N2+Meeting+on+Fraemworks+and+tools+work+22+Sept+2010

Notes of meeting of Sept 22
Present: Don, Alan, Amare, Gerba, Katherine

We have an existing light assessment with Kebebe, Gerba and Alemayehu did.
 * Baseline characterization**

Amare has gathered some secondary data. CSA does not have woreda level data to hand. - Livestock numbers for 2000, 2004 and 2009. All comes from different sources so of questionable reliability. Some problems with changes in woreda boundaries. - Feed demand and supply from Woody Biomass. % by residue, grazing land, concentrates. For Jeldu and Fogera - Some data on soils - Farming systems. - Problems – termites, soil acidity, erosion, feed shortage, flooding - Vertisol project data: biomass yield and species richness of grazing land. - Also work from CP37 on grazing land management. Amare is preparing a report on secondary data that will be available by Dec 2010.

Those being developed by Amare: - Improved livestock management: breeds, health, herd management, water supply - Feeding regimes: zero grazing, rotational grazing, virtual water (fodder) trading o Improved supply of feed: enclosure and reseeding, weed clearance, planting on bunds, improved fallow management o Termite protection o Improved feed quality: residue treatment, use of high quality feeds (e.g. planted fodder) - Soil and water conservation: drainage of waterlogged areas, water harvesting, gully rehabilitation, bunds - Value addition for livestock products – enhancing market Others: - Supply vs demand management - limiting keeping of unnecessary animals e.g. for wealth management - Poultry introduction. - Policies for regulating livestock numbers - Soil acidity treatment – Diga and Jeldu - Diversified livelihood improving interventions – intensification of agro-forestry e.g. fruit trees, small ruminants, bee keeping - Soil fertility management - Conservation agriculture. Manure management. Current watershed selection does not cover all the farming systems we are interested in. We can select other watersheds in addition to those selected for hydrology. Site selection should take account of the socio-economic issues being addressed in particular in relation to upstream-downstream issues.
 * Interventions**

- Testing intervention ideas against local expert opinion? We can present a menu of intervention options but we need to find ways of testing their suitability/practicability. Need to develop a mechanism for farmers and other stakeholders to prioritize interventions. Use workshops, FGD, students? Use of multi-criteria analysis – develop criteria such as immediate return to farmers, capital investment, marketability. Farmers score each intervention against the criteria to arrive at preferred interventions. Need to consider spatial issues – what is good for one farmer may affect another farmer negatively. Could use different groups e.g. farmers, experts, scientists. Could feed into LPA’s. - Diagnosis? Primary data collection? Teklu is handling crop characterization. Amare will go with him in mid-October. Should we do a village survey. Needs to capture the main elements of livestock, crop and tree management. Should include livelihood asset characterization? Could partner with RARI’s to implement. Would also be good to develop student projects (MSc) which could involve diagnosis of current management practices in the 3 sites relating to (1) Livestock management practices (2) Feeding strategies and (3) Soil and water conservation practices. - Effect of successful introduction of interventions on livelihoods and environment. - Partner involvement. Addis Uni and Bahir Dar. ARARI and OARI. Others. Multi-institutional agreement to encourage institutions to work together. Annual planning workshop with all partners to develop workplans. Need to think about how to engage OoARDs at each pilot site.
 * Questions**