Forage production is boosting dairy farming. ©FAO

Bulcha Bilo, 34, is a dairy farmer from Tepachoroqe Woreda in the Oromia region. Soon after starting the farm five years ago, Bulcha faced a challenge of getting sufficient feed for the cattle. Due to favorable weather conditions, a significant proportion of the population in Tepachoroqe are keeping cattle, which has put pressure on the available pasture and vegetation.

Through the Technical Support /Assistance/ project aligned with the Second Agricultural Growth Program (TS-AGP-II), FAO trained and provided Bulcha and other farmers with forage seed. “I learned of the benefits of different forage plants, planting techniques, feeding methods, and monitoring forage growth,” he said.

Bulcha now grows six forage varieties on his farm. He gets double benefits from the forage production – nutritious feed for his ten cattle and forage seeds that he sells to fellow farmers. In 2021, he sold 70 kg of alfalfa fodder for Ethiopian birr 78 000 (USD 1,500). In addition, Bulcha is pleased about the increased milk production on his farm, from an average of four to six liters per cow per day. Moreover, the cattle are healthy, growing fast, and are rarely sick. Bulcha makes about Ethiopian birr 40 000 (USD 775) per month from milk sales. He also grows teff and maize on 7.5 hectares of rented land and supplies seeds to a local farmers’ union. Bulcha appreciated the support of the project, saying, “If we didn’t have this opportunity, we would not achieve this level of success that has transformed our lives.”

In alignment with the AGP-I, FAO provided technical support in integrated pest management (IPM) and improved forage development to implementing institutions and smallholder farmers. Based on the achievements in AGP-I, FAO continued providing technical support to the TS- AGP-II, focused on scaling up good practices of forage development and IPM and mainstreaming crosscutting issues such as climate-smart agriculture, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and gender-sensitive interventions.

FAO is implementing the Programme in Ethiopia with a USD 4 million grant, including the additional funding in response to the COVID-19 impact (USD 1 million) awarded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.

Contacts

Rachel Nandelenga

Communications Consultant

[email protected]