producing district (class
room and practical training)
- Pump repair services for government staff and small scale District/village level entrepreneurs
and cooperatives – with the help of IWMI and local specialists
- (Community) management of irrigation schemes/water user groups – with the help of IWMI and
local consultants – for irrigation committees in selected Districts (10 community
members/District)
- (Community) management of grazing areas – with the help of ILRI/LIVES/RARI specialists for
grazing land committees – (10 community members/District)
ILRI is also in the process of introducing rapid diagnostic toolkits for use by veterinary services, once
these become available, they will be tested on a selective basis in sites with dairy and animal production
potential.
LIVES will also assist input and service suppliers through mentoring and coaching in particular to create
linkages between the different levels, in particular for establishing agro dealerships.
A summary of the estimated number of input/service providers affected directly is shown in Table 3.
Training/mentoring/coaching of farmers completed (1180)
The capacity development of extension, gender, livestock and irrigated crop value chain development
will ultimately result in better trained staff at District and PA level, who will be able to support farmers
introduce more advanced commercially oriented production technologies, and create linkages with
improved input suppliers. Many of the technologies required for the production of the primary products
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are part of what the MoA refers to as good or best practices. While some of these practices will have
been mentioned in the livestock and irrigated agriculture value chain training, more in depth training on
these technologies is expected to be provided by the regular zonal and district level extension services.
LIVES will support the efforts of the extension services by providing training materials for extension staff
as well as availing qualified manpower from its own staff or partner institutions. Details of such trainings
will be available after the preparation of zonal work plans.
Training/mentoring of other value chain actors completed (1190)
The project will target a limited number of small scale agri-business/cooperatives in processing and
marketing of products. Such training will mainly target District/Zonal level dairy processors, informal
milk traders, butcheries, traders in animal products, fruit and vegetables. Emphasis in these trainings will
be on improving food safety and food quality, after an assessment has been made. Details of such
training will be provided after some rapid diagnostic studies in year 1. Capacity strengthening will also
take place through visits.
5.1.2 Knowledge management & learning
Knowledge gaps identified (1210)
Assessment of knowledge gaps for value chain development is a continuous process, which will take
place through learning and knowledge sharing. During the PIP planning workshop, it was emphasized
that both IT and non IT based knowledge interventions are important. Specific location gaps in
knowledge at different levels and the way/format they can be addressed will be identified during the
zonal workshops planned from September to December 2012.
Knowledge interventions identified (1220)
Knowledge management interventions will be reviewed annually in zonal stakeholder meetings together
with a review of value chain and capacity development interventions. Also, project implementation
committees at regional and federal level will review knowledge management interventions at higher
level.
Knowledge centers and extension system equipment purchased (1230)
To enhance access to knowledge, LIVES will encourage participating project Districts to establish
knowledge centers (in year 1 and 2) and provide limited budget support (CAD 5,000) to purchase
equipment (computers/printers/e-readers/cameras/TVs/DVD players/LCD - PICO projectors) and some
basic furniture. LIVES will also contribute to the annual operation cost of such centers including internet
access (the project does not have funds for physical infrastructure development). Such centers will also
be provided with various materials on value chain development, prepared during the IPMS project. This
will include training materials (see capacity development), videos, project working papers, off-line
copies of the Ethiopian Agricultural Portal (EAP). Such materials are in first instance targeting the
extension service providers, who can in turn share the knowledge gained with farmers and other value
chain actors.
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Knowledge capturing, sharing and learning events completed (1240)
To reach farmers and other value chain actors, LIVES will make use of various forms of knowledge
sharing and learning. It is envisaged that initially, emphasis will be on study tours of key project
participants (service providers, farmers and other value chain actors) to IPMS sites to interact/learn
from the earlier experiences. Also, the use of field days and technology exhibitions will be encouraged to
share knowledge between farmers and value chain actors. Participatory Agricultural Radio Series (PARS)
on targeted commodities (see promotion) will be reproduced for use in FTCs. Also, the use of
participatory video to stimulate learning will be tested. IWMI will also be testing the use of mobile
phone to transmit price information and input prices for irrigated vegetables as part of their smart ICT
program. As indicated in the gender strategy, particular attention will be paid to women’s participation
in knowledge management events as part of a strategy to have a more gender balanced development.
Seminars, workshops and meetings will also be encouraged for knowledge sharing and learning between
the value chain actors and service providers. It is envisaged that such events be organized for value
chain development in general as well as by commodity. As much as possible, LIVES will try to integrate
such learning into already existing/planned government structures such as the Agricultural and Rural
Development Partners Linkages Advisory Council (ARDPLAC).
Project website and social media operational (1250)
Another component of knowledge capturing, and sharing is the development of the LIVES website and
brochure. All relevant documentation developed by LIVES will be uploaded on this site for use by project
partners and others (also see development EAP in outcome 5).
5.1.3 Promotion
Promotion interventions developed (1310)
A strategy for promoting project approaches and interventions was developed during the PIP planning
phase and will be reviewed annually. Two main targets are envisaged for promotional activities i.e.
location specific promotion/scaling out in learning Districts11 and non-location specific promotion for
programs in and outside Ethiopia.
Promotional interventions and distribution of materials completed (1320)
Since the level of engagement of LIVES in these areas will be limited, linkages with government/donor
funded programs will be made to improve the effectiveness of such efforts for the learning Districts (see
Annex 3 for maps indicating overlap with other programs).
The promotion of approaches and interventions in Learning Districts will involve facilitation of field
trips/study tours to LIVES sites by key actors and partners from learning Districts and participation in
LIVES field days. Learning Districts will also receive some of the IPMS/LIVES documentation and benefit
11
LIVES will promote approaches and interventions in learning Districts/Zones which are located in or near the project target Districts and which have similar commodity development potentials.
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indirectly from the TOT training of zonal staff on approaches, livestock and irrigated agriculture value
chain development.
Promotional interventions & distribution of materials completed (1330)
The non-location specific promotion will target agricultural research and development partners in
general through presentation by LIVES staff and partners in seminars, workshops, conferences and
participation in meetings.
Also LIVES will organize 4 regional conferences and one national conference to share the results with
wider audiences. Following the IPMS approach, such events will be integrated as much as possible into
regional, national events organized by the MoA/BoAs and EIAR/RARIs.
Content/structore of EAP further expanded/developed (1340)
To promote market oriented agriculture in general, LIVES will continue to provide further support to the
development of the Ethiopian Agricultural Portal (EAP). This support will come in the form of additional
media and content and promoting the use of the EAP. Attention will also be paid to creating linkages
with potential contributors.
Video, radio programs prepared and broadcasted (1350)
LIVES will also experiment with Participatory Agricultural Radio Programs Series (PARS) with Farm Radio
International and local radio stations to promote LIVES approaches and interventions more widely.
During IPMS, 2 PARS were developed i.e. one on fruit value chain development and one on apiculture
development in Tigray. It is planned to develop additional PARS on targeted commodity value chains.
Similarly, videos will be developed on the commodities and or key interventions. While PARS and videos
will be used for promotional purposes, use will be also be made in the LIVES project areas by
reproducing PARS on DVD for use in FTCs.
5.1.4 Value chain development
Value chains, target areas, actors and service providers identified (2110)
As described in the research section (see 3.3), identification of farmers, value chain actors and
input/service providers was conducted by the regional teams and reviewed during the PIP planning
workshop (results shown in Annexes 5 and 6).
Value Chain interventions identified (2120)
During the PIP phase, commodities were identified through a participatory process, GIS maps, expert
consultations and ranking techniques (see Annex 2). In regional meetings, 2 to 3 zones with a maximum
of 4 commodities were selected for each Zone. In subsequent meetings in each of the 10 Zones, the
commodity choices were discussed/verified and 3 clustered Districts were selected for the production of
these commodities. Next, selection of Peasant Associations (PAs) took place in each of the selected
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Districts based on their suitability for producing one or more of the selected commodities. A preliminary
assessment of the information collected indicates that:
Use of improved genetic livestock resources is very limited and/or absent, in part due to an
inadequate service delivery system
Use of improved genetic (grafted) fruit varieties is limited
In many Districts, irrigated land is used for food crops rather than high value vegetables and/or
improved fruit varieties
No detailed assessment has been made on irrigation, crop and livestock husbandry practices,
however it was noted that there is considerable scope for improvement, in particular in irrigated
agriculture
Participation of female headed households in the production of most commodities is < 20 %
The input and service supply system for livestock and irrigated agriculture is dominated by
Woreda agriculture offices and NGOs, little or no alternative (private) systems were observed12
While linkages exist between public and privately operated District input/service providers and
federal/regional input/service providers, there is considerable scope for
developing/strengthening these linkages
Trade/processing system is fairly traditional at the District/Zonal level and dominated by small
scale businesses. There is an emergence of agro business at the regional/national level
Linkages between producers and other value chain actors (traders, processors and outlets) are
weak and have resulted in poor market transparency/participation by producers.
To address these problems, a set of generic gender and environmentally friendly value chain
interventions, based on IPMS and partner experiences was prepared and presented in the planning
workshop. Generic value chain interventions are, broadly defined, interventions emphasizing the
objective of the interventions and some general characteristics. Location specific design will be
developed in discussion with the value chain actors and service providers as an integral part of the
implementation process. LIVES proposes to use this approach because it intends to benefit from the
innovation capacity of the value chain actors and service providers involved. This process led to an
enrichment of the menu of which and updated version is presented in Annex 7.
The PIP planning workshop also prioritized the need for different types of interventions, which showed
that supply of inputs and services for livestock value chains was the number one priority. On the other
hand, most Regions identified marketing of irrigated fruits and vegetables, as a major constraint. This is
understandable because of the perishable nature of these commodities and the seasonality in
production, combined with a monopolistic market structure, which makes farmers price takers. Also
production of irrigated vegetables was found to be a major constraint, mostly related to water use
efficiency. With the input of the main international project partner (IWMI), emphasis will also be put on
12
Several exceptions were noted such as group or private operated fruit nurseries in Kalu District (Amhara) and in Arba Minch Zuria (Gamo Gofa). Private onion seed production has started as a spillover effect of the IPMS Fogera project. The workshop also identified youth groups harvesting and selling fodder. The use of hormone assisted mass insemination was also observed in some Districts following IPMS interventions. Private AI service delivery was also observed in and around urban centers.
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the improved supply of water services in communally operated irrigation schemes. A key element will be
the greater involvement of women in the water users associations.
This participatory prioritization process and the identification of an initial set of potential value chain
interventions, in each of the 10 Zones will continue as an integral part of the implementation process.
This process is intended to get a better (location specific) understanding of the selected commodity
value chain problems and development potentials, including the role of women and impact of
interventions on the environment. The process will be led by regional teams (see capacity
development), who will analyze information collected during the PIP, conduct interviews with key
stakeholders and visit farming systems. Based on information collected, they will organize zonal
stakeholder meetings with farmers, service providers and other value chain actors from the Districts,
Zones and Regions. During the workshop, the menu of potential interventions will be reviewed with
these stakeholders and priority interventions will be identified for immediate implementation13. Since
value chain development is a continuous process, as a result of lessons learned (outcome 5) and new
knowledge becoming available, such workshops will be organized annually by each Zone. Furthermore,
project governing structures at regional and federal level will contribute to the annual review of value
chain interventions.
Potential Value Chain interventions introduced (2130)
The potential value chain interventions identified, will be implemented by the value chain actors, in
particular the producers (farmers) and other value chain actors and the public and private sector
suppliers of inputs and services (other than extension). The extension services will facilitate the
introduction of the interventions by creating linkages between producers, other value chain actors and
service/input suppliers and building their skills and knowledge (see capacity development).
The LIVES program will partner/support this implementation process through improving the capacity of
the extension system to perform these new tasks through, in service and formal training, coaching and
mentoring as well as by taking part in extension and knowledge management activities (see 5.1.2 and
5.1.3).
Tables 1, 2 and 3 provide an overview of the number of farmers, public and private input/service
providers and other value chain actors that are estimated to be affected by the project activities through
knowledge management, capacity development, technical assistance and the creation of linkages.
Demonstration materials provided (2140)
The LIVES project will support value chain development in the Zones/Districts and Regions through
making research and development demonstration material available for some of the interventions such
as solar pumps, feed supplements, hormones, improved animal genetics (semen), etc. LIVES will
however maintain its business principle that production of commodities and inputs/services should be
based on economically viable production/service units.
13
During these stakeholder workshops, priority knowledge management and capacity development interventions will be identified.
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5.1.5 Documentation and monitoring
Research priorities identified (2210)
Based on the interventions proposed and implemented for value chain development, capacity
development and knowledge management, a program will be developed annually to generate
evidence/knowledge/lessons on the commodities and actions undertaken. A distinction is made
between the formal documentation and the project’s Results based Monitoring and Evaluation (RBME).
The formal monitoring consists of diagnostic, action and impact studies. In the annual meetings,
research priorities will be established and reviewed. Good documentation and monitoring is essential
component of the project as it provides the principal method of quantifying what worked well or
conversely failed/ performed poorly so that lessons and guidelines for rolling interventions outside of
the project can be justified.
The formal studies will be fitted into a multi-site research framework which will enable LIVES partners to
conduct cross-site analysis. The studies will be implemented jointly by scientists from LIVES, IWMI, ILRI,
EIAR, RARIs and Agricultural Universities with help of MSc and PhD students (100 in total).
Diagnostic studies completed (2220)
Diagnostic studies aim at quantifying identified problems/generate knowledge to better understand
problem causes. Such studies are targeted at policy makers to contribute to policy formulation as well as
to design/improve interventions.
The following diagnostic studies may be considered:
Structure, Conduct and Performance (SCP) studies of selected commodity value chains, which
can also serve as a baseline for selected value chains
Special animal disease studies using rapid diagnostic tools developed by ILRI
Studies on hydrological aspects within watershed/landscape and management of irrigation
systems/schemes
Studies on existing input supply/services for livestock and irrigated agriculture
Gender specific studies documenting/quantifying the role of women in the value chain as a
whole as well as in components thereof (e.g. role of women and user rights of women in grazing
land)
Environmental studies on particular aspects of value chain interventions such as food safety and
human diseases resulting from interactions with animals (zoonotic diseases)
Diagnostic studies will be selected after the first research meeting in January 2013 and be prominent
during the first 2 years of the project.
Action studies completed (2230)
Action research studies will focus on individual and/or combinations of interventions initiated by the
project partners. Particular attention will be paid to studies aimed at developing alternative input
32
service supply systems. Such studies will look at the technical and economic viability of the interventions
as well as distribution/sale of inputs/services to different target groups including government programs,
gender, and type of farmer. Since the number of alternative/service suppliers is relatively small, use will
also be made of recording systems to obtain data. Studies will also be conducted to document
alternative knowledge management/capacity development interventions.
Targeted production interventions, in particular on irrigated agriculture (vegetables), improved dairy,
breeding and fattening of animals, egg laying will also be monitored on selected farms.
Action research studies will be initiated, after the first research planning meeting (January 2013) and
continue over the life of the project.
Commodity impact studies completed (2240)
Impact studies will consider individual and/or combinations of production interventions and measure
impact on income, value chain performance (VCP), gender, nutrition, and others. Data for such studies
will mostly be obtained through surveys. To measure impact, LIVES will make use of advanced
techniques to measure such impacts including double difference (combining the with - without, before -
after) and propensity scoring and instrumental variables methods.
Project baseline and final impact study
In the first year, LIVES will establish a baseline against which project progress will be measured in
particular at the ultimate outcome level and the intermediate outcome level. Part of this information
will be obtained from secondary sources, key informants and community focus group discussions. To
obtain data from the community groups, a sample of about 150 groups from an estimated 600 Peasant
Associations will be drawn.
Collection of baseline data for the ultimate and intermediate outcomes was initiated during the PIP
planning phase – initial results have been included in the project’s Performance Management
Framework (PMF). The final report will be delivered by the end of September and indicators will be
updated accordingly.
Project RBM completed (2250)
During the project life, annual monitoring of project immediate outcomes and outputs will take place,
for which a database will be developed to store the information for analysis and reporting. From year 3
onwards, selected intermediate outcomes will also be measured. Information thus obtained will also be
used for learning. Monitoring of year 1 immediate outcome quality indicators will start in the beginning
of year 2.
5.2 Gantt chart
A detailed overview of the work breakdown structure is presented in the Gantt chart – see Annex 11.
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6. Result based project monitoring and reporting
6.1 Performance measurement framework
The performance management framework, following the logic model has been revised and is attached
in Annex 13
6.2 Performance reporting format
The project’s reporting forms/schedules are presented under the project management section of the
Gantt chart (Annex 7).
6.3 Stakeholder communication Plan
The purpose of the Communication Plan is to capture ‘how’ communications will be managed
throughout the project life cycle. The LIVES communication strategy targets 3 groups:
The first group is comprised of the value chain actors and service providers involved in the various value
chains – referred to as the project value chain group
The second group is the project’s implementation group which is comprised of regional partner staff
implementing the project, in particular, LIVES staff and focal persons in research and development
The third group is the larger research and development community group nationally and internationally
– referred to as the external communications group.
Different types of communications and approaches/tools are used for communications with the groups.
An overview of the main formal and informal communications planned in LIVES is summarized in Table
7.
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Table 8 Communication strategy/tools for each target group
Communication tools/approach
Project value chain group
Project implementation partners
External communication group
Remarks
Project field days, study tours, exhibitions
X As planned for each Zone in the first 3 years
Project workshops, seminars
X As panned for each Zone in the first 3 years
Project regional and national conferences
X In year 4 in each Region and at national level
Internal project meetings implementers
X Twice/ year in each Region
Steering committee meetings
X Twice/year at federal level
Internal Wiki X Updated daily
LIVES website X X X Updated monthly
Ethiopian Agricultural portal
X X Updated monthly
Project publications X X Annually distributed
Participatory radio series
X X Years 2, 3, 4 and 5
At the same time, the project will maintain a repository of all project documentation including workshop
proceedings, training reports, videos, brochures, publications, videos, articles, audio visual recordings,
which will be uploaded regularly on the project website.
