A joint initiative backed by the government of the Netherlands is supporting dairy co-ops in Ethiopia’s Somali region in a bid to boost their productivity, increase access to veterinary services and improve reliability of water sources.
The programme is part of Prospects programme run by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which aims to improve the access of forcibly displaced people and their host communities to education, social protection and decent work.
Prospects carried out an assessment of the region, finding a high dependency on pastoralist activities, with cattle farming mainly carried out by women.
“Despite having a large number of people involved in milk production, the quality of milk and income being generated from it were inadequate and the milk production was reducing season after season,” said Stephen Opio, chief technical advisor of ILO Prospects in Ethiopia and Sudan.
Although the region faces poor livestock productivity, milk quality and market access, the ILO’s assessment underlined its potential to become a key milk supplier in the country.
Based on this assessment, the ILO has partnered with Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse (VSF Suisse) to strengthen the dairy value chain in the region. The Engaging Host Community and Refugees in Dairy Development (EHRDD) project works with small-scale milk producers, dairy co-ops, milk processors and traders, in host and refugee communities, in the Fafan zone of Ethiopia’s Somali region.
Cattle farmer Hinda Leberi told the ILO that she, along with other women in Gebri Kebele, had formed a small co-op – but members “struggled with the inconsistent production, lack of cattle feed, and managing the group’s expectation in terms of income and profits”.
Leberi took part in three training sessions provided via EHRDD, learning more about co-op management, animal husbandry and milk production.
“Although we are traditionally [pastoralists], we lacked information on how animal husbandry practices have evolved,” said Leber. But new techniques introduced by EHRDD have increased the shelf life of her cattle’s milk, reducing waste and increasing profits.
EHRDD also helps pastoralists improve the quality of livestock feed through commercial animal feed production. Another co-op in Gerbi Kebele took part in an initiative to produce concentrate and total mixed ration (TMR) livestock feed in a new production shed. Co-op members shared the cost of construction and EHRDD provided the feed processing machines. The co-op were taught to operate the machinery, enabling them to produce feed for themselves and to sell to lother farms in the region.
The project also carried out activities to make animal healthcare more accessible, by training 15 community-based animal workers and linking them with existing private pharmacies. The ILO also built two water detention ponds in Kebribeyah to increase the reliability of drinking water supply, which supports the health of cattle.
The ILO said the interventions “demonstrate how targeted, context-sensitive approaches can address complex challenges and unlock the potential of local communities”, and “underscore the transformative power of co-operatives in fostering resilience, improving livelihoods, and creating pathways for sustainable development in regions affected by forced displacement”.
