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Role of Livestock on Mixed Smallholder Farms in the Ethiopian Highlands

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Role of Livestock on Mixed Smallholder Farms in the Ethiopian Highlands ROLE OF LIVESTOCK ON MIXED SMALLHOLDER FARMS IN THE ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS A Case Study from the Baso and Worena Wereda near Debre Berhan Guido Gryseels icó l) \-bob-bo PROMOTORS: Dr. D. Zwart, Hoogleraar in de Tropische Veehouderij Dr. F.P.Jansen , Hoogleraar in de Agrarische Ontwikkelingseconomie, in het bijzonder de economische aspecten BIBLIOTHEEK jiANDBOUWUNIVERSITEÎt ^AGENINGEN Guido Gryseels ROLE OF LIVESTOCK ON MIXED SMALLHOLDER FARMS IN THE ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS A Case Study from the Baso and Worena Wereda near Debre Berhan Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor in de landbouwwetenschappen, op gezag van de rector magnificus, dr. H.C. Van der Plas, in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 28 september 1988 des namiddags te vier uur in de aula van de Landbouwuniversiteit te Wageningen ;sw.v2>o£>3o Gryseels, Guido. 1988. Role of Livestock on Mixed Smallholder Farms in the Ethiopian Highlands. A Case Study from the Baso and Worena Wereda near Debre Berhan. Dissertation, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. *JooJ^of/ '2^ STELLINGEN 1. Inth emixe d farming systemo f theEthiopia nhighlands ,farmer s allocate their resourcesefficiently .Change s inth ewa y these farmers manage their farmswil l thereforeno t raise farm productivity significantly.Ne wtechnology ,o rexterna l inputsar enecessar y for a substantial increase insmallholde r agricultural production. 2.A strategy for livestock development on smallholder farmsi nth e Ethiopianhighland s should give firstpriorit y toth e intermediate functionso f livestock, sucha sdraugh tpowe r andmanure , (eigen proefschrift) 3.Timel yacces s todraugh tpowe r isa strongdeterminan t of farm grainproductio n inth eEthiopia nhighlands , (eigen proefschrift) 4.Th e introduction of crossbred dairy cows isa valuabl e development option fora significant fractiono fth e farmpopulatio no f the Ethiopian highlands,provide d appropriatemarketin g arrangements and extension servicesar eavailable , (eigen proefschrift) 5.I nth eEthiopia nhighlands ,one-o xplough s canb e useful for seed covering,bu tcanno t replace the traditional ox-pair forprimar y cultivation, (eigen proefschrift) 6. On-farm livestock research shouldno tb e conducted solelyb y economists. 7. Inarea so f theEthiopia nhighland s thatar e structurally famine-prone,non-emergenc y foodai ddiscourage s themigratio n of the local farmpopulatio n toothe r areaso fhighe r agricultural potential. 8.Livestoc k research inth eAfrica nhighland sha sneglecte d small ruminants,an d therefore,th epoore r farmers. 9.Althoug h onlya smallfractio no fEthiopia' sgrai n isproduce d during the seasono f the 'small rains',thes e rainsdetermin e the timingo f firstcultivatio n and therefore theproductivit y of themai n cropping season.Thi saspec t iso f crucial importance inth e development of 'earlywarning ' systems thathav ea predictiv e capacity for crop failurean d foodai d needso fa particula r region. 10. Farmersparticipatin g inon-far mverificatio n trials should normallyno t receive compensation forparticipatin g insuc htrials . 11. The succesful outcome ofagricultura l research isusuall y associatedmor ewit h intuitiono f individual researchers and serendipidy, thanwit h formalplannin g and theavailabilit y ofa criticalmas so fstaff . 12.Mos texperienc e results fromba ddecisions .A n experienced person isthu sno tnecessaril ywise . Proefschriftva nGuid oGryseel s Roleo f Livestock onMixe d Smallholder Farmso f the Ethiopian Highlands.A CaseStud y fromth eBas oan dWoren aWered a near Debre Berhan. Wageningen,2 8Septembe r 1988 W« Aan mama, papa, filip, dirk, joris, hugo, machteld, bruno, jan, jos, lief en albert ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thisdissertatio n isbase do n research Iundertoo k while Iwa s working at the International Livestock Centre forAfric a (ILCA)i nAddi s Abeba, Ethiopia from197 9t o1987 . Ia mdeepl ygratefu l to ILCA for the opportunity toundertak e this research,an d for theexcellen t research facilities itprovided . Particular thanksar edu et oDr .P.J . Brumby, ILCADirecto rGenera l from198 2t o1986 ,wh o took akee n interest in this work andwa sa continuous sourceo fencouragemen t throughout the research process. Ihav egreatl yappreciate d hisgenerou ssupport ,an d benefitted tremendously fromhi s sharp intellectan d in-depthknowledg e of the problemsan dopportunitie s of livestock production. I amals over ygratefu l tom ypromotors ,Prof .D . Zwartan dProf . F.P. Jansen for theconfidenc e theygav eme ,th esuppor t inpreparin g thisdissertation ,an d their critical reviewso f successivedrafts . Their positive attitude and constructive commentswer ever y encouraging, and gavem e the strength tocomplet e thetask . Dr.H .Bakker ,formerl yProfesso r ofTropica lAnima l Husbandry, encouraged me toundertak e thisdissertatio n andwa sver yhelpfu l inth e initial stageso f itspreparation . Igratefull y acknowledge his contributions andhav ever ymuc happreciate d ourman y interesting discussions. My researcha t ILCAwa sundertake nwithi n the framework of the HighlandsProgramme . Iow ea grea tdea l toDr .Fran kAnderson ,Tea m Leader of thisprogramme ,wh owa s anendles s sourceo f support and scientific advice. Frankwa salway savailabl e asa soundingboard , generouslyprovide d ideas,an defficientl y organized thelogistica l and administrative supportneede d toundertak e the field research. He also assisted inth edat aanalysis ,an dprovide d critical commentso ndraf t papers Iprepared . Many thanksar eals odu e toGetache wAssamenew , Senior TechnicalAssistan t Socio-Economics,wh oprovide d much appreciated assistance inth e supervision ofdat a collectionan do fdat a tabulation. Getachewwa sals over yhelpfu l inth emanagemen to f thedat afiles , assisted indat aanalysi san dmad eusefu l commentso n somedraf t chapters. Inundertakin g fielddat a collection,I enjoye d the solid support ofa numbe r ofenumerators . Theywer ea finetea mtha t included Tesfayesus Seiro,Seif uKebede ,Kebed eAydefer ,Asfawose n Haile, Isayas Alemayehu,Alem uGemeda ,Samue lMesakal ,Kind e Engada,Danie l Habte Wolde,Shifera wHail uan dAbayne hHaile . Day toda y supervision of their workwa sprovide d by theTechnica lAssistan t Socio-Economics of the ILCA DebreBerha nStatio nwhic h from 1979t o198 2wa sBerhan uWold eKidane , and from 1983 to198 6wa sAbeb e Misgina. Toal l Ia mver ygrateful . Theyworke d hard andmeticulousl yunde r oftendifficul t fieldconditions , and ensured a smooth cooperationwit h the farmers,th e representatives of PeasantsAssociation s andofficial s ofth eMinistr y ofAgriculture . Thanks are alsodu e toWoldea bWold eMariam ,Office r inCharg e of the Debre BerhanResearc h Station,fo rprovidin g administrative and logistical support,an dextensio n services. He alsoorganise d many of the farmer fielddays . AbiyeAstatke ,Senio r TechnicalAssistan tAnima l Traction,playe d acrucia l role indevelopin g the single ox technology, andwa salway s availablewheneve r needed inth e field. I alsogratefull yacknowledg e the inputso fothe r staffo fth e HighlandsProgramme ,particularl yo fDr .Samue lJutzi ,Abat eTedla , MartieWagenaar-Brouwer ,Tay eWold eMariam ,Dr .I .Haque ,Ephrai mBekele , TadesseTessema ,Wagne wAyelneh ,Kelemewor kAsrat ,Asfa wYimegnuhal , FerdaworkDebele ,Negussi eAkalework ,Dr .Michae lGoe ,Aze bSahlemariam , Dr. IreneWhale nan d thelat eFran kO'Mahony . Inundertakin g fieldwork , I benefitted fromth eoccasiona l assistanceo fgraduat e studentsan d ILCA trainees,particularl yo fDorothé eDersch ,Aar tVoorthuizen ,Rit a Giglietti andMari aRos aStevan . ILCA'scompute runi tprovide d substantial assistance inth e statistical analysiso fth edat aan d Ia mparticularl ygratefu l toRobi n Sayers,Jef fDurkin ,Darel lLigh tan dDr .Tre yRichardson . Other ILCA unitstha twer ever yhelpfu l inth e researchproces swer eDocumentation , AnimalNutrition ,Cartography ,Publicatio nan dLiaison . I havegreatl ybenefitte d fromth e supportan dadvic eo fDr .Kur t Peters,ILC ADirecto ro fResearch .Othe r ILCAstaf ftha tprovide d helpful thoughtsan dwer ever ysupportiv e includedDr .Joh nM e Intire,Stephe n Sandford,Cee sD eHaan ,Dr .M .Sail ,Dr .Ji mLambourne ,Dr .Joh nTothill , KoenGeerts ,Dr .Joh nTrail ,Simo nChater ,Amd eWondafrash ,Dr .Joh n Walsh, thelat eDr .Marty nButterworth ,Joh nThersby ,an dBarr y Henricksen. Thanksar eals odu et oth e staffo fth eDepartmen to fTropica l Animal Husbandrya tWageninge nUniversity . Theywer e alwayshelpful , interestedan d supportive. During thefina l stageso fth ewrit eu pI enjoyed thesuppor to fDr .Joh nMonyo ,Executiv eSecretar yo fTAC ,whic h wasmuc happreciated . A significant contributionwa smad eb yDr .Joze fDecker san dhi s wife Koeki Claessens. Inadditio nt othei rwar man dgenerou s friendship, theycarefull y readthroug h successivedraft so fthi sdissertatio nan d gaveman yusefu l suggestions. Other friendstha twer ehelpfu l inon ewa y oranothe r includeJacquelin e Snijder,Lou kOchtman ,Doroth éAppels , MichielCherlet ,Mi aSavenberg ,Kee sTuinenburg ,Susan nHofs ,Kar l Herz, GarySmit han dAn nStroud .I a mals ogratefu l tom y familyan d friends for theirmora l supportan dunderstanding . Theman ydraft so fthi sdissertatio nwer epatientl ytype d by MerronSeifu ,Gunill aArner-Tamantin ian dJoann eMorgante . Theydeserv e great credit for theirhar dan dexcellen twork . A specialnot eo fthank si sdu e toAnn . Herenthousiasti c support and love,particularl ydurin gdifficul tperiods ,wer eo f critical importance inwritin gu pthi sdissertation . Thisstud ywoul dno thav ebee npossibl ewithou
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