<p> PROLINNOVA–ETHIOPIA</p><p>Semi-Annual Report</p><p>(January–June 2007)</p><p> compiled by</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia Secretariat</p><p>July 2007</p><p>Addis Ababa</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 1 Introduction</p><p>The major activities undertaken in the period from January to June 2007 include activities of the FAIR (Farmer Access to Innovation Resources) and ARSI-PID (Awareness-Raising, Scaling-Out and Institutionalisation of Participatory Innovation Development) projects, strategic planning workshop and various meetings pertaining to the enhancement of PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia activities.</p><p>FAIR project</p><p>Start-up work was done on 15–17 January 2007 in the Axum pilot site in northern Ethiopia. Tesfahun Fenta and Hailu Araya gave an introduction about the objectives and the modality of project implementation. Farmers were very much interested to be involved in the project. Nineteen farmers (including four women) took part at the start-up meeting. They elected the fund management committee members and identified priority areas for their research. The fund management committee is composed of five members, including a women innovator farmer.</p><p>The next day was allocated to creating awareness on the basic concepts of the FAIR project. The experience in Amaro in southern Ethiopia was explained to the farmers. They appreciated the community-based institution (CBI) and Farmer Field School (FFS) approaches which are used for organising the fund management committee. The possibility of organising themselves as a legal entity was raised and discussed. At present, they do not have a group as legal entity and they therefore decided to use the account of the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD). They will open their own account over time.</p><p>For identification of priority problems, the farmers were divided into three groups according to the area of their innovation interest: 1. Water lifting and its rational use 2. Bee keeping and honey production 3. Ethnoveterinary medicine and plant protection</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 2 The farmers identified priority problems and thoroughly discussed the various approaches in solving these problems. </p><p>Seventeen farmers (including five women) at the Amaro pilot site of the FAIR project met for awareness creation on the concept of research problem identification and general methodology. Problems related to filling in the application form for the research grant was thoroughly discussed with two FFS groups. Some important materials like gloves, measuring glass, bowl, pistil etc. were bought for the FFS research activities.</p><p>Financial reports for the FAIR project were submitted to the coordinator. Expenditures receipts will be complied and submitted to the coordination office in South Africa in order to get the second tranche of payment.</p><p>Establishment of two regional platforms</p><p>This activity was a follow-up to the process of sensitisation that was already done in April 2005, but the Regional Platforms’ executive committees had not been undertaken at that time. During the introduction of the ARSI-PID project in Amhara Regional State and Ethiopian Southern Region, the Regional Steering Group and Core Group for each of the two Regional Platforms – namely, Amhara Highland and Enset-Based Agro-Ecology Platforms – were elected. In the case of Amhara, the chair is the Regional Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development and the secretary is a local NGO, Organization for Relief and Development of Amhara (ORDA). In the Enset-Based Agro-Ecology Platform, the chair is the Regional Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, while the NGO FARM-Africa was elected as secretary. In both cases, 12 members drawn from various institutions were elected to the Regional Steering Group</p><p>ARSI-PID project</p><p>The aim of this project is to contribute to improvements in the agricultural extension system in Ethiopia with a participatory innovation development approach by building</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 3 the capacity of development agents who are instructors at Farmer Training Centres. A financial support equivalent to USD 100,000 was secured from Action Aid Ethiopia for the year 2007, which will continue for the coming 3–4 years based on performance evaluation by the donor. The two pilot sites for the project include Southern Ethiopia Regional State and Amhara Regional State. Consultation workshops were held in April and May 2007 in the two Regions to introduce the project and gain the consent of the Regional Agricultural and Rural Development Bureaux. Before undertaking the training, a small-group discussion will soon be held to decide on the training model or approach; this will be followed by conducting training of trainers.</p><p>Strategic planning</p><p>On 11–12 December 2006, a workshop was held in Ambo to develop the strategic</p><p> plan for PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia as a national network seeking to enhance farmer-led participatory research and development building on local innovation and experimentation, and to integrate this approach into institutions of research, development and education in Ethiopia. </p><p>A follow-up meeting was held on 26 February 2007 in the CRDA (Christian Relief and Development Association) conference hall in Addis Ababa. It was aimed at approving</p><p> the new and modified structure and governance of PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia which had been discussed at Ambo. The second issue was to elect the members of the</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia Steering Group. The meeting was attended by 18 Ethiopian participants (of which two were women) and one external person, a member of the</p><p>PROLINNOVA International Support Team. The participants came from federal level and</p><p> well as from the regional PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia platforms that have been formed in the Northern Typical Highlands, the Coffee-Growing Zone, the Enset-Growing Zone and Pastoral Areas. When the participants introduced themselves, it became apparent that there was a good balance of representatives from state and non-state agencies of research, extension, development and education, as well as one international research centre (International Food Policy Research Institute – International Service for National Agricultural Research, IFPRI-ISNAR). </p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 4 The first issue for discussion was the name of the national platform. Many felt that the word ‘farmer’ does not represent pastoralists and artisans. Finally, it was decided</p><p> to use the word PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia. This will also make it consistent with other</p><p>PROLINNOVA Country Programmes. The structure of PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia includes a</p><p>PROLINNOVA Steering Group (PSG), which is considered as the general assembly, and a Working Group, which closely follows the activities of the platform. Seventeen members drawn from government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and academia, including individual resource persons, were elected as members of the PSG. Consensus was reached that the number shall be open to include other active and volunteer member institutions.</p><p>First PSG meeting </p><p>This was held on 8 May,2007 at the conference hall of the host institution, AgriService Ethiopia (ASE). The agenda included modifying the guidelines as per the new structure on the roles of Working Group and host institution, election of Working Group members and updating the participants on the activities of the secretariat. After thorough discussion on the roles of Working Group members, it was finally agreed that the person who represents the host institution ASE will take the office of vice-chair and will be the focal person for administration and finance. Accordingly, the vice-chair will oversee and facilitate the activities of the coordination office for decisions by the executive director of the host institution. After through discussion, the five Working Group members were elected, who are at the same time focal persons for different tasks.</p><p>1) Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR): Teklu Tesfaye Chair and focal person for policy and dialogue 2) AgriService Ethiopia (ASE): Amanuel Assefa Vice-chair and focal person for administration and finance 3) Ministry of Agriculture and rural Development (MoARD): Melaku Jirata Member and focal person for monitoring and evaluation 4) IFPRI/ISNAR: Elias Zerfu Member and focal person for PID capacity building 5) Sustainable Land Use Forum (SLUF): Habtemariam Abate Member and focal person for documentation and sharing</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 5 PROLINNOVA International Meeting</p><p>The PROLINNOVA international partners meeting was held in Senegal on 19–23 March 2007. The major objective was to learn from each other about experiences and progress in promoting local innovation processes, managing multistakeholder partnerships, and monitoring and evaluation. Amanuel Assefa, PROLINNOVA Oversight</p><p>Group (POG) member, Melaku Jirata, former chair of the PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia</p><p>National Steering Committee, and Tesfahun Fenta, coordinator of PROLINNOVA–</p><p>Ethiopia, took part in the workshop. At the next PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia steering group meeting, they briefed the members on the Senegal meeting and action plan of the international PROLINNOVA partners.</p><p>Participation in other workshops and meetings</p><p>Two PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia members, Amanuel Assefa and Elias Zerfu, took part in a workshop on curriculum review on agricultural information and communication technology (ICT) management, which was held on 6 July 2007 in Addis Ababa. A study designed by the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa Regional Agricultural Information Network ASARECA/RAIN had been made in eight ASARECA member countries. The results were presented by a team of consultants. Mekelle and Hawassa Universities are the local partners of the project to start Masters programmes, while Addis Ababa University will provide support to the programmes on ICT. The PROLINNOVA participants suggested that ICT should not be only computer-based and should include community radio, print media and others. As for the content of the ICT, indigenous knowledge and local innovation should be considered, since they are indispensable for development.</p><p>Three PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia members, Tesfahun Fenta, Elias Zerfu and Amanuel Assefa, took part in a workshop of the ICT for Community Development Project, organised by the Ethiopian Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (EITCDA) on 19 April 2007 in the Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa. The major theme of the workshop was to recognise the potentials of indigenous knowledge in developmental endeavours and the significance of ICT in preserving</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 6 and disseminating it. The workshop was a precursor to activities to be conducted by the project to use the national knowledge base for innovation and development. Tesfahun presented a paper on Indigenous Knowledge in Ethiopia: The Untapped Resource. The presentation is uploaded on the EICTDA website (www.eictda.gov.et).</p><p>The PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia secretariat (Amanuel Assefa and Tesfahun Fenta), the Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project (Dr Ranjitha) and the Rural Capacity Building Project (RCBP, Dr Mandefro) supported by the World Bank and CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) held a meeting on the possibility of improving the national extension system. RCBP is mainly engaged in providing logistical support in building the capacity of Farmer Training Centres (FTCs). The MoARD with the financial support of the UNDP (United National Development Programme) has recruited a consultant to review the extension system and make recommendations. The group will then produce a working document to be discussed in a retreat in which representatives from various regions of the country will participate. If consensus is reached on a model (approach), it will be applied in six pilot woredas (districts) in Southern and Amhara Regional States. The results of the pilot can then be scaled up to make the FTCs centres for information, innovation, communication and entrepreneurship.</p><p>On 27 May 2007, the PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia secretariat and IPMS held another meeting at the IPMS office in ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute). They exchanged their experience and discussed the possibility of working together, as they have a common understanding on strengthening the FTCs. Both are working on training Development Agents in the area of communication, facilitation, and innovation skill development.</p><p>Several PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia partners attended a workshop on agricultural innovation on 24 February 2007 in Awassa, 200 km south of Ethiopia, organised by Hawassa University in collaboration with the Canadian University of Saskatchewan, and funded by CIDA. The objective of the workshop was to review the watershed management project that is being undertaken by Hawassa University and associated</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 7 outreach. Ann Waters-Bayer presented a paper on the experience of PROLINNOVA with examples of local innovation in Ethiopia. </p><p>PID and Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E)</p><p>The trip to Axum was aimed at assessing the status, progress, output and outcomes of PID and FAIR activities. Three professionals from the PSG, three professionals Axum University, Axum Research Centre and Lailai Michew Woreda Agricultural Office and ten farmers took part in this monitoring and evaluation activity. The PM&E was focused on the FAIR project activities and local innovations that had won PID grants. The PM&E team also visited other local innovations and discussed with the farmers. In general, the status of local experimentation has shown good progress. Farmers appear to be motivated in undertaking local innovation. For instance, we were able to see design change in the improved water-lifting technology from a shadoof system to a hand-driven “pedal” system, which is a progressive technology compared to the earlier one. Sub-surface draining of water-logged areas is one of the PID grant winners which showed collaboration of neighbouring farmers in sub- surface drainage of fragmented areas that had been wastelands because of water- logging. Through their collaboration, making a network of drainage canals, they were able to reclaim a total of three hectares of land and making this arable. The problem related to PID in Axum is that there are only two non-farmer partners close by: the District Agricultural Office and ISD. </p><p>FAIR project activities need to be strengthened, as only few research applications have been submitted by farmers. They explained that activities were limited because of the ‘long and complicated application form’. The coordinator advised them to speed up the process of submitting and screening applications, as the FAIR project terminates in March 2008.</p><p>PROLINNOVA–Ethiopia semi-annual report Jan–June 2007 8</p>