ETHIOPIA – The International Labour Organization (ILO) is actively supporting women poultry farmers in Ethiopia through a ProAgro project.
The ILO’s ProAgro Ethiopia project is dedicated to advancing medium and small agro-processing enterprises, with a particular emphasis on women involved in poultry farming.
The initiative recently collaborated with Yegna Farms, a women-owned enterprise, to expand support for inclusive agri-business models.
This partnership aims to generate sustainable employment opportunities within the poultry value chain.
As part of this effort, a workshop and experience-sharing event took place from July 25 to 26, 2024, in Addis Ababa.
The event drew twenty-eight female poultry farmers from Holetta and Sendafa towns, along with local officials, Woreda/District agriculture experts, and researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Holetta Agricultural Research Center (HARC).
During the workshop, the Holeta Agricultural Research Center reported that 216 women poultry farmers in the two towns had received training in chicken management and community poultry immunization.
This training covered the Bovens, Sasso, and Koekoek breeds through the Tropical Platform initiative.
The collaboration between ILO’s ProAgro Ethiopia project and ILRI also brought technical advisory support on nutrition-sensitive agriculture to these farmers.
The ProAgro project, in conjunction with Yegna Farms, is working to improve market access for these poultry farmers by setting up a system to collect, pack, and distribute eggs to markets in Addis Ababa.
Ongoing discussions are focused on negotiating with larger businesses in the city to enhance market reach.
Key challenges faced by the women poultry farmers include the scarcity of quality feed, high feed costs, fluctuating egg market demand, and limited market opportunities.
In response, the involved organizations—ILO, ILRI, and HARC—have agreed to collaborate on developing alternative, cost-effective poultry feed solutions.
Additionally, efforts are being made to establish direct market connections with supermarkets to address the issue of limited market access.
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