Empowering Ethiopian livestock keepers: A new approach to learning

The Ethiopian landscape, a tapestry of rolling highlands and vast pastoral plains, has long echoed with the sounds of livestock.

For generations, these animals have been the lifeblood of rural communities, providing sustenance, income, and a connection to the land.

However, farmers face significant challenges, including climate change, disease, and limited resources.

Globally, traditional extension approaches have often struggled to address these complex and often very localized issues, highlighting the need for innovative solutions.

The currently reforming livestock extension system in Ethiopia opens a great, innovative pathway for a new more systems-oriented approach to extension.

In November 2024, a series of workshops at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Addis Ababa explored the potential of Pioneer-Positive Deviance (P-PD) to support Ethiopia’s livestock extension system.

A key outcome of these workshops was significant progress towards developing a practical guideline for implementing P-PD specifically within the Ethiopian context.

The workshops brought together development agents (key figures within the Ethiopian extension system), regional experts, government officials, non-governmental organization representatives, researchers, and private sector members.

The discussions focused on how P-PD can contribute to supporting livestock farmers in Ethiopia in the long term.

Read the full article by Rahel Abiy (ILRI) with contributions from Birgit Habermann (ILRI).

Photo: Participants at the national stakeholder engagement workshop, From insight to action: Enhancing livestock practices through positive deviance (credit: ILRI/Agegnehu Alene)