The Boma

Ethiopia's livestock: An interview with Namukolo Covic

• International Livestock Research Institute

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At more than 50 million animals, Ethiopia's livestock population is the largest in Africa and the eighth largest in the world. But livestock productivity in Ethiopia remains low. Namukolo Covic, the ILRI Director General's representative to Ethiopia, CGIAR Ethiopia country convener and the CGIAR regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, talks with Shahida Hussein, an ILRI communications officer, about the livestock challenges that are facing Ethiopia, ideas to raise productivity, and hopes for the future.

Hello, listeners of The Boma, we are returning to provide you with an interview with Namukolo Covic, a Zambian nutrition scientist and one of the leading advisors shaping agricultural development on the African continent. Currently serving as the ILRI Director General's representative to Ethiopia, she's the CGIAR Ethiopia country convener and the CGIAR regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa.

At more than 50 million animals, Ethiopia's livestock population is the largest in Africa and the eighth largest in the world. But livestock productivity in Ethiopia remains low. Now Covic talks with Shahida Hussein, an ILRI communications officer, about the livestock challenges that are facing Ethiopia, ideas to raise productivity, and hopes for the future.

 What is required to improve productivity?

Some of the challenges we have on productivity in Ethiopia has to do with the low productivity of our animals because of the genetics.

We have not made use of the full range of productivity of these animals and we would need to do a selection within our animal population to select for those animals to come up with breeds that are more productive than the one that we have now. So that's one area that really needs a lot of effort. Another opportunity would be to bring in new genetics into breeding programs to towards developing more productive breeds.

Those are some of the things that we can do. 

 

How about improving feeds and forage? Because most of the time it seems animal nutrition is part of the problem. 

So absolutely, that is part of the problem because even if you improved the genetics, what genetics does is it gives you a potential for productivity. But to be able to reach that potential, you actually have to then have the right quality feed.

 

So that's another area where attention is needed. And in that term, ILRI has the feeds and Forages gene bank hosted here in Ethiopia, and in fact it is the largest feeds and forages gene bank. And we do work where we share feeds genetic material seeds with farmers, we do share with other research institutions in the country, including universities.

So we share those seed resources. We also have access to genetic material from outside. One of the advantages of ILRI being a CGIAR center is that we have access to genetic materials from other countries as well. So in as much as we would need to share genetic materials from our gene bank here, in fact, when we look at our gene bank, most of the genetic material we have there is actually from outside. But we also have collections from Ethiopia, and we work in tandem with the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute when we need to share genetic resources.

 

Do you think it's important to work on indigenous crops? Like indigenous feed and forage? 

Absolutely. I mean, we do need to work on indigenous crops. Just by virtue of being indigenous to the place, these crops are very much better adapted to the environment that we have.

So they offer much better potential for us to adapt and do better as the climate is changing. And so it is important to work with those. So our feeds and forages gene bank team, they actually work with local species and they are characterizing them to be able to say the nutritional qualities and the like. And by doing so, they can also begin to cross some of these feeds and forages to come up with even better feeds and forages as we move into the future, and as our climate changes.

So there are opportunities that these traditional and indigenous crops actually offer. Not just on livestock, by the way. Also even for human consumption. Ethiopia has quite a wealth of indigenous crops that we can take advantage of.

 

Do we have the same comparative advantage when it comes to the livestock, investing in and working with indigenous groups?

Yes, we know that our indigenous breeds here are more resistant to some diseases. For example, in fact recently I found out that in Australia they have actually benefited from some of our African breeds. But if you look at if you look at the Borena breed for example, it's very clear that it does have some advantages over exotic breeds.

If you bring in exotic breeds into the Borena area, they're not going to survive. So that resilience is genetic resources that we have here in Ethiopia, here on the African continent. And by selecting within that genetic variation, we can actually find most likely, and develop, breeds that will actually be better adapted to our circumstance. We can, of course, introduce genetic material where that is appropriate.

It's not always desirable because you need to come up with breeds of animals that can actually survive under all conditions. And that's what we need to work towards. They must survive, but they must become more productive.

 

Do you think that we need to improve the animal health sector to get more productivity? 

Absolutely. A sick animal is not going to be productive. And so looking at herd health, we do have a project actually at the Ministry of Agriculture. The project is led by the Ministry of Agriculture, and ILRI contributes to that project where the specific focus is on improving animal herd health through mostly through vaccination programs and the like. And so together, if you really think about it, if you deal with the genetics, you deal with the quality of feed and then you have healthy animals, then you can really address that productivity challenge that we talked about at the beginning. And with the with the health part, there are also efforts on addressing issues like treatment for parasites and the like. And all of that together then improves the productivity potential. 

 

Does ILRI contribute to creating an enabling environment for the livestock sector, in our new policy environment? 

Yes. So ILRI has done quite a bit of work in terms of creating an enabling environment for livestock in different countries, starting with Ethiopia. Where I think the first Livestock Master Plan was developed, which provides government with… It's really a strategic document on what needs to be done to improve of the livestock sector of the country. And it was done collaboratively with the Ethiopian government and other national partners. That Livestock Master Plan has informed other strategic documents. And what we have seen is that other African countries and more recently even in Asia, are now interested in livestock master plans.

That tells you that people have actually identified that to be a very useful policy instrument. 

In addition to that, in Ethiopia, ILRI has contributed together with other national partners like the Livestock Development Institute, the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture Research, some universities and even private sector entities. They recently developed a national poultry development strategy, and that has been handed over to the government.

And we believe the government will launch it soon. In addition to that, ILRI has also been contributing to the development of a national dairy development strategy. And again, that is now nearing completion. And so that can also help because together, those two strategies provide policy elements that will help create that greater enabling environment, both for dairy and poultry in Ethiopia.

And we feel fortunate to be able to contribute to such developments. 

 

Apart from policy environment, I think we need to improve our market linkage. How do you see the market linkage that is affecting the livestock sector productivity? 

I think there's a lot that needs to be done on improving market value chains for livestock in Ethiopia.

Some of the areas have to do also with how quickly we can get our animals to market. If you have to feed a sheep for a whole year before you can get it to market, that feed actually costs something. If you can shorten the time, you can get them to market, if you can get them to market more efficiently by developing these value chains, within our own context, because our market value chains don't necessarily have to operate like the ones that are operating in Europe. They have to be contextualized. And I know one of our sister CGIAR centres ICARDA has done a lot of work on market value chains of actually trying to shorten this growth period of sheep to get to market.

Those kinds of developments are very important. And then also one of the areas where we are really weak is that our livestock actually walk to market. You see it here in Addis. So we don't really have a cold value chain. That will happen as we improve our energy supply in the country. For now, it would actually be difficult to do, but it doesn't mean there are no solutions.

We need as researchers to be looking to what is it that we can do better, within the context, while we are waiting for the energy to come.

 

How about food safety?

Food safety is another one that is an important aspect. Animal source foods are perishable foods. Your milk, your eggs, your meat. They are perishable. So without a cold value chain, it's difficult to get those products to market. So much of what you then depend on is that the small dairy producers are concentrating around town centres where they can reach large numbers of people in terms of market within short periods of time.

And that kind of helps. But also at the milk collection point, you can improve the quality of the milk by just looking at food safety and hygiene efforts. And we have actually had projects at ILRI that have worked to improving hygiene in terms of processing of the milk to get it safer to market. So there's a lot that we can do.

And indeed, because of the perishability of animal source products, that's what makes us need cold value chains more. But even where we are now, we can do better with stronger hygiene processes and that's an area that we are also trying to work with. There's been a lot of improvements that have actually taken place, and we don't often realize that. But there's a lot of improvements that have taken place. All you have to do is go into the supermarkets now and see how much milk is coming from Ethiopia that is actually pasteurized and stuff like that.

 

Apart from the different issues, there is a big problem in value adding. We have this huge gap in  providing value added livestock product.

If we can provide this value-added livestock products, we can actually earn a huge amount of foreign currency. How do you observe? What is your assessment of this?

 I think on the aspect of value addition, we need to bring on board the private sector very strongly. It is through the private sector that we will begin to add value.

And even the issue we were talking about on market value chain, that requires facilitating entry points of the private sector into the market, and they're the ones who would set up a processing units and the like. Since I first came to Ethiopia in 2015, in that period I have actually seen some changes.

When you go into some of the supermarkets in Addis, you do find cheese that is processed here in Ethiopia. You do find yogurt that is processed here in Ethiopia. But the potential is vast and there's still more to be done. So there again, that enabling environment that we spoke about, having an enabling environment that will strengthen that participation of private sector will be an important aspect of development in the livestock sector.

 

When you say enabling environment for the private sector, do you have suggestions of what the government can provide to the private sector?

 I think some of the work that government is doing already with its industrial parks would be helpful.

I haven't really dealt with the industrial park scenario in Ethiopia, but as a concept I think it is one that can actually help. The fact that the industrial parks are set up and that private sector can then use that as an entry point to be able to set places. I think an area where, and I'm not sure to what extent it's already happening, is that for the private sector to be able to set up shop in those industrial parks, there would be need for access to financing and the like.

And if there's provision for that, that would create an enabling environment for private sector, because usually that's where their challenges are. Access to finance, access to equipment and the like. And that's an area where I think a policy enabling environment would be helpful. 

 

We are hearing that the demand for any animal source food is increasing. Do you think that's true given our consumption patterns?

It seems so. I think when you look at the consumption surveys that have been done in Ethiopia, if you compare, I think the consumption survey that was done in 2011 and the most recent one in 2022, I think it was launched only this year, there are some indications that consumption of animal sourced food is increasing, especially in urban centers.

What could contribute to even more would be greater accessibility, and that greater accessibility will come with the greater productivity that we were talking about. If you have very low productive levels, it means that a unit of milk takes a lot to produce. If we can increase our productivity levels, access becomes easier. But in addition to that, I think if productivity levels improved, then it means economies of scale will kick in where the production cost per unit of product produced can actually come down.

That makes the product more accessible because then it would become more affordable. So as we increase demand, that offers an opportunity for the private sector to actually come in because there has to be demand for private sector to be able to function profitably. It's almost like a chicken and egg type situation. So demand must be there for the private sector to be able to come on board strongly.

And so increasing demand is good for you from two perspectives. One is consumption of animal sourced foods in Ethiopia has been very low. And so from a nutrition perspective, that's good. And that is increasing. 

Demand then also offers opportunities for private sector development creation of jobs and not time. So that's an additional advantage. And then, of course, if we get the quality of our products to be good enough to even begin exporting and stuff like that, that would be good.

And I always think, you know, we always talk about low quality products and what have you and stuff like that. Ethiopia is exporting fruits, cut flowers. The markets that we are serving with those products in Europe are very demanding in terms of quality. So it's not that we cannot meet the quality. I think we just need to work with the potential that we have to actually be able to attain that potential because it's possible.

And I think with some of these developments around industrial parks, I see a lot of potential in the country and it remains to be attained. 

 

Do you think animal source food is important for healthy diets? 

Absolutely. I'm a nutritionist. I'm a nutritionist. Animal source foods are definitely important for the diet consumed in the right amounts, of course. And if you're going to put 500 grams of steak on your plate, we don't consider that healthy.

So consumed in the right amounts. But in terms of average amounts in Ethiopia, it's a very low consumption of animal source foods for our young children and breastfeeding mothers. It's very important because they are so nutrient dense. Even small quantities will make a difference to the nutritional quality of the diet for our young children. They would help in addressing micronutrient deficiencies.

They would definitely help in reducing stunting levels. But those stunting levels to come down, then other things also must come into place, such as clean water, vaccinations and the like. So the Ministry of Health also is doing a lot of work to try and make sure that the different interventions from nutrition in terms of diets, but also from health, in terms of water and others actually come together to play the role.

So, yes, absolutely. Animal source foods are important for nutrition in our context.

 

Most of the time availability is a big issue, but our consumption pattern is contributing to rates of malnutrition. Our consumption, part of our culture, we avoid eating different kind of animals. For example, in some of regions where they might not consume goat's milk.

I think those are now a lot of the cultural issues also come with awareness. I'm aware, for example, with the Sokoto Declaration, I am aware that they have been promoting consumption of goat milk and they've had something that I really like about this declaration is they have these community labs, where communities are encouraged to learn from each other.

And one of the things that I have heard narrated is communities seeing goat milk being consumed in in one community and then actually asking, well, if they are giving their children goat milk and it's okay, we can also do it. And in doing so, better growth. In fact, this Sokoto Declaration is one of the few examples, perhaps even the only one that I know personally where they have been able to link reductions in stunting directly to agricultural interventions through some evaluations that were done by Johns Hopkins University.

So they're doing something right. And so I think over time it has to do also in how we communicate and how we work with the situation. People do learn. We are not only eating pasta right from the beginning of our times, we've learned to eat that stuff. I can still remember the first time I ate a McDonald's hamburger.

I almost threw up. I can handle it now, but it's it just tells you taste is an acquired characteristics. And of course, our cultural practices also come into play. And so the work that the Ministry of Health is doing, Ministry of Agriculture can do around quality of diets. Creating awareness would help in that in that perspective and this particular bit of this a quarter declaration of having communities visit other community leaders, visit other communities and you see they are drinking the camel milk and they are growing fine.

That's how we learn. But the consumption pattern that people almost question is the issue of the frequent fasting in Ethiopia in terms of diet quality. And now I think our nutritionists need to work within the context. What can you do with your diet during fasting season to improve the quality of that diet? So it's not a question of forcing people to eat that, but I know that and I hope I am correct, I know that the Orthodox Church actually does exempt young children and breastfeeding mothers from the fasting. So within our own context, there are ways in which we can address issues. And I think it would be useful to actually I would encourage you to look at the food based dietary guidelines that Ethiopia launched last year. Because those food based dietary guidelines actually do try to address our diet quality and diversity within our context, within our cultural practices to encourage those cultural practices that are actually good for a healthy diet.

So we have a while to go in this nutrition transition that is taking place everywhere. We are moving, for example, from more healthy traditional consumption patterns to less healthy ones, and we call them modern. I don't know what's modern about them if they are worse than before. 

One of my favorites is that Ethiopian snack called kolo? I think it's the most healthy snack I have ever seen in all my travels. It's not deep fried. I mean, you get potato crisps which have been deep fried. They are full of oil, but loaded with salt and what have you. What do you have in kolo, which is cold roasted grains, roasted legumes and pulses? It's almost a complete food in itself, and very healthy.

So in the in the food based dietary guidelines, the guidelines actually encourage that as a traditional snack that is healthy rather than letting go of it. That's what we should be exporting to other countries for more than fruit.

Kolo must not be a poor people's food column must be everybody's food. We should be proud of it. It is a healthy snack. Like really healthy. 

If people see you eating well, they would ask, 'What's wrong with you?! What's wrong with your economy!'

But then we should change the way in which we market it. I mean, we have to remember earlier on, we were talking about the cold value chain.

Our people had actually figured that out. They were drying meat, sun drying meat so it would keep for longer. We didn't have the fridge, but we had the sun dried meat and then, we had so-called development and we stopped doing that. But we don't have the facilities… I mean, I will buy dried meat any time. I've consumed dry meat for the biggest chunk of my life.

But those are some of the things we could be promoting as part of context specific better diet practices, leverage what we have some of the traditional practices we have. People had fermented milk forever because there wasn't fridges forever. And by fermenting the milk we have managed to make it last longer. 

Those fermentation practices should be resources for our scientists to develop segmentation practices that will produce fermented milk products that people actually have a taste for because the fermentation process itself brings on board certain test characteristics that we appreciate that we may not appreciate when we buy the commercially processed yogurt.

So those are resources that we should be using. And going back to our traditional and indigenous foods, we should look to them on this continent as a resource for development.

 

The government, maybe three or four years ago has introduced this school feeding program. This is new for us. It is piloted in December 2023. How do you see that? Is it important?

Oh, it's very important. It is extremely important. I would like to encourage you to have a look at an article that I did for SDG action a few years ago, I think 2021. I think it was done leading to the UN Food Systems Summit process.

Nutrition should be considered not just nutrition. Good nutrition should be considered an input to an education system because with good nutrition it impacts brain development of children and by impacting brain development of children, it also impacts potential education outcomes. The African Union has worked with different African countries and they have actually looked at the cost of hunger.

They have actually shown that with malnutrition you can limit outcomes, you can limit earning outcomes in adulthood. And if you limit both education outcomes and economic income ending ability in adulthood, you are impacting on national economic development hungry people do not work at their potential either. So even if they are construction workers or whatever and stuff like that, it adds up in the end.

And so school feeding programs. Yes, absolutely. Very important. And I know there's been some work that's been done in Ethiopia that has actually shown how important it is. So I think the challenge is on how best to finance school feeding. That's where the challenge is. I everybody agrees that it's very important, but when you are, we are in a resource constrained environment.

The question is how best can we actually get value for money within our contexts? And that's an area where I think researchers can help us. 

 

I remember that you suggesting to incorporate fruit tree plantations?

Well, I think Ethiopian government has the Green Legacy program or project where they're going to plant billions of trees.

A very commendable initiative. And it sounds like quite a lot of trees have been planted already and are plans to keep going. I think it's a great idea, but my own personal feeling was that we should think of at least 50% of those trees being fruit trees in places where mangos grow. Let's have that's my dream. Let's have mango trees lining the street, orange trees.

There's so many different guava trees. I was going to the airport the other day and I saw we acquired a tree growing in a yard and I thought, I'm going to go and look for a weather dream to put in my yard. So if we if half of those trees are fruit trees, it provides three major benefits. One, it still contributes to the greening that we are looking for.

So we don't take away from that. We meet that objective. Two, we meet a second objective. All of those fruits are now available for people to consume. And three, those fruit trees will be sitting in people's fields, yards and what have you in stuff like that. They become an income earner. And since you added an additional question, I can also add a fourth benefit, which is to the private sector in terms of processing industry for fruits, you can actually see those market value chains growing because the supply side of things could actually be addressed. So I think it's a great idea and I'm praying for fruit trees to be included amongst the trees planted.