tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21123453971473394792024-02-02T21:59:50.751+03:00Developments in rural areas across the worldThe objective of this blog to share development in rural areas across the world. It is a space where scientists, professionals and anyone interested can share cases studies, methodologies and developments both from the South and the North.Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.comBlogger242125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-25163503200417397102018-09-03T15:54:00.000+03:002018-09-03T16:10:39.047+03:00FOSS4G : Leave no one behind <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It is under the moto "to leave no one behind" that the free and open source software for geographical information (FOSS4G) community met in Dar Es Salaam last week. </div>
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For me and many of my colleagues from the <a href="https://www.cgiar.org/">CGIAR </a> it was our first time to join this community as we tagged onto this conference for our annual meeting of the GIS specialist also known as the <a href="https://cgiarcsi.community/">CSI</a>, no not crime scene investigation but consortium for spatial information! Many of us have actually started migrating to open source software for GIS some years ago, and we were quite exited to learn more about this community.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the stairs</td></tr>
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For the FOSS4G crowd it was their first conference held on the African continent, and for many oversees participants a very first introduction to the developing world. A great effort was made to make the conference accessible to the local community in Tanzania and East African Region, with stipends and engaging the huge local tech community. Despite of that, the average participant was male and white, and no one could really apprehend that I am a white woman yet working and living in Nairobi.<br />
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Yet conference show cased many great East African tech initiatives and companies, from the humanitarian open street maps, to WeRobotics flying labs, showing that Africa does not lag behind when it comes to tech application with open source that solve local problems. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minister January Makamba</td></tr>
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The conference was opened by January Makamba, minister in the government of the United Republic of Tanzania responsible for the environment and the Union. He had a great speech, which major message was “If geospatial tools and data do not serve humanity; then they are simply toys”. He made a great start putting African technology and development at the center of his speech. I even managed to shake his hand, pitch him my tool (and not my toy!) that helps local communities to make better livestock plans and raise his attention to ILRI work in Tanzania. It was a great moment.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dar view from the ferry from Zanzibar</td></tr>
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During the conference i attended many presentations from the non-academic world, from the geeks who develop the codes behind Qgis, to advanced web management for GIS or humanitarian open street maps. It was a big eye opener even if sometimes i felt like an alien in the world of hard core coders. </div>
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In the up-coming weeks i will share some more insights from this conference so stay posted! </div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1Dar es Salaam, Tanzania-6.792354 39.208328400000028-7.296923 38.56288140000003 -6.2877849999999995 39.853775400000025tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-89453490562045487012018-03-22T17:23:00.000+03:002018-03-22T17:24:00.056+03:00Who is getting more milk and eggs in East Africa? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In the Western world, there is a strong trend towards veganism. In that debate, people often forget that small amount of animal sourced food such as milk, eggs or meat, can be the difference between a healthy and productive lives for children in poor families in the developing world.<br />
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This is why we are trying to understand what the links between the livestock sector and child nutrition are and try to quantify how much livestock ownership does contribute to improved child nutrition.<br />
Preliminary result shows that owning a cattle or goat increases the chance by 8% for a child in a poor household and owning chicken increases the chance of egg consumption by 2%.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/xl4HI5IjZs6ZBU" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe> <br />
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<strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/catherinepfeifer/exploring-patterns-in-child-nutrition-and-livestock-ownership-in-east-africa" target="_blank" title="Exploring patterns in child nutrition and livestock ownership in East Africa">Exploring patterns in child nutrition and livestock ownership in East Africa</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/catherinepfeifer" target="_blank">Catherine Pfeifer</a></strong> </div>
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This is on-going research, and therefore some strange results are presented here and where discussed during this internal presentation. So keep posted about the up-coming improvements. </div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-42526190935870751322018-02-22T14:47:00.002+03:002018-02-22T14:47:59.354+03:00Never trust data blindly! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week i am at the LD4D meeting in Naivasha. LD4D is a community of practice about creating evidence to enhance data driven decision making in the livestock sector.<br />
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I gave a presentation on the comparison of available free data that can give insight in livestock population and why they might be contradictive. Never trust data blindly.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="420" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/zrfsg2DYgZLowJ" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="510"> </iframe> <br />
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<strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/catherinepfeifer/comparing-livestock-data" target="_blank" title="Comparing livestock data ">Comparing livestock data </a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/catherinepfeifer" target="_blank">Catherine Pfeifer</a></strong> </div>
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And there was even a twitter about my presentation !<br />
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Neat insights from Catherine Pfeifer <a href="https://twitter.com/ILRI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ILRI</a> on the challenges of interpreting <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/livestock?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#livestock</a> demographic <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/data?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#data</a> . Never take it at face value! <a href="https://t.co/dr11QZyXmp">pic.twitter.com/dr11QZyXmp</a></div>
— Livestock Data for Decisions (@LD4D_community) <a href="https://twitter.com/LD4D_community/status/965878817112850432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2018</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Explaining the sub-herd concept which i explained<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/09/how-to-count-animals-in-pastoral-area.html" target="_blank"> in this post </a></td></tr>
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Remain posted to learn more about LD4D!</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-11389736983747289662018-02-16T13:02:00.001+03:002018-02-16T13:09:48.826+03:00When GIS technology and satelite images transform how local governments take decisions <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earsc-africa/companies/logos/000/000/076/original/90b3cd4b9232c6ade453b394c4487658c2f79555.png?1478180952" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="274" height="132" src="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earsc-africa/companies/logos/000/000/076/original/90b3cd4b9232c6ade453b394c4487658c2f79555.png?1478180952" width="200" /></a>Today, I had a discussion about a contract with LocateIT a small but very innovative GIS and IT company in Kenya, who does is helping me with the online version of CLEANED, the ex-ante environmental simulation tool for intensifying livestock value chains.<br />
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But beyond the cloud computing and advanced R coding they are doing for me, I discovered that LocateIT is about to bring the digital revolution to rural Kenya. In close collaboration with the governor in Vihiga county, in Western Kenya, they are setting up an information system based on satellite images in collaboration with ESRI and Airbus, that can provide precise advice.<br />
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<a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/image/view/-/4305010/medRes/1885082/-/maxw/960/-/qu07uaz/-/VIHIGA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="160" src="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/image/view/-/4305010/medRes/1885082/-/maxw/960/-/qu07uaz/-/VIHIGA.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
This initiative is novel from a GIS/technology perspective but also reflects the will of local Kenyan government to make better informed decision especially in the fields of agriculture.<br />
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Wanna know more? don't miss the article in <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/tech/Vihiga-adopts-GIS-technology-in-design-of-county-projects-/4258474-4305004-mhkv20/index.html" target="_blank">the daily nation here</a>. And be ready to hear more from this initiative! </div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-12807013458167578622017-12-30T17:50:00.000+03:002017-12-30T17:52:55.028+03:00An end of year reflection : what can we learn from pastoralists?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It has been a very busy end of the year, and i am just noticing that my blog remained silent for two moths and many of the interesting learning will only appear in 2018. But as the end of the the year approaches, it is time to reflect about 2017 first. It was a year that took me to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia twice for the CLEANED project that aims to assess environmental trade-off of intensifying livestock value chains in developing countries, to Somaliland where i have been setting up a GIS lab and working with the local government on the livestock sector, and to Northern Kenya.<br />
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So what did 2017 bring? for me it was the year where I engaged with pastoralists across Africa, in Burkina Faso, Somaliland and Kenya and discovered a fascinating world, where all the logic I know about was challenged.<br />
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Pastoralists have a very different way to see the world than the smallholders farmers I usually work with. And it might sound stupid, but because pastoralists are moving with their animals in very harsh environment, they are not really interested in accumulating "stuff" that is heavy to carry around and they are used to live with almost nothing. This is why many of the incentives that we usually use, such as money or in kind just do not work.<br />
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Pastoralists value their community and their animals. Therefore, working on the relationship with these communities and build up trust is the better incentive than some materialist item. Also, I have discovered that pastoralists have their own information sharing mechanism that they have developed and improved over centuries and nobody is waiting for any phone app to bring a revolution, they have the information they need. Also information is shared within relevant networks within clans, and there are good reasons why that information is not public : governments do not know how many pastoralists are crossing boarders (a concept that is nonexistent to many pastoralists) and therefore cannot tax animals going from one country to the next, others clans who might compete on ressource might not yet know where the good pastures are. So bringing digital products to this world might do more harm than good, and a better understanding of what information can be shared with whom is necessary before thinking of digital products.<br />
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Across all countries, pastoralism is under pressure. There is often conflict on land among pastoralist clans themselves, as in many places the number of livestock is above the carrying capacity of the land which has led to serious land degradation and a resulting lack of available feed and fodder. Also there are conflicts between pastoralist and crop farmers, on who has the right to use the land. Pastoralism is often seen as an old-fashioned lifestyle that is doomed. But especially, in Western Africa there is a strong movement to fight for the right for such a traditional lifestyle.<br />
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Meeting pastoralists and working with anthropologists this year have changed the way i look at agricultural intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa. Clearly, there is an urgent need to increase food production in Africa where population will double over the next 30 years. High potential area, where rain is abundant and soils are fertile, will have to play a big role in producing more food, also smallholder farmers in those area are keen intensifying there production that they believe will bring more income. But, in dry low potential areas it is less clear what intensification of production can bring, and people making use of these area have a right to choose their lifestyle, even if it goes against the mainstream thinking. Who are we to push pastoralists towards something they do not believe in for the sake of feeding the world?<br />
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Clearly, in the transition zone, between the high potential area and dry rangeland, conflict between the two world emerges. In those zones, land use planning and clear rules that regulate fair access to land and its biomass need to be implemented so that both pastoralists and non-pastoralist can co-habitate. Combined with efforts of land rehabilitation, and emerging opportunities outside of the agricultural sector that can offer jobs to those who do not want to remain a pastoralist, might support a productive and sustainable traditional pastoral production that sustains a decent livelihood for those who choose to live in this way.<br />
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As we move to 2018, let's keep an open mind to those who go through life differently and learn to appreciate what they can teach us, the same way pastoralists have reshaped my understanding of agricultural intensification this year. I remain with thanking you for following this blog, that in the meanwhile has up to 2500 clicks a month, and wish you a happy new year!<br />
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Note that all pictures in this post are taken from <a href="http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/en/series/transhumance/" target="_blank">here</a>. They are made <a href="http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/en/contact/" target="_blank">Gille Coulon</a>, an award winning photographer. He has exhibited these pictures at the "centre culturel francais" in Ouagadougou, an exhibition that was lucky to see during one of my many visits in Burkina Faso.</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-6755100663987516112017-11-10T19:54:00.001+03:002017-11-10T19:57:41.143+03:00Big Data made in Ethiopia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I just arrived in Burkina Faso on a long trip from Nairobi to Addis, then to Lome and finally to Ouagadougou. A long journey on Ethiopian Airline, which is not something i usually look forward to. But this time, i was positively surprised at the level of the in flight magazing Selmata that has a long article on Big Data, a quite astonishing topic for a country that for long was lagging behind in the tech scene. <br />
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The article is about <a href="https://gro-intelligence.com/" target="_blank">Gro Inelligence</a>, a company that i was not aware off, and is funded by Ethiopian (but interestingly with an office in Nairobi) <br />
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<a href="https://gro-intelligence.com/" target="_blank">Gro intelligences </a>addresses the challenge of the information gap in agriculture. From their website they sell themselves as follows : "We built Gro, a data product that enables the discovery and analysis of
an unprecedented amount of data in the global agriculture industry. Gro
collects and synthesizes trillions of data points from disparate and
often times near impossible to use sources, allowing users to paint a
clear, comprehensive, and timely picture of the factors influencing the
agricultural commodity they are interested in."<br />
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Their products are mainly crop focused, there is no livestock related product. And as pointed out in the Selmata magazine, this type of near real time data without validation on the ground still has many issues. Yet it is an interesting player on the ground.<br />
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<a href="https://www.selamtamagazine.com/stories/big-data" target="_blank">Wanna know more, just read the very well written article in Selmata! </a></div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-46119482894229283182017-10-25T15:04:00.001+03:002017-10-25T15:04:31.972+03:00A trip through Somaliland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/10/helping-somaliland-is-not-just-about.html" target="_blank">Last week, i went to Sheikh in Somaliland</a> to train students at <a href="http://www.stvs-edu.org/" target="_blank">ISTVS</a>, the IGAD Sheikh technical veterinary school in GIS.<br />
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So it gave me in rare opportunity to travel from Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland the Sheikh and discover a country that only few have seen.<br />
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Let me take you on my trip and show you the typical landscapes.<br />
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As you might already know, Somaliland went trough a terrible drought resulting in a famine. By time we arrived it had rained, and our driver told us that now he has enough feed for his animals. His English was too bad to discover how many animals he has lost. But looking at these empty landscapes, there is very little livestock, for a country that relies for 70% of its GDP on livestock.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiip30JXKHXqojHb9FiRj4GSVV240GtTyC8ayczQasKX9rMJKNioF2CyaBdvoizXty5yG3mN6fYzIZmCSALUEaVGWqNGNxqugjXIz1zkQifAqjcRweVW0v3iRRRcNaQznXhGV5TUr_JRVOk/s1600/20171019_074641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiip30JXKHXqojHb9FiRj4GSVV240GtTyC8ayczQasKX9rMJKNioF2CyaBdvoizXty5yG3mN6fYzIZmCSALUEaVGWqNGNxqugjXIz1zkQifAqjcRweVW0v3iRRRcNaQznXhGV5TUr_JRVOk/s320/20171019_074641.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the few livestock we have seen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVwHD1C-iWvELgCf_3O3xrMjaTR3Ras3SPUR7P1X1TfugoXkKH9YkYXyd_2VoRCr4n6j7oTVLc0WWz1fIAL-2qj4NAh6Crwq0nuY3eRpVDJRqUlmp6rrTq0NC32a5lnKrnJZBItnH_tIhq/s1600/20171019_080914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVwHD1C-iWvELgCf_3O3xrMjaTR3Ras3SPUR7P1X1TfugoXkKH9YkYXyd_2VoRCr4n6j7oTVLc0WWz1fIAL-2qj4NAh6Crwq0nuY3eRpVDJRqUlmp6rrTq0NC32a5lnKrnJZBItnH_tIhq/s320/20171019_080914.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">including some camels </td></tr>
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It was also the opportunity to cross validate what we had <a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2016/10/identifying-dynamics-of-natural.html" target="_blank">learned through past research </a>on the ground. It was told many time that charcoal production leads to deforestation. We could not find the deforestation with satellite image, but now we have seen the charcoal on the ground.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sFeiypNaTgN9lylXZu5sNQJH2Nv4-8Ca4jr-WRmAh4W4nx3-gb5qr-IkTLKsmRW1FG1s5tmQdIxTf8GclyWw2A7Hcj56cllX-HfeZ5Q82UQilExbDh7pmflrH4gTlUOpW9-IJWA5FOnj/s1600/20171019_074651%25280%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sFeiypNaTgN9lylXZu5sNQJH2Nv4-8Ca4jr-WRmAh4W4nx3-gb5qr-IkTLKsmRW1FG1s5tmQdIxTf8GclyWw2A7Hcj56cllX-HfeZ5Q82UQilExbDh7pmflrH4gTlUOpW9-IJWA5FOnj/s320/20171019_074651%25280%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">charcoal sale</td></tr>
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We also trained 11 students among which more than half were women. W<a href="http://igadstvs-virtualgislab.wikispaces.com/GIS+Training+at+ISTVS+October+2017" target="_blank">anna know more about this check on the virtual GIS lab that we have set up for ISTVS</a>. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapXWdmlwCY5ffTifk5W6l5_j7cFKOAVbvCG_ZurJkAPn70hhBTYcGQnWoJOjxCOhiIykQyYnyoMvOMXME69sBLLEZEIb9Vtq-zf8TxZvN3RBDw6L2oCqGyLahmydKGnRznDD0E5mQM5Tj/s1600/20171016_101721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapXWdmlwCY5ffTifk5W6l5_j7cFKOAVbvCG_ZurJkAPn70hhBTYcGQnWoJOjxCOhiIykQyYnyoMvOMXME69sBLLEZEIb9Vtq-zf8TxZvN3RBDw6L2oCqGyLahmydKGnRznDD0E5mQM5Tj/s320/20171016_101721.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the computer lab</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjRUlxkZcdblfadJPSSVuTEBNyz286NP9ggrJ-KTl0bMc3tSFrSka_aPDPDaxwFRiQ45k8EzPGqDoumCXDx4xs1jgt3_Ad53NSrnZkw9ZeXCoy8ZlpM89ppKaqsyPNR3kmPV07tDmbWGg/s1600/20171018_114326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjRUlxkZcdblfadJPSSVuTEBNyz286NP9ggrJ-KTl0bMc3tSFrSka_aPDPDaxwFRiQ45k8EzPGqDoumCXDx4xs1jgt3_Ad53NSrnZkw9ZeXCoy8ZlpM89ppKaqsyPNR3kmPV07tDmbWGg/s320/20171018_114326.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trained students with the principal in the middle</td></tr>
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After the training we went to Berbera, the port city with hope to see more about that booming livestock industry. But because there is a livestock export ban, very little is happening. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieEui_po-PQFUfzT3jy0kiiUaobYzwyvFWufC4d2KNNUAu9ddsPONzH1K8GsgCn0LSwPXMJTio30Y_WCXMrVFSMSd0ZXHGWDOuXxRqBT6QJjT_D0w8FqON3YRqcI98FobNsERQS8BMo6X8/s1600/20171018_144037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieEui_po-PQFUfzT3jy0kiiUaobYzwyvFWufC4d2KNNUAu9ddsPONzH1K8GsgCn0LSwPXMJTio30Y_WCXMrVFSMSd0ZXHGWDOuXxRqBT6QJjT_D0w8FqON3YRqcI98FobNsERQS8BMo6X8/s320/20171018_144037.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the empty livestock truck, there is no business because of the export ban</td></tr>
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We also passed the Somaliland president on the way, in a huge convoy full of military. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAqTnDmFWawcpztroooV57bXKfIEzaIyUvnVJZHJ7D2EASpM2-98hI8nUtLX5Xx5tw5Tu68Enk3l5Vxdzm_pK6wrVXewKtbQz41pb_IR3Zux5Nk3rkKn6r6uYblzIqjzhCcFGG0olCqfD/s1600/20171019_060254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAqTnDmFWawcpztroooV57bXKfIEzaIyUvnVJZHJ7D2EASpM2-98hI8nUtLX5Xx5tw5Tu68Enk3l5Vxdzm_pK6wrVXewKtbQz41pb_IR3Zux5Nk3rkKn6r6uYblzIqjzhCcFGG0olCqfD/s320/20171019_060254.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What we think was the presidential car, part of a huge convoy </td></tr>
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Yes, Somaliland is probably not the safest country in the world, but it
does not feel as dangerous as Nairobi by night. Nevertheless, we got a
an armed military body guard with us during the whole trip.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LKBERoPjJKw2c5wcIdzypPczvLvgynXejfCBo8CCc1t6cTyWW_A36p1pNnVCSxJqXkOU23GEMgnFaXJVbd1wpwTYsrnh1-0k-IKOoYdw2uzMKklsBdNEetdDuEsEeIQs_RgtsufO7ZZp/s1600/20171018_154051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LKBERoPjJKw2c5wcIdzypPczvLvgynXejfCBo8CCc1t6cTyWW_A36p1pNnVCSxJqXkOU23GEMgnFaXJVbd1wpwTYsrnh1-0k-IKOoYdw2uzMKklsBdNEetdDuEsEeIQs_RgtsufO7ZZp/s320/20171018_154051.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our personal armed body guard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We hope he and the driver enjoyed the beach too.<br />
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On our way back to Hargeisa, we capture some of these fantastic Somali landscapes, thinking about how beautiful this country is, and its potential for tourism wouldn't it be a failed state... <br />
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I hope you have enjoyed this virtual trip ! And who knows, maybe one day...<br />
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1Somaliland, Somalia9.4117433999999989 46.8252837999999665.4083823999999989 41.661709799999969 13.415104399999999 51.988857799999963tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-34479939703409546582017-10-13T10:44:00.003+03:002017-10-13T10:45:32.859+03:00Helping Somaliland is not just about food aid!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I am packing and about to leave to Somaliland,<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2016/10/identifying-dynamics-of-natural.html" target="_blank"> this time not as usual to Hargeisa</a>, but on my way to <a href="http://www.stvs-edu.org/" target="_blank">Sheikh Veterinary school (ISTVS)</a> where I will be teaching an introductory training to geographical information systems (GIS).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZsuC0d-Uj2A" width="560"></iframe></div>
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We have all recently seen the images from hungry pastoralists in the news, NGO fundraising and facebook campaigns. It is great that people support immediate food help to people who need it most, but it remains just a short term intervention that does not really allow this young country to develop.<br />
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This movie shows how the European Union has invested in the veterinary school i am going to in order to build up local skills and competences for the livestock sector, that represents at least 60% of Somalilands' GDP. Now you are probably wondering what GIS has to do with livestock? Many livestock diseases are depending on the biophysical context. Even in small countries like Somaliland not the same interventions are needed in all parts. Also livestock is moving, starting to plan land use, optimize the route and the veterinary post will become more and more important, but no one has the basic skills to do some simple geographical planning.<br />
So we have been asked to give an introductory training next week. So remain posted, more about Somaliland will come soon. </div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-64680433898155060392017-09-18T08:52:00.001+03:002017-09-18T08:52:16.102+03:00Facilitators : the never mentionned factor of success<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/08/talking-like-them-collecting.html" target="_blank">During the participatory stakeholder workshops in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Tanzania, </a>workshops cannot be hold in English. So in many countries we had to rely on translators. For example, the participants in Burkina Faso spoke French, Jula and More, but there was no common language to all, so we really had to juggle to make sure that we have everyone on board and no one gets excluded because of language barriers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgx4Qvl7T-KQODOyL8VAjgGeRIMakEY0zS8b8aTmcM8oqiUB5Uhghx3UJXPzLrFaGYlO404G-b00cG3nSsqObUd5h4lGjWtIw9V6BSQc_wYJEOliOV21v78HH0c8hymulKhWwVRhyGKSv/s1600/2017-06-28+09.13.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgx4Qvl7T-KQODOyL8VAjgGeRIMakEY0zS8b8aTmcM8oqiUB5Uhghx3UJXPzLrFaGYlO404G-b00cG3nSsqObUd5h4lGjWtIw9V6BSQc_wYJEOliOV21v78HH0c8hymulKhWwVRhyGKSv/s320/2017-06-28+09.13.42.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Set up of the week</td></tr>
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We have hired facilitators/reporters to work with smaller groups of participants, who speak the local language. It also means, that we had to trust the facilitators to do their job well, as we had little means to cross-check what is going on during the group discussions. For example, in Ethiopia the workshop was held in Tigrinay, which is spoken in Tigray but is not the national language, which in Amharic. So in Ethiopia even our national partner who helps us organize the workshop is not able to understand what is going on.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> all documentation is on poster so that power cuts do not disturb the training</td></tr>
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A huge responsibility therefore weighs on the hired group facilitators/reporters. To make sure that they get the skill to do their job well, we implemented a two days training. The first day aimed at giving the facilitators the skills to "give everyone in their group to do the best of their thinking". This part of the training were based on <a href="http://www.communityatwork.com/staff.html" target="_blank">Sam Kaner's</a> <a href="http://www.communityatwork.com/book.html" target="_blank">book </a>and approach, and we mainly focused on active listening. On the second day, we when through a "dry run" of the workshop, to show facilitators/reporters what their job is, what we expect from them, and which results we would like to reach.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRPCPM-6psq0cgWcfUgHgf8eXILJdkLVYXBlIyi32eIaKTm2yPc7e3QVK-cwRTw5vZ0aa2ZCpEDx66_goKBMRhg0913sXtKHIHlhBquj_zdFIwp3vsnCeAjV0MAMtuieLlGCiCozpgw1n/s1600/2017-06-26+17.38.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRPCPM-6psq0cgWcfUgHgf8eXILJdkLVYXBlIyi32eIaKTm2yPc7e3QVK-cwRTw5vZ0aa2ZCpEDx66_goKBMRhg0913sXtKHIHlhBquj_zdFIwp3vsnCeAjV0MAMtuieLlGCiCozpgw1n/s320/2017-06-26+17.38.08.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">training active listening in Ethiopia</td></tr>
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During the workshop, facilitator/reporter were assigned to discussion groups in pairs, so that one can facilitate and the other take notes, as well as always being two in difficult situations.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlb39Lw91kWZARaTw-WhNAeINBX_f2QT0lVDB_pQgW83zxx6kSp8jt3pjaoBlUdKu8gEiTKVHXn_CJK0Jg-AV3Kg76LmJqkWPSlNHEC2iy6NzZyx5sDYGCwPE8N_luUqcPr6QR9dyNa3lW/s1600/DSC03945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlb39Lw91kWZARaTw-WhNAeINBX_f2QT0lVDB_pQgW83zxx6kSp8jt3pjaoBlUdKu8gEiTKVHXn_CJK0Jg-AV3Kg76LmJqkWPSlNHEC2iy6NzZyx5sDYGCwPE8N_luUqcPr6QR9dyNa3lW/s320/DSC03945.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">drawing out techniques in French</td></tr>
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After the workshops, facilitators and reporters wrote a report about what was discussed and what has happened in their groups in English or in French. This is often our only way get access to the information that was shared in many different languages.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOE3HvIDleEVzbqUOHDWeP669_dHbhZgcrpXiJv8sAJkp2useRJjOWpqBopelg3YhvJAV3WEzt5gPzy5_Hoh-o_0rIi0CtnujDg-H3itlnwLNgZMRJ3tQa5nOYbpc5d0PwB0VLLQFXdrow/s1600/DSC03935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOE3HvIDleEVzbqUOHDWeP669_dHbhZgcrpXiJv8sAJkp2useRJjOWpqBopelg3YhvJAV3WEzt5gPzy5_Hoh-o_0rIi0CtnujDg-H3itlnwLNgZMRJ3tQa5nOYbpc5d0PwB0VLLQFXdrow/s320/DSC03935.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Training in Burkina Faso</td></tr>
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The facilitators/reporters did a fantastic job in all three countries : they had to learn new skills and understand their role in a very short time, handle difficult situation is their groups and remember to report everything with as many details as possible. They are key to our success and to the data we can collect. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWg8DHSuks-d9w6fXVNpWmgufmJ1kCZmmWgzUE7TeW7fMaMYyeDZ_ic93lytgN2Dwr25yc0-gYqJcwxVI6eb5KyOnMLJzj1cEVpjdBGrokP0yFVpKC1aG4ofr-cP7T9HD2G1RweoB95WYd/s1600/DSC04012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWg8DHSuks-d9w6fXVNpWmgufmJ1kCZmmWgzUE7TeW7fMaMYyeDZ_ic93lytgN2Dwr25yc0-gYqJcwxVI6eb5KyOnMLJzj1cEVpjdBGrokP0yFVpKC1aG4ofr-cP7T9HD2G1RweoB95WYd/s320/DSC04012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">facilitators at work in Burkina Faso</td></tr>
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Let me take this opportunity to thank the three teams in all 3 countries for their enthusiasms to take up a challenging task and the great job that they have done to support us. </div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-18468093272334466072017-09-11T09:13:00.001+03:002017-09-11T09:13:42.365+03:00How to count animals in pastoral area?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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During my last <a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/08/talking-like-them-collecting.html">workshop in Burkina Faso</a>, a stakeholder category were pastoralist, this are livestock keeper that at least part of the year have migrating animals. In Burkina Faso, i went to have a mint tea with representative of the Peul community, one of the pastoral communities in Burkina Faso, in order to understand how they think and how we can somehow figure out how many animals they have.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnSY_aosopLyukI3izCrIG5nUpxa0NdmaOvmi0_S23pM03FuNpB0Wn1Y1WJNsOopdYiuUe_2LU5pIKFhGGF6TRhWcmIR-NcBb77GjzoWG8uA3mfn-4iEl5uTRlNScrg6evb2STwXR1lLu/s1600/DSC04016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnSY_aosopLyukI3izCrIG5nUpxa0NdmaOvmi0_S23pM03FuNpB0Wn1Y1WJNsOopdYiuUe_2LU5pIKFhGGF6TRhWcmIR-NcBb77GjzoWG8uA3mfn-4iEl5uTRlNScrg6evb2STwXR1lLu/s320/DSC04016.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the peul community discussing during the workshop</td></tr>
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Here is what i have learned :<br />
Firstly Peuls will never about livestock numbers, this is a taboo as it is for western cultures to talk about salaries. This is out of fear to be taxed when crossing different countries with their cattle. It was therefore very difficult to ask them about livestock numbers. <br />
However, they talk happily about what they define as troupeau. Though troupeau means herd in French, the word cannot be translated.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/files/2017/04/COG2016D003-65280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/files/2017/04/COG2016D003-65280.jpg" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="792" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">taken from http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/series/transhumance/ </td></tr>
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This is why: <br />
A Peul household is complex, as it is generally composed of a head of household with several wives who has several children. Every child at its birth is given a female cattle, and all its offspring will belong to the child when he or she marries. As a result, every animal has a clearly defined owner within the household and women own livestock too. We will refer to all animals that belong to any of the household member as the overall household herd.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Assani_Alassan/publication/317901288/figure/fig1/AS:509475175886854@1498479755663/Fig-1-Transhumance-itineraries-showing-movements-of-herds-around-and-within-protected.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="768" height="173" src="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Assani_Alassan/publication/317901288/figure/fig1/AS:509475175886854@1498479755663/Fig-1-Transhumance-itineraries-showing-movements-of-herds-around-and-within-protected.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transhumances routes in Western Africa </td></tr>
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In order to manage risk, the head of the household split the overall household herd into different sub-herd, that the Peul refer to as troupeau, which will follow different transhumance routes with different herders (who can be a member of the family or hired). Also, different household may pool their different troupeaux to go on a transhumance route with the same herder. As part of a risk mitigation strategy, the Peul nowadays have what they call a “troupeau laitier” that is a troupeau of female animals that give milk and therefore do not go on transhumance. This allows part of the family, mainly women and children to live a sedentary life and live from the sale of milk. <br />
Next to the dairy cows, the weak animals also remain at home, they will be fattened over a certain amount of months to be sold for meat. These animals are not considered as troupeau as they are very few and can be asked about the number of animals.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/files/2017/04/COG2016D003-76890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/files/2017/04/COG2016D003-76890.jpg" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="793" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">taken from http://tendancefloue.net/gillescoulon/series/transhumance/ </td></tr>
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What does this implies? </div>
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<li>Most transhumant families have a non-transhumant troupeau that stays in Bama the whole year long, these are mostly lactating cows and therefore is also referred as troupeau laitier (the milking herd). </li>
<li>Depending on the wealth of the household, there might be several other troupeaux somewhere on a transhumance route</li>
<li>Herds observed in a given location on a transhumance route is likely to be only part of the overall herd of one household, but likely to be composed of troupeaux from different households</li>
<li> Fattening animals are not considered to be part of a troupeau and can be asked about in terms of number of animals. </li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJv-HQWO8WJ8sNTsBmdcyi364c2NiW9sAp6MKyRIBaAFgEqQwuPgo-WKNZ79TArxxiM1tHubkWPcK3qgJ6bREGJplcmKybEIV9dhOO3Eab4In2OIlf8ggrxF2k7gfX8_HyKX6DVO19-dmT/s1600/DSC04025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJv-HQWO8WJ8sNTsBmdcyi364c2NiW9sAp6MKyRIBaAFgEqQwuPgo-WKNZ79TArxxiM1tHubkWPcK3qgJ6bREGJplcmKybEIV9dhOO3Eab4In2OIlf8ggrxF2k7gfX8_HyKX6DVO19-dmT/s320/DSC04025.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a scientist trying desperately to ask the right question! </td></tr>
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And now imagine a scientist coming asking any one in this system about how many animal he or she owns? </div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-47136746882612142522017-09-06T12:35:00.001+03:002017-09-06T12:35:58.144+03:00What does it take for successful farm diversification? a comparison between Italy and Switzerland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is a while since i have been looking in farm diversification in Europe as a way to support livelihoods of farming families. Yesterday night, the Swiss TV has shown a very interesting comparison between Italy and Switzerland in farm diversification in agri- tourism.<br />
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Swiss farmers diversify much less than their neigbors, because the return to labor in agro-tourism is low compared to other farm activities. In Tirol, next door, farmer are benefiting massively from agro-tourism and expand. So how comes that their return on labor in tourism is so much higher compared to other activities? <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="351" name="Agrotourismus – Ferien auf dem Bauernhof" src="//tp.srgssr.ch/p/srf/embed?urn=urn:srf:video:b6f967a5-49e3-4d6a-a811-e78fb5c2db98&start=" width="624"></iframe>
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This small feature suggests that farmers in Tirol are very well organized, and promote themselves as a group. They have adjusted their other activities in a way that it is easy to combine with agro-tourism, because they clearly have a big demand from tourism.<br />
A model for Switzerland ? i guess we are trapped here between demand creation (is there demand in Switzerland where everything is so expensive for agro -tourism?) and between farmers starting to show innovation. Clearly there are very few farmers in Switzerland to took up the bet of of agro-tourism. Why not work with them to develop it further? </div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-68140236969251935132017-09-03T20:11:00.000+03:002017-09-04T09:45:31.615+03:00How does a bright future look like in Atsbi Ethiopia? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/08/one-day-in-2030-or-how-to-get.html" target="_blank">During the recent participatory workshop in Ethiopia, we asked participants in groups of stakeholders to think through a bright life in Ethiopia in 2030</a>. From these narratives lead to indicators of what people value. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a facilitator explaining the selected indicators. </td></tr>
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For Atbsi, participants came up with a series very different indicators and a series of very similar indicators. <br />
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Some of the common indicators, are better education for children, better mobility as well as better accessible technologies to make life easier.<br />
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But what was the most interesting part of the Ethiopian workshop, we presence of very young participants. I always knew that, in Ethiopia, it is fully acceptable that women can take their young children to workshops so that they do not need to arrange child care. So we had a 2 year old girl that joint her grand mother to the workshop.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The youngest participant with her grand-mother</td></tr>
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Also another illiterate lady took her 12 year old daughter to the workshop, because the daughter can read for her. Though we really try to make our workshops accessible to illiterate people by using images and colors, it was not a bad strategy. It was also for us the opportunity to ask a girl about what she aims at in life. She told us that a better future for her is a world where she can support her parents so that they do not need to work so hard anymore. She is also hopping to get good education so that she will be able to support her parents.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second youngest participant on the left, she is supporting her illiterate mum with reading.</td></tr>
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At the end of the workshop, we asked the girl separately about her evaluation, and she mentioned that she was very proud that her personal opinion was asked and listened to.<br />
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It was a great opportunity to hear from the next generation about what they value. </div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-81484067636847110362017-08-27T22:53:00.000+03:002017-08-29T08:54:32.669+03:00When watershed management changes life : the example of Abraha Atsbeha watershed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/08/talking-like-them-collecting.html" target="_blank">During the last workshop in Northern Ethiopia</a>, we also made a half day field visit to the Abraha Atsbeha watershed, a few kilometers away from Wucro, in Tigray Ethiopia.<br />
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It is one of the classical northern Ethiopia success story of watershed rehabilitation. More than 25 years ago, farmers were poor, and regularly had full crop failure or because of drought or because of flooding. <br />
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About 20 years ago the community started rehabilitate their area. They started with re-planting tree and bushed on the hills and within the delta.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">infiltration pond in the forest</td></tr>
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Today, where there used to be bare land, there is a forest. There are clear rules on who has the right to use the forest. The area where we were standing was made available for land owners, while on the other side the area was given to landless people. The forest is used in different ways : to keep bees, to feed leaves to livestock during the dry season, to collect wood and provides benefits to people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">infiltration pit</td></tr>
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The delta is also where water used to accumulate and the lack of infiltration used to lead to devastating floods. Today, ponds and pits collected the water from the hills and let the water infiltrate slowly. No floods were experiences over the last years. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a well in the lowland of the landscape </td></tr>
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More importantly, as a result of the water infiltration, ground water started to reappear in the lower part of the watershed. Today, farmers have shallow wells with water the whole year round. Around the shallow wells, today households have home gardens where vegetables and fruits are grown for home consumption. Home gardens have therefore a big impact on food diversity and therefore not only contribute to food security but also to improved nutrition on one of the area where people used to be malnourished.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">guava orchards</td></tr>
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Taking a second look at the landscape, one can also sees tree orchards with papaya, guava and citrus appearing that are bigger than the home gardens. Farmer have invested water and effort to grow more fruits, and some of them today make good income from selling fruits to Wurko and Mekelle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the community leader explaining the interventions done to rehabilitate the watershed</td></tr>
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The community leader told us that at the beginning, 25 years ago, few people thought that if was worth investing into rehabilitation, but they had nothing to loose, so they have tried, and they have won. Today, there is sufficient water the whole year round, that can insure production of high value crops such as fruits. They are proud to have made it, and are happy to show case how watershed management can change lifes. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cropping area that used to get flooded</td></tr>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0Wikro, Ethiopia13.7843829 39.60534940000002313.7535404 39.565008900000024 13.815225400000001 39.645689900000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-39095166586625615872017-08-24T09:24:00.001+03:002017-08-24T09:24:02.698+03:00One day in 2030 or how to get participatory economic indicators <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/08/talking-like-them-collecting.html" target="_blank">During the recent participative stakeholder workshop</a>, not only we have tried to understand how stakeholder see their own production system involving in the future but also trying to understand what success would look like.<br />
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Traditionally, economist used GDP at national level, and income or ownership of assets to measure success. More money and more assets means wealth and therefore is success. Yet, the people we work with value many different things, such as family life, the access to traditional food, or getting a given position within the community. So success is more than money and we need to identify how this success can be measured.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">two ladies making sure that their vision is taken into account into the future storylines</td></tr>
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On the second day <a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/08/talking-like-them-collecting.html" target="_blank">of the workshop</a>, my colleagues of mine asked the stakeholder participant in stakeholder groups with similar interests to write down the story of one or two successful virtual characters, and describe a usual day in 2030.From that storyline, participants will have identify what are the indicators that the two characters are successful.<br />
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In Burkina Faso, the dairy processing lady was married to the butcher of the area. Their life will be shaped by a traditional Muslim life rhythm. Children will have access to schools, family will be supported by hired staff, and mobility will be improved as the family will own a car or at least a motor bike.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">storyline from the pastoral group </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyS_h8AAQYYtEp4rdQqoedUxPhylq2JGi_WU9OqCucUpy6YqoR-vUqcKQeX31bRv15m-qv3vVG-qdFDoS_OFA1kV-lvy7O-iqxAg3pk6B6UC23m9-G_yuQgIjA-nzUc14cDGUm5IAEy9H/s1600/DSC04098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyS_h8AAQYYtEp4rdQqoedUxPhylq2JGi_WU9OqCucUpy6YqoR-vUqcKQeX31bRv15m-qv3vVG-qdFDoS_OFA1kV-lvy7O-iqxAg3pk6B6UC23m9-G_yuQgIjA-nzUc14cDGUm5IAEy9H/s320/DSC04098.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the second part of the storyline</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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For the pastoral community, the successful life meant that they could maintain their traditional lifestyle but also with some modernization, such as aluminum mobile parks, motorbikes for improved mobility and cleared access rights to pasture.<br />
<span id="goog_1655800805"></span><span id="goog_1655800806"></span><br />
From those storylines, many indicators could be identified. Participants then made an individual vote for the most important ones. Interesting in Burkina Faso, these were religious indicators, such as being able to visit Mecca, being able to follow Muslim rules and improved mobility, whereas in Ethiopia, high education for children and the adoption of new technologies came out more importantly.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil00wtZyUkQDRerKrPdJs98k4ig_9OAhGyu2HTnhj6-DM-scbD95GUEPLNRTepDd5OiGQCYpM7nyOiPtZiPRKyGRYv2O7eGTQ1XRDFvMDTla6lnn9PeDGzgPSKjF9QOidyQ-oCp-vkPc06/s1600/DSC04088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil00wtZyUkQDRerKrPdJs98k4ig_9OAhGyu2HTnhj6-DM-scbD95GUEPLNRTepDd5OiGQCYpM7nyOiPtZiPRKyGRYv2O7eGTQ1XRDFvMDTla6lnn9PeDGzgPSKjF9QOidyQ-oCp-vkPc06/s320/DSC04088.JPG" width="240" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The selected indicators from the different groups in Burkina Faso</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To me, it was a new approach to get information from stakeholder about what they value, in a way that is very appealing and easy to stakeholder. I am quite impressed by the results we got. <br />
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-44810567623038969362017-08-22T08:59:00.001+03:002017-08-22T08:59:33.375+03:00Talking like them : collecting information from local decision makers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last months were busy, i went to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso to implement a participatory stakeholder workshop with local decision makers, including local government, extension service, but also farmers, input seller, traders, processors, farm organizations and other NGO intervening in the area.<br />
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The objective of the first day was to understand how these decision makers see and categorize the livestock production in their area and to what extend they see that these systems will be changing over the next 15 years in view of the still doubling of the African population. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZSNnH3ccl5l_8avQEYIAaASUP34OAckLjzOAg3x8R9Kde_24Ue8NobaPx_WC0EY5jqK571bRFLWRMDOQNjTsytM5n-tdUNweXYgzMoCngKHwl9lRfyp5knKD-wEQ80XBXOfIfOy1rJrK/s1600/20170724_084059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZSNnH3ccl5l_8avQEYIAaASUP34OAckLjzOAg3x8R9Kde_24Ue8NobaPx_WC0EY5jqK571bRFLWRMDOQNjTsytM5n-tdUNweXYgzMoCngKHwl9lRfyp5knKD-wEQ80XBXOfIfOy1rJrK/s320/20170724_084059.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The banner describing the project in French for all the events in Burkina Faso</td></tr>
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Why do we need to know this? The <a href="http://www.sairla.nri.org/research/research-and-learning-for-sustainable-intensification-of-smallholder-livestock-value-chains" target="_blank">DFID funded project i am working on</a>, foresees the parametrization of the CLEANED tool, to allow decision makers to simulate different livestock intensification option and get multiple environmental indicators along water, greenhouse gazes, biodiversity and nitrogen content of soils. This model will only be of use to the decision makers if it actually reflects their understanding of the livestock production systems or practices. Too often standard models are brought to local level without adjusting them to the local context and the local understanding. In other words, we need to make sure that the model talks like they do in order to be useful.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpsSwcfnRGTr_RhO22TWiMPtZmd9hxCGLmF3Kz_q5vRDGaPbeuyUlW6lVIcPIpq7b2-LqEIphKNIk7slmR1V5FmlRyPIAN2UjFXrtg08o2wRLgrQBHAo0SURI6pNyLbMIbE21RUmN4AF_/s1600/20170628_114312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpsSwcfnRGTr_RhO22TWiMPtZmd9hxCGLmF3Kz_q5vRDGaPbeuyUlW6lVIcPIpq7b2-LqEIphKNIk7slmR1V5FmlRyPIAN2UjFXrtg08o2wRLgrQBHAo0SURI6pNyLbMIbE21RUmN4AF_/s320/20170628_114312.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A group mapping the production systems in Ethiopia</td></tr>
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On the first day of the workshop, we used a so called snowballing negotiation, two people try to agree which are the major livestock practices or production systems in the area. When they agree the find an other group of two and re-discuss and negotiate in four. Then they find another group of 4 and negotiate in 8. Then there is a facilitated plenary negotiation about which are the local practices or production systems, and how they can be grouped to make four working groups.<br />
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Then in four working groups, each group discusses one identified practice or production system. They map on printed maps where the system/practice is found and in a reporting sheet note the characteristics in terms of breed, adoption rate, number of animal, feed basket, manure management and input/output markets.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtfoM-azIKfIYwtUmhccBN-u2OelneKg8Fkq0O7FllpeZu9fsic4GD1xe6wurnyCuUcQ8VVC1WdKYmabEvIkTTQdgmvPGN9lV7lv-iY8o044efxUY907ansd_-CgGKxdBYaBsYReLXGNw/s1600/20170726_171840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtfoM-azIKfIYwtUmhccBN-u2OelneKg8Fkq0O7FllpeZu9fsic4GD1xe6wurnyCuUcQ8VVC1WdKYmabEvIkTTQdgmvPGN9lV7lv-iY8o044efxUY907ansd_-CgGKxdBYaBsYReLXGNw/s320/20170726_171840.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A group presenting results to plenary In Burkina Faso </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the afternoon, the participant write a letter to the future generation describing how livestock keeping will be done in the future and aims at identify completely new practices/productions system that are not observed today. If such a new production is found then a group will need to take it up. otherwise the same group discuss the evolution of the production by 2030, mapping possible changes on the map.<br />
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Wondering what we have learned from this process? stay posted the up-coming posts will discuss this! <br />
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-16176043073298241522017-06-16T17:34:00.000+03:002017-06-16T17:36:36.005+03:00Somaliland : the end of pastoralism? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With the drought and the state of emergency in Somalia, there are many NGOs trying to fundraise money from wider public. Most stories you will hear through them are stories of famine and dying children. These stories are usually very inconsistent with what i have seen with my own eyes and what i have learned from interviewing key stakeholders. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/1872-width/images/print-edition/20170610_MAP001_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/1872-width/images/print-edition/20170610_MAP001_0.jpg" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">image taken from<a href="http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21723155-well-adapted-desert-not-modern-world-hard-life-somali?zid=304&ah=e5690753dc78ce91909083042ad12e30" target="_blank"> the Economist</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last week Economist has a very informative article about what is truly happening in Somaliland and the consequence of the drought. It reflect well the stories that i have heart.<br />
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Pastoral lifestyle is under threat : those pastoral families who have lost too many animals have no reason to continue their nomadic life. So they decide to settle, usually next to water point. There they start building houses, enclose land for their needs and therefore start closing the classical nomadic routes. Also they need to create a new livelihood, and start cutting tree and produce charcoal. Less trees lead to more erosion and less water infiltration which will end up reduce the productivity of the grazing land that the pastoral need to feed there animals.<br />
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Claims on land in Somaliland are becoming more and important leading to conflict, therefore a policy on land has recently been developed to enhance the existing customary law. But who will enforce it in a state of emergency? <br />
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Get a informative read from the Economist <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21723155-well-adapted-desert-not-modern-world-hard-life-somali?zid=304" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-33413531405386215492017-06-05T11:58:00.001+03:002017-06-05T12:03:15.807+03:00Are smallholder farmers going to feed the world? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Monitoring and evaluation has become core business in the development sector, even for research. So for every project we have to come up with a theory of change. We need to explain to donors how our projects will influence our partners and how our partners will then influence other stakeholder to reach an impact on the ground.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://usaidlearninglab.org/sites/default/files/u13085/toc_image6_murraybrown_20160315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="589" height="320" src="https://usaidlearninglab.org/sites/default/files/u13085/toc_image6_murraybrown_20160315.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>
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One of the story we often use tries to convince the donor that we will come up with new way to support smallholder farmer to commercialize. This means, we hope to contribute to the emergence of a smallholder farmer that will produce more food that for her/his own subsistence, and therefore will start selling food on the local market. Often we also hope that this smallholder farmer will invest the new revenue into better production means and therefore will become a more capitalized farmer, i.e. how has more equipment (for example a tractor or a milking machine). And after some years, our smallholder farmer will be a proud agri-entrepreneur contributing to African food security.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ciat/7384745828/in/photostream/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="CIAT Kisumu 7"><img alt="CIAT Kisumu 7" height="263" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7090/7384745828_18aaea72e5_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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Nice story, and somehow is can sound convincing, isn't it. However when i look at the Kenyan context, i find it hard to believe, as most agri-businesses are actually started by young highly educated people with good incomes from other jobs... So where does my smallholder story fit this reality?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ciat/7165537983/in/photostream/lightbox/" title="CCAFS Nepal-70"><img alt="CCAFS Nepal-70" height="265" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8027/7165537983_a0291ab6f3_b.jpg" width="400" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> </div>
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Some weeks ago, i joint a fascinating webinar, where Prof. Thomas Jayne investigates this question across different African countries. Only 5% of the medium scale farms are in fact smallholder that have commercialized, all other are or privileged rural population who by inheritance have relatively own big land or urban investors. Will this 5% be enough to justify our work in the up-coming years? or do we need to rethink what we truly want to focus on? <br />
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In the meantime a look at this fascinating presentation below or check the <a href="https://pim.cgiar.org/2017/05/25/webinar-the-rise-of-medium-scale-farms-in-africa/" target="_blank">website</a>! <br />
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<div style="height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%; position: relative;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2cFa1ldpk0M?ecver=2" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; width: 100%;" width="640"></iframe></div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-41102342766216966272017-05-11T17:06:00.000+03:002017-05-11T17:19:54.322+03:00Counting livestock from the sky? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In my recent discussions with <a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/03/what-revolution-can-drones-bring-to.html" target="_blank">technoserve</a> around the the use of drones and high resolution satellite images in the livestock sector, i have been looking more closely at high resolution satellite images from <a href="https://www.digitalglobe.com/" target="_blank">DigitalGlobe</a> with the objective to count livestock from the sky. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="290" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/d6a7b12e-1a2b-11e7-8598-9a99da559f9e" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="480"></iframe>
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While many people are not yet convinced this is possible, i have just found a very interesting application in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/why-your-organic-milk-may-not-be-organic/2017/05/01/708ce5bc-ed76-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html?utm_term=.821be97d9ebc" target="_blank">Washington post of May 1st</a>. They have used DigitalGlobe images to count cows on grazing land from industrial farms in the US who claim to be organic. They found that much less animals are on grazing land than expected by the organic norms...<br />
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Big brother is watching us! i am looking forward to explore if similar application could work for livestock in the developing world : it could revolutionize the way we can implement grazing management in drylands. </div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-16180275710261014372017-04-27T10:14:00.001+03:002017-04-27T10:14:29.973+03:00Alternative incomes : giving land less people a chance <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/02/land-access-in-ethiopia-or-how-land.html" target="_blank">Because of the landholding system in Ethiopia, many people are so-called landless</a>, i.e. they do not own certified farming land.<br />
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Landless people are often given other natural resources which they are required to administer sustainably. On our reconnaissance tour in Atsbi, we find out that there were 3 options.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
1. irrigated rehabilitated land</h4>
Some of the governmental land get rehabilitated through mass mobilization. When it is possible, the government set up a small irrigation scheme, the newly gained land and offers landless people to crop.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFxmhq_umNJgXJ7T6OJ48Grkr2L8TdYF3QIy83_1K8dokhZD0-k0Pc7wsJo1yZhzxQIDgXfKTDMjPaJSwKCRj8fsYGkXVHBVa65UcIhMAaefcleJ5DKDyTkwgpMAJaISjWyRTPHxGz_xe/s1600/DSC03433.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFxmhq_umNJgXJ7T6OJ48Grkr2L8TdYF3QIy83_1K8dokhZD0-k0Pc7wsJo1yZhzxQIDgXfKTDMjPaJSwKCRj8fsYGkXVHBVa65UcIhMAaefcleJ5DKDyTkwgpMAJaISjWyRTPHxGz_xe/s320/DSC03433.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a small scale irrigation scheme</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
2. maintain the a the forest</h4>
Some
landless people can get a piece of forest, where they can collect the
fruit sometime cut some branches to maintain the forest. In addition to
that, the owner can keep beehives. Each beehive need to be kept 2 m from
each other. We met a farmer that used his piece of land optimally, and
was able to produce very pure white honey. He was producing about 300 kg
a year. But when we wanted to buy some, we learned that he had sold it
all. There is no market problem for the white Tigray honey. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRwswY8KIg97m-LmNp7zmppkln1QPHnJoJcRvtqvt8akFfuNvC0Vg2Qm9zAHpPJko8fY94qZ4TAX-KUp4UMDl1dDgwvGi702EVUOHt1mzVVgcQUeXBmlbXEWkHFSz8ggNtBGKIYjfRMfJ/s1600/DSC03545.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRwswY8KIg97m-LmNp7zmppkln1QPHnJoJcRvtqvt8akFfuNvC0Vg2Qm9zAHpPJko8fY94qZ4TAX-KUp4UMDl1dDgwvGi702EVUOHt1mzVVgcQUeXBmlbXEWkHFSz8ggNtBGKIYjfRMfJ/s320/DSC03545.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The very successful honey producer </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So in the end we bough from someone else for 350 birr per kg, this is 13.5 usd, the fair price for the top quality honey... good business<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOcDUezv1aQPUe6c9-X-RCAZIMLsj5mfpfE2L0ApzZk9oA0CM_5HU4bRW6zCPx-Y2h7gZsEJ7JQlSiEUC2S6PB88DQmw4CioE0RGWg7CliIRBBapqL52OQk8AYooeV4GZYbC1ZvyeiYcvJ/s1600/DSC03558.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOcDUezv1aQPUe6c9-X-RCAZIMLsj5mfpfE2L0ApzZk9oA0CM_5HU4bRW6zCPx-Y2h7gZsEJ7JQlSiEUC2S6PB88DQmw4CioE0RGWg7CliIRBBapqL52OQk8AYooeV4GZYbC1ZvyeiYcvJ/s320/DSC03558.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the girl are packing our honey</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
3. fisheries </h4>
There is an fishery expert in the zone, quite astonishing for a region that is as dry as Tigray. But because of the long dry period, there are many dams to collect the water. The government is planning to have fish in these ponds and dams. This offer another profitable activity to landless people.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEei2XzItbbLf0cZRrm2LuZtb7b7wMWIjStV_LmaUDb_v3O9CHEy6O4VcxyK5PGF5_Q9Af2dhca7tdlrZzBjA0I1HU__aZGu7eLrARoU1utPHYRLKjh4n3uQpo2z2HU885c6ILgrejzAqZ/s1600/DSC03308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEei2XzItbbLf0cZRrm2LuZtb7b7wMWIjStV_LmaUDb_v3O9CHEy6O4VcxyK5PGF5_Q9Af2dhca7tdlrZzBjA0I1HU__aZGu7eLrARoU1utPHYRLKjh4n3uQpo2z2HU885c6ILgrejzAqZ/s320/DSC03308.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">water in a dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The is a clear push in the area to find new alternative incomes for people who do not have land. A great initiative. But will it be sufficient for this growing population? <br />
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-11007406574436395482017-03-27T17:31:00.000+03:002017-03-28T09:58:42.668+03:00The challenge of the fasting period : the milk cooperative in Agula<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/02/atbsi-ethiopia-when-intensification.html" target="_blank">In my last trip to Ethiopia,</a> we stopped in Agula, a town on our way to the site. We stopped at the small milk cooperative, that had 28 members. They collect milk every day, homogenize it and bring it to Mekelle the biggest town situation less than one hour away by car <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMUfXjlxWwkQrXegikTEaUgNKUeogEl0_asgx91PMbLS80nvi5uq2w81et1oWfRkWiE_7XQDvLQO-U4XVy6EYBFVk6WtVJ-ySXZ6sxi_JRvPQhF_trdbBbYSSfE3YpdnQeFJzpWw0Vybv/s1600/DSC03095.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMUfXjlxWwkQrXegikTEaUgNKUeogEl0_asgx91PMbLS80nvi5uq2w81et1oWfRkWiE_7XQDvLQO-U4XVy6EYBFVk6WtVJ-ySXZ6sxi_JRvPQhF_trdbBbYSSfE3YpdnQeFJzpWw0Vybv/s320/DSC03095.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">list of cooperative members</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We arrived on a fasting day : Ethiopian orthodox no not consume any animal sourced product on Wednesday and Friday, 40 days before Easter and Christmas and some other weeks. During fasting period, animal sourced food is not allowed to be shown in public. So when we arrived we only found a small boy. Business is low, and adults are busy bringing the milk and other dairy product away.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9Kjzk22MhlFqqNIgdyuy9lpfdXUuNcpWxUmWVjlhF22gQdhq0OqJainEZbcCuSZjay7T3THJhgxC-z55JajY1qEAqvfBdneciyoMiUfmVAS1fVlH4Y_qa2dSVBPePkBdV8aaXvR9ab7G/s1600/DSC03096.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9Kjzk22MhlFqqNIgdyuy9lpfdXUuNcpWxUmWVjlhF22gQdhq0OqJainEZbcCuSZjay7T3THJhgxC-z55JajY1qEAqvfBdneciyoMiUfmVAS1fVlH4Y_qa2dSVBPePkBdV8aaXvR9ab7G/s320/DSC03096.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the boy we interviewed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The fasting brings many challenges to dairy production? how to store all the milk for 40 days? We learned from the boy he milk price reduces by 2 birr per litre (corresponding to a 20% price drop). But the demand does not disappear totally, there are sufficient non orthodox people and hotels that continue consuming milk. The rest is processed into butter.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2hDWmm6ZoqOFptJYtBe7W82oYHDBZYdkDZkqoNkNJl9xmGVKgSHEPAzdJ_RkpdzD2ENITvtCvEqHMml7_5eAQ5vrnfaUbhqgVv4oVYa_Gr7JV6I7WKZoPc7zX0dh4IV1ok0_oqSncLEd/s1600/DSC03093.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2hDWmm6ZoqOFptJYtBe7W82oYHDBZYdkDZkqoNkNJl9xmGVKgSHEPAzdJ_RkpdzD2ENITvtCvEqHMml7_5eAQ5vrnfaUbhqgVv4oVYa_Gr7JV6I7WKZoPc7zX0dh4IV1ok0_oqSncLEd/s320/DSC03093.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">machine used for milk homogenization</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It is challenging to set up a value chain around animal sourced food where at least 4 months a year demand is collapsing...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlS9d7NBJdbY_pR_AjSGk8f8KtHSGWB-nZR2jqnxTKbZZJFacoHYBDezZ9SR7pK5jG951xgpWFO-q2m1_g_iumviBdwpvkgn-6jwo68L8yQgwjcr51X9sUiljPsZ7KodPWWHogv48Ld6l/s1600/DSC03092.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlS9d7NBJdbY_pR_AjSGk8f8KtHSGWB-nZR2jqnxTKbZZJFacoHYBDezZ9SR7pK5jG951xgpWFO-q2m1_g_iumviBdwpvkgn-6jwo68L8yQgwjcr51X9sUiljPsZ7KodPWWHogv48Ld6l/s320/DSC03092.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the cooperative collection point</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-14383522394280674222017-03-20T10:23:00.000+03:002017-03-20T10:23:03.266+03:00Getting the concentrates : the feed processing plant <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/02/atbsi-ethiopia-when-intensification.html" target="_blank">Our last stop on my last field trip to Ethiopia</a> was the feed processing plant in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray region. We went to a site where farmer's union have a fertilizer factory and since recently a feed processing plant, that right now is still a temporary construction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIWtrZGbVc5pVpLkocj7nzfndnlczqnWGL4JPJcFez0KOdgj4KOt79Aa5dN2Idr13KJDpOuJY5YTrYKpSDcfZhYr4rMIE3RLpL11Aoj0QoxQ13MYggKG2h2c-5eaUEXkcyH6rRTGA9ZlB/s1600/DSC03659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIWtrZGbVc5pVpLkocj7nzfndnlczqnWGL4JPJcFez0KOdgj4KOt79Aa5dN2Idr13KJDpOuJY5YTrYKpSDcfZhYr4rMIE3RLpL11Aoj0QoxQ13MYggKG2h2c-5eaUEXkcyH6rRTGA9ZlB/s320/DSC03659.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">raw material</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The processing plant stores all raw material. Oil seed cake, mainly sunflower, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guizotia_abyssinica" target="_blank">nug </a>and sesame seed cake that are source from Amhara as well as cotton seed cake that is sourced from Tigray. The maize bran is local when available but also coming from Oromia. In principle they have the same ingredients that the feed retailer in Atbsi. In addition to that, they would also have lime.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfw-kfeour0R38gr9BtqQh5vjdiUAO2uGzMYTN4fcnbqjuZEdBqOG2bCRlC75jdo_N4TV2F1Q1JZ8NHFiZD1-jIwBwO5xvHduDXMHvCh0KO74pnV-1UlTeeE2utPr7c3f-NVWeCY0j_t_/s1600/DSC03658.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfw-kfeour0R38gr9BtqQh5vjdiUAO2uGzMYTN4fcnbqjuZEdBqOG2bCRlC75jdo_N4TV2F1Q1JZ8NHFiZD1-jIwBwO5xvHduDXMHvCh0KO74pnV-1UlTeeE2utPr7c3f-NVWeCY0j_t_/s320/DSC03658.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The final product</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
They have been trained to do the right mixures for fattening cows and for dairy cows. There is no specific mix for sheep. Different oil seed cake have different nutritional values. Therefore each batch that arrives has been tested for its content and the mixing recipe adjusted consequently. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cINTXF9p0BsX4hg8my085XdvSVK32KTiIcaFnurQoBExrraXhN-wnK_P7BAOqeN9hYubQjC2Gkx_UEo2p3OhwQ_uG5KHnZPL1ekCa_K3XkLEe58AHsyU-agkExY0u00G9_Vnf6UNxhkr/s1600/DSC03662.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cINTXF9p0BsX4hg8my085XdvSVK32KTiIcaFnurQoBExrraXhN-wnK_P7BAOqeN9hYubQjC2Gkx_UEo2p3OhwQ_uG5KHnZPL1ekCa_K3XkLEe58AHsyU-agkExY0u00G9_Vnf6UNxhkr/s320/DSC03662.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
Because it is a union, orders come in through cooperative. Feed is then delivered to these cooperative, where the farmer can go and pick his order. Therefore, the feed processing plant does not know to how many farmers they deliver. There is also one big ranch that directly sources from them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvsqABJ9JRPnGu3QX9_NjLfD24qGm-uIrgXUkh628TYW-XhO8xaNXbhULZrVd1zhlMyFABnkmTcF8f5n-NPQM9Y5RgowGNG5hf2oixWXcnk3GAtNU30d3uSqz8J5yzWHap89Ob24p1B51/s1600/DSC03663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvsqABJ9JRPnGu3QX9_NjLfD24qGm-uIrgXUkh628TYW-XhO8xaNXbhULZrVd1zhlMyFABnkmTcF8f5n-NPQM9Y5RgowGNG5hf2oixWXcnk3GAtNU30d3uSqz8J5yzWHap89Ob24p1B51/s320/DSC03663.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the quality of oil seed cake is checked in a lab before acquisition</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So finally, this feed processing plant is mixing the same ingredients than the feed retailer. The only difference is that the concentrate from the processing plant has been mixed with the right ratios, providing optimal energy to the animal. It is therefore a guaranteed quality.</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-49648184752666787412017-03-17T14:41:00.001+03:002017-03-17T14:41:40.367+03:00Where the *** did the savanna go? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One objective of the <a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2016/12/exploring-bama-when-urban-demand-offers.html" target="_blank">my past trip to Burkina Faso</a> was to validate some of our maps, and more particularly the<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2016/10/high-resolution-land-cover-maps-for.html" target="_blank"> land cover map</a>.<br />
<br />
So we decided to go North of Bama and to turn right into the dust road to Padema, there were the savanna should be.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lHSGUUCJDWnU0iinNzIXpR3E2YHlMdwOeIFMfYs45ONcXxzubibMQN5C6vQz4_1G3UaBpm6_ay6mSRvf-wPpCqE2IDyuPEjwAb0SWPTWhp1HFEqiTTRB7lGu_gIGSU9vJNy9pJiisced/s1600/DSC02838.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lHSGUUCJDWnU0iinNzIXpR3E2YHlMdwOeIFMfYs45ONcXxzubibMQN5C6vQz4_1G3UaBpm6_ay6mSRvf-wPpCqE2IDyuPEjwAb0SWPTWhp1HFEqiTTRB7lGu_gIGSU9vJNy9pJiisced/s320/DSC02838.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the road to Padema</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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And this is what we found in the savanna : <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTo_ARxc3UI53m7NAmsdfxQWJ3-wEkqTAGHFZBcV9GJI11xgdWqK7sy8egj11_TgUaEFUPcP9JaCFmzSNIihjEIVGKDSCZ9QFRpLlnFPwi6jJTkOdRBwXqYvytVrm2hTqRqkecljiMazY/s1600/DSC02589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTo_ARxc3UI53m7NAmsdfxQWJ3-wEkqTAGHFZBcV9GJI11xgdWqK7sy8egj11_TgUaEFUPcP9JaCFmzSNIihjEIVGKDSCZ9QFRpLlnFPwi6jJTkOdRBwXqYvytVrm2hTqRqkecljiMazY/s320/DSC02589.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">crops between mango trees</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDgOLRFd38FtXX3PCC5rj0S86RlJjO_uUnHXvPFej6yHdcdyQAW81oKw8Qn2Ax_O57Vc4sJy79-g1jzCOd24pm4S7iwzIV87YaKGUPUlD2BMU9SOhb2COR6V0frZx9hfkkxJ6WKN0xJWv/s1600/DSC02855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDgOLRFd38FtXX3PCC5rj0S86RlJjO_uUnHXvPFej6yHdcdyQAW81oKw8Qn2Ax_O57Vc4sJy79-g1jzCOd24pm4S7iwzIV87YaKGUPUlD2BMU9SOhb2COR6V0frZx9hfkkxJ6WKN0xJWv/s320/DSC02855.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A papaya tree plantation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglrzwHRVy3tfDjjb7dGRtSuONUjr7M_4HAePf23LZ3LZ8zM8APRJmyMGKUkHZzcdKfujkNUOlVcJNb6KecFWVWiEea-AZYksOQ9umCL498udiOOdsq69DHgzAST_pmsEtxOa73UrXioUC/s1600/DSC02857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglrzwHRVy3tfDjjb7dGRtSuONUjr7M_4HAePf23LZ3LZ8zM8APRJmyMGKUkHZzcdKfujkNUOlVcJNb6KecFWVWiEea-AZYksOQ9umCL498udiOOdsq69DHgzAST_pmsEtxOa73UrXioUC/s320/DSC02857.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">up coming mango tree plantation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNY3hg6kBFIG9fhFnTr2F-QyXIRFkiwsyzFpmp_dTAB05O6czzRbY-rwxbT9yeGp0YWeGIO3nq0NCTHtL9-I5kOqSvNQHPKwUJlEK3qv214b2dXEOER0K5KPypxCaCHK27b1iRQApW1u_e/s1600/DSC02861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNY3hg6kBFIG9fhFnTr2F-QyXIRFkiwsyzFpmp_dTAB05O6czzRbY-rwxbT9yeGp0YWeGIO3nq0NCTHtL9-I5kOqSvNQHPKwUJlEK3qv214b2dXEOER0K5KPypxCaCHK27b1iRQApW1u_e/s320/DSC02861.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">horticulture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb96yhroBiPWXcfX4HaZc2oiMhXONxu6Z8hjJuOhqg8_xVrN4bHTtsciS7XIRABoBD68w1ksLrRUPV4_QsHIS6C1m1pRLXzA7VFM6CVLZWHLuBMKkjXy5TeZaI0MlRieO0aonGtLMh92iy/s1600/DSC02869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb96yhroBiPWXcfX4HaZc2oiMhXONxu6Z8hjJuOhqg8_xVrN4bHTtsciS7XIRABoBD68w1ksLrRUPV4_QsHIS6C1m1pRLXzA7VFM6CVLZWHLuBMKkjXy5TeZaI0MlRieO0aonGtLMh92iy/s320/DSC02869.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">animal feeding on crop residues in the fields</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So basically everything but savanna. It has a bit more tree than what is classified as cropland, but everything is somehow used for crop, with the exception of what is classified as savanna with trees, which we could find and is still the original natural vegetation<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcoyxvRbyXcIZRhCw8KNeHEns7n2oz8KApZbrb87PwFDWh_lzNTREZSIAH93QPfH0SLmp1rVXJvZSXHNz7m5CAJ5q9q1XTYa5Iz16_Lm7zmvCmJhXn8CwWNi-xuAQgppH9tPzOJ0_WQd1/s1600/DSC02880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcoyxvRbyXcIZRhCw8KNeHEns7n2oz8KApZbrb87PwFDWh_lzNTREZSIAH93QPfH0SLmp1rVXJvZSXHNz7m5CAJ5q9q1XTYa5Iz16_Lm7zmvCmJhXn8CwWNi-xuAQgppH9tPzOJ0_WQd1/s320/DSC02880.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">original vegetation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMnIdM8W9aR8zcJuDFnbqiqniilviYr0pcDTX7r409piHeMAi1YvsWlo6B_Rbhc4B3_3WACvJMepdXpNkZgB_BUHBXewyQismvxHF8nLyO5fOCzgbxbA8bLNEh3yzEGKCl3pHIUn7XVrj/s1600/DSC02884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMnIdM8W9aR8zcJuDFnbqiqniilviYr0pcDTX7r409piHeMAi1YvsWlo6B_Rbhc4B3_3WACvJMepdXpNkZgB_BUHBXewyQismvxHF8nLyO5fOCzgbxbA8bLNEh3yzEGKCl3pHIUn7XVrj/s320/DSC02884.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some natural vegetation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Conclusion, we will have to think hard on how we want to define grazing and cropping area in our environmental model! </div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-11758029626865179042017-03-14T08:26:00.003+03:002017-03-14T08:26:55.984+03:00Whose grazing land? the seasonal rights on communal land<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/02/atbsi-ethiopia-when-intensification.html" target="_blank">Atsbi, the study area in Ethiopia for my current project</a>, has made a bold move from free grazing to zero grazing.<br />
<br />
Free grazing means that animals can just freely move around the landscape and eat crop residues from fields and natural grazes where ever they find them. This leads to the classical<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons" target="_blank"> tragedy of the commons,</a> no one has incentives to keep the right number of livestock as feed is free. Therefore the landscape gets over-exploited.<br />
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The move to zero-grazing means that farmer keep their livestock at home and feed them from their own land. Livestock that does not move also consumes less, there is therefore an additional benefit.<br />
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But what is happening with the grazing land that previously was freely use? how gets access to that grass?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CuGKKC1FaDfCETsKwRhnAq-Yrj8TcvOaEGT0Jd59AIpltDsy3w-xbNy27WmVUtiRb-M1mq1liVtyQ_QpOufNNv6K5x44fEL5sO2fuQR1hUJp9WXwo4P6z6awRED879wnCaswL46r8Ir2/s1600/DSC03177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CuGKKC1FaDfCETsKwRhnAq-Yrj8TcvOaEGT0Jd59AIpltDsy3w-xbNy27WmVUtiRb-M1mq1liVtyQ_QpOufNNv6K5x44fEL5sO2fuQR1hUJp9WXwo4P6z6awRED879wnCaswL46r8Ir2/s320/DSC03177.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the grazing land that was still in private ownership</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Grazing land is often considered as community land and therefore managed by the community. We have visited two of them and talked to people around to understand the management.<br />
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We discovered that access was seasonally regulated. During the rainy season access was restricted to all. After the rainy season, farmers with certified land would share the grazing land according to oxen ownership. Who has 1 oxen gets one share, who has 2 gets two share. Note that who is <a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/02/land-access-in-ethiopia-or-how-land.html" target="_blank">landless </a>(who does not have certified farming land), does not get access, because they do not need oxen, though they might actually own a dairy cow. There are paid guards who make sure that no free grazing takes place.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFRv-TL0zvCDV6iPwwV_ZYhwsaLc29asajgDGxhDHTUJPPyTzM4F5Rp0X8QN41q_qPPmO1pQegNlz_Gtx6ZNNwyiyvEFa-_7cOJuDOgIOPvfin_1nBnlqJo_1B8WEl7RFeX1CMJoAywMcU/s1600/DSC03263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFRv-TL0zvCDV6iPwwV_ZYhwsaLc29asajgDGxhDHTUJPPyTzM4F5Rp0X8QN41q_qPPmO1pQegNlz_Gtx6ZNNwyiyvEFa-_7cOJuDOgIOPvfin_1nBnlqJo_1B8WEl7RFeX1CMJoAywMcU/s320/DSC03263.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This grazing land was open for free grazing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After a certain amount of time, the grazing land is becoming common grazing land again. Who has not made hay or collected his share of grass by that date, will just loose it, as others can come with their animals to graze it.<br />
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In conclusion, there are seasonal property rights on grazing land! There is only one exception : the church cow can graze anywhere any time, it benefits to all, so one one will chase it away :-) .<br />
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-32611426961447773152017-03-13T09:10:00.003+03:002017-03-20T10:22:33.714+03:00What revolution can the drones bring to the livestock sector?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last week, i joined the workshop on Animal Health Delivery in pastoral zones. I have been asked to discuss how geospatial technology can bring change into this industry. Here is the power point presentation i gave : <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/lvck1E5miAefkq" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<b> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/catherinepfeifer/geospatial-technology-in-animal-health-delivery" target="_blank" title="Geospatial Technology in Animal Health Delivery ">Geospatial Technology in Animal Health Delivery </a> </b> from <b><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/catherinepfeifer" target="_blank">Catherine Pfeifer</a></b> </div>
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The workshop brought together government representative, NGO and private sector to discuss what are the challenges and opportunities to bring animal health to pastoral zone, an area that has cope with low infrastructure, low and moving populations.<br />
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The biggest constraints identified were :<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The negative perception of pastoralist towards vaccine, it is seen as an emergency solution and not as prevention. This leads to no vaccine demand. Many pastoralists live in very basic condition with poor health and hygiene themselves. </li>
<li>vaccine quality is low, and often ineffective</li>
<li>In emergency, government roles out big vaccination campaigns, but there is no coordination among the different stakeholders and the is no post check on the effectiveness of the campaign.</li>
<li>there are insufficient trained human resources on the ground, despite of the fact that there would be sufficient trained vets available.</li>
<li>NGO budget often end up in offering free services at the wrong moment, distorting market and effectiveness</li>
<li>there is the understanding that animal health should be governmental, therefore the government constrains the market too much (i.e. not allowing for imports) </li>
</ul>
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<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://livestocksystems.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/goats.jpg?w=1200" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://livestocksystems.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/goats.jpg?w=1200" width="320" /></a></div>
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The biggest opportunities identified were :<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>allow for vaccine import, Kenya is not producing sufficiently and the right time</li>
<li>there is a potentially big and untouched customer base</li>
<li>There is scope for more user friendly vaccines, i.e. vaccines that do not per se need highly trained staff for administration or vaccine that are termo-stable (that do not need cooling) </li>
<li>In the short term, there is a need for a cold chain, keeping vaccines cold and therefore maintain their quality</li>
<li>Investigate effective way for public private partnership </li>
<li>further develop infrastructures such as roads and mobile networks</li>
</ul>
It was a fascinating workshop : it will lead to an in deepth study to understand these limitations and opportunities better, including trying to work with drone data. Definitely interesting work deserving a follow up!<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2112345397147339479.post-9713177832325040202017-03-10T14:00:00.002+03:002017-03-10T14:00:48.290+03:00whose animal? whose work? whose money? a gender reflection from Atbsi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.co.ke/2017/02/atbsi-ethiopia-when-intensification.html" target="_blank">On my last trip to Atsbi</a>, we met two farmers who kept dairy cattle : one man, one women.<br />
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For the women, she clearly felt that the animal was a common ownership between her and her husband. When we interviewed her, the husband had gone with the animals to the water point.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxFZzOZZhTtyrMsAhzK02-Tg9iM459PWLtprpqzhle7hMUz97b_RGNMK2BD5e3wtLl6uv_xRsI-9AIa1_dDw89XFsN0Cddw4ZimsHjzcLk4c8SmLLXpSuCIVatvfwXP08AUssbJlBr2Ws/s1600/DSC03207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxFZzOZZhTtyrMsAhzK02-Tg9iM459PWLtprpqzhle7hMUz97b_RGNMK2BD5e3wtLl6uv_xRsI-9AIa1_dDw89XFsN0Cddw4ZimsHjzcLk4c8SmLLXpSuCIVatvfwXP08AUssbJlBr2Ws/s320/DSC03207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the woman farmer we interviewed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
She would feed and milk the cow. She showed us how to prepare and mix feed for the animals, she got training for that. Having a Holstein dairy cow increased her labor, as she is now preparing optimal feed for the cow. She mentioned that this was now possible because her children are a bit older. A quick look at her children told me she meant no breastfeeding anymore.<br />
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She was selling the milk to the cooperative. It was difficult to understand what she does with the money. As far as we understood, part of it would go to buy the concentrate feed, and this could be done either by him or her. If he goes she would give him the money for that.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNFzZk2oH6r7rSn-7YFFo0SME8E7ZuZvoBCDUmZ6ikIXy1Pp_IANy-HUnLpuc7vfARi6fskjCmsxIAXGXjm6lOpWle0jWjSHpzEZmT6e-kfJLkqk7QP5pTM_KWM716Wl0oiWZ8PXdCCUZ/s1600/DSC03209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNFzZk2oH6r7rSn-7YFFo0SME8E7ZuZvoBCDUmZ6ikIXy1Pp_IANy-HUnLpuc7vfARi6fskjCmsxIAXGXjm6lOpWle0jWjSHpzEZmT6e-kfJLkqk7QP5pTM_KWM716Wl0oiWZ8PXdCCUZ/s320/DSC03209.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">homestead of the woman farmer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Clearly, in this household, the care of the animals at home was a woman's duty, no wonder she had small children and she would stay at home. The husband would take over the tasks a bit further from home such as going to water points or getting feed.<br />
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We got at very different picture from the landless dairy cow keeper in the settlement. The cow was his and he would fully take care of it, from feed to milking and selling. His wife had a job, and the livestock was his activity and a secondary income for the household. He was a carpenter and keeping livestock was not his first choice. But he said that now he sees the benefit, he is happy with it.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rpwD5RtDNURkIv9-Il0okktz_tN4ZaV1U4YcIidjXdWA5Us6G7Su_elBRCVOdzv3HeRQhMd5w7RQAft6aC0VR-7aFhEzb1HZwZQpEYm9srrLvzxa0HLpmkkpeh1Q5uSghy8L5N87MHG4/s1600/DSC03237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rpwD5RtDNURkIv9-Il0okktz_tN4ZaV1U4YcIidjXdWA5Us6G7Su_elBRCVOdzv3HeRQhMd5w7RQAft6aC0VR-7aFhEzb1HZwZQpEYm9srrLvzxa0HLpmkkpeh1Q5uSghy8L5N87MHG4/s320/DSC03237.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the male farmer and his calf</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Clearly we did not interview a representative sample size, but from the two interviews we had, it is clear that gender role in livestock keeping can be very different in each households even when they are less than 2 km apart.<br />
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I still wonder why i did not ask the man what he does with the money he makes from milk, and who takes the decision on how to spend it. Is that my own gender bias?</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17604619141000944825noreply@blogger.com0