Assessing (a) the demand from host and refugee populations for supplementary feed for cattle, small ruminants and poultry In Jijiga, Dollo Ado and Gambella in Ethiopia, (b) identify the most economic, affordable feed mixes and (c) work out business models for production and distribution of these.

ABOUT SHARPE

Strengthening Host and Refugee Populations in Ethiopia (SHARPE) is a 3.5-year initiative funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO). SHARPE’s goal is to strengthen the economic self-reliance and resilience of host and refugee communities by fostering inclusive economic growth in three refugee hosting regions in Ethiopia: Gambella, Dollo Ado and Jijiga.

SHARPE applies a Market Systems Development (MSD) approach to develop a portfolio of strategic private and public-sector partnerships to deepen regional markets for cereals, horticulture, livestock, poultry, fisheries, financial and business services, energy and labour. Stronger regional markets should also work in support of a ‘cash first’ agenda for humanitarian aid and should support the implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF).

SHARPE partnerships will contain activities to stimulate investment, innovation and/or reform to improve practices, products and service delivery to make markets work in a more inclusive and resilient manner for SHARPE’s target communities. SHARPE offers co-investment, technical assistance and capacity development to partners on a cost-sharing basis.

SHARPE expects the partners to lead the market development process with SHARPE providing support as required. SHARPE anticipates that, through the careful co-design of these partnerships, partners should be able to carry changes forward in the long-term; changes should be commercially sustainable where and whenever relevant.

BACKGROUND

Ethiopia’s national herd, one of the largest in Africa, consists of 60.3 million cattle, 31.3 million sheep, 32.7 million goats, 1.4 million camels and close to 56 million poultry. It produces 1,128 metric tonnes (MT) of meat, 174 million eggs and 5.2 billion litres of milk per year. In addition, it provides 68 million MT of organic fertiliser and almost 617 million days in animal traction (e.g. ploughing, tilling, etc.). Livestock activities engage more than 11.3 million rural households in highland and lowland areas across the country (CSA,2018). Livestock products are consumed by nearly all households in Ethiopia, with per capita meat and dairy consumption at 8.5 kg and 18.4 litres respectively. Livestock (primary products, processing and marketing) contributes to 21% of the national GDP and nearly half of the agricultural GDP (Shapiro et al.,2017).

For SHARPE target communities, cattle, small ruminants and, to a lesser extent, poultry, represent an important economic activity. The relative importance of respective animals varies between communities and geographies. Pastoralists prefer cattle. Small ruminants may be more important for poorer households and refugees (for fattening). Poultry is an emerging industry with a nascent demand for fodder.

Host and refugees collaborate economically for livestock.  Refugees sell their sheep and goats (shoats) to host community traders, buying meat, eggs and dairy products in return. In addition, refugees hire people from host communities to manage their herds, which they cannot keep inside the camp. Besides the target community also keep livestock to supplement their food consumption (with dairy, eggs, etc.) and/or store value in case of future shocks.

Despite the significance of livestock in the livelihoods of host and refugee communities, the productivity of the sector is poor. SHARPE’s analysis suggests that a key factor contributing to this low productivity include sufficient access to good supplementary feed. Whereas cattle and ruminants can feed well in the ‘green seasons’, during dry periods they can suffer significant weight loss, representing an economic loss. Also, not all animals and owners have access to green pastureland.

In Jijiga, Dollo Ado and Gambella, natural grazing for cattle and small ruminants is supplemented by the feeding of crop residue. However, the nutritional value of crop residue is often limited while access to richer supplementary fodder is limited or non-existent.

Farmers sell crop residue to local traders who in-turn sell onward to small livestock holders without any real value addition. There are a few cooperatives and youth groups who harvest hay when ample grass is available, store this, and then sell this in the dry season. In addition to the local supply, fodder also comes from across the border and from other regions in Ethiopia. In both cases, this does not happen frequently, and prices are high. Production of fodder with the help of irrigation to meet the demand in the dry season is limited. Similarly, the availability of commercial feed supply is largely limited to NGO emergency support where NGOs buy feeds from the central part of the country and distribute directly to the affected households, bypassing markets.

Therefore, with a large and growing livestock and poultry population, shrinking grazing lands and as more unpredictable climate, the need for a more organized feed and fodder industry is growing.

The majority of livestock owners in the target areas are smallholders who are not able to produce and store fodder in bulk and face acute shortages during the dry season. For refugees, feeding challenges during dry seasons are serious as they are not able to move to find new pasture.

A growing feed and fodder industry can take different forms:

• The introduction/scaling up of nutritious, drought tolerant grass varieties (e.g., Bachiaria).
• The introduction/scaling up of silage making
• The introduction/scaling up of making more feed mixes from local ingredients, possibly fortified with other ingredients
• The introduction/scaling up of supply chains introducing solutions available elsewhere in Ethiopia within reach of famers in Gambella, Dollo Ado and Jijiga.

Which of these options (or combinations of these) is preferred will be determined by what is most affordable (which feed/fodder) and feasible (the business plan to deliver it) and may vary between types of animals and regions.

OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The objectives of the assignment is to determine:

• The estimated demand for improved, supplementary fodder per region and type of animal
• The most appropriate feed and fodder solutions for each, based on price, effectiveness
• Concrete business models (new local industries, better supply chains or a combination of both) through which these preferred solutions can be supplied.

SCOPE OF WORK

SHARPE believes that engaging the private sector in the supply of feed and fodder is essential to provide long-term sustainable solutions both for the refugee and host communities. However, as mentioned, local level fodder production and the supply of factory produced commercial feeds to the targeted areas is limited.

SHARPE wants to engage an experienced consultant to  identify the most economical and feasible  feed and fodder options and work business model for these. If these look sounds, SHAPRE would then proceed to invest in these.

The consultant is expected to undertake the following work, thereby working closely together with the SHARPE technical team in Addis Ababa and in the ‘hubs’ in Gambella, Dollo Ado and Jijiga.

• Identify the critical seasons or months in which host and refugee communities are facing shortage of feed for their livestock (cattle, small ruminants, and poultry) and what coping mechanisms they are using during this season; determine the approximate number of household and animals impacted by this.
• Analyse the willingness of the target community and their preferences (especially related to price/affordability) to buy feed/fodder (for cattle, small ruminants and poultry feed) during the dry seasons; determine the approximate demand for feed/fodder from this and the desired product features: price, unit size, to be available from where.
• Identify available local resources used as an input for feed production.
• Identify fodder and forage crop varieties that can be adaptable to the area and, for instance, be produced using irrigation
• Suggest the most economical and feasible suitable feed/fodder solutions, which farmers can make, which local industries can make, or which can be distributed to the targeted regions.
• Identify the most feasible business model for feed/fodder production and distribution in to the target regions.
• Identify and analyse past initiative and ongoing interventions related to local level commercial fodder production and feed supply system by other agencies – their success, challenges and lessons.
• Assess the capacity of local MSMES to increase, improve, or step into feed and fodder solutions as identified; assess the capacity and interest and feasibility of Addis-based companies to increase or improve feed/fodder solutions ad/or and their distribution to the targeted regions.

DELIVERABLES

The technical report produced by the consultant should address all the information listed under the scope of this assessment. The consultant is required to submit the interim report of the initial findings to SHARPE by mid of December 2020 and conduct validation of the report and recommendations with SHARPE technical team.  Below are what SHARPE expect from this study: -

• Demand assessment.
• Identifications of suitable feed and fodder solutions and product specifications in response to demand.
• Clear and practical business models for commercial livestock feed and fodder production (potentially) able to supply these solutions.
• Potential partners and their capacity for SHARPE to partner with to address the feed and fodder problem in the target area identified

DURATION

• To be completed within three months after signing of an agreement.

REPORTING

• The Consultant will report to Samuel Zewdu, Portfolio Lead.

CONSULTANT QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Extensive knowledge of livestock and poultry production and low-cost feed/fodder production and preservation from a technical and business point of view.
• Knowledge of livestock feed supply and fodder production systems in Ethiopia and other developing countries.
• Knowledge of (Ethiopian) livestock sector specifically pastoral and agro pastoral farming systems.
• Vast technical knowledge and experience related to fodder production and preservation as a business
• Knowledge of market system development and private sector engagement in livestock feed supply.
• Better to have research experience and knowledge on the areas where the assessment is going to be conducted.