With the United Nations declaring 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives, the importance of cooperatives in fostering sustainable development has never been more evident. In Ethiopia’s Somali region, the ILO, in collaboration with VSF Suisse, is empowering dairy cooperatives through capacity building, improved access to veterinary services, innovative feed solutions, and water resource development, to address challenges in milk production and livestock management demonstrating the power of collective action in achieving economic resilience and social cohesion.
27 November 2024
JIGJIGA, Ethiopia (ILO NEWS) – Acknowledging their strong potential to improve the living and working conditions of people, the International Labour Organization (ILO) strongly advocates for strengthening of cooperatives, especially in the forced displacement situations. With an emphasis on solidarity and trust, cooperatives have the potential to provide mutually beneficial solutions for the host and refugee communities alike.
“ILO PROSPECTS diagnostics and assessments including value chain and rapid livestock market assessment, as well as integrated assessment of enterprise, cooperative and financial services in the region, indicated high dependency of local population on pastoralist activities. 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.,” explained Stephen OPIO, Chief Technical Advisor of the ILO PROSPECTS in Ethiopia and Sudan.
The ILO assessment showed that the milk value chain is highly constrained with three key factors and many associated underlying root causes. First, low livestock productivity caused by inadequate livestock feed availability both in terms of quality and quantity coupled with severe shortage of water which is more pronounced during dry season and drought periods; very limited access to services (veterinary, extension, research etc.) and inputs (technologies); poor genetic makeup of the indigenous animals. Second, poor milk quality caused by poor milk handling, storage, transportation, lack of appropriate utensils and cooling facilities and inadequate knowledge on milk hygiene and quality. And third, poor access to the dairy market caused by low and poor-quality marketable output; high transaction cost (transportation); inefficient market systems, lack of dairy functional processing plant, limited skills on entrepreneurship, financial and cooperative management, poor access to finance and market information and poor enabling environment.
Despite the challenges, the ILO’s assessment underlined the region’s potential to become a key milk supplier in the country.
Based on the recommendations derived from the assessment, the ILO partnered with Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse (VSF Suisse) to strengthen the dairy value chain in the region including small-scale milk producers, dairy cooperatives, milk processors and traders, in both host and refugee communities in the Fafan zone of the Somali Region. Funded by the Government of the Netherlands under PROSPECTS Partnership, the joint initiative is called “Engaging Host Community and Refugees in Dairy Development” (EHRDD).
Mohamed Abdulahi, VSF Suisse Project Manager, shared, “The dairy value chain has been hampered by a multi-faceted set of challenges that caused low and unstable income to women households engaged in the milk business.”
To deal with these challenges, a comprehensive project was designed to enhance the capacity of dairy value chain actors to produce, handle and market quality dairy products. The project included capacity building support including the formation and strengthening of cooperatives, improving their technical know-how on quality, safe and efficient milk production system, preservation, processing and marketing; and improving access to basic animal health services.
Strengthening of cooperatives
In the Somali region, women are primarily responsible for caring for cattle. Hinda Leberi, a pastoralist from Gebri Kebele, located 20 kms outside Kebribeyah town, was struggling with the challenge of earning a stable income from milk production. “I along with other women in my community had formed a small cooperative but we all struggled with the inconsistent production, lack of cattle feed, and managing the group’s expectation in terms of income and profits,” said Hinda.
On learning about the ILO and VSF Suisse programme, she participated in three training sessions offered by them. The training having the right mix of information on cooperative management, animal husbandry and milk production proved to be a game changer. “Although we are traditionally a pastoralist, we lacked information on how animal husbandry practices have evolved,” said Hinda. She was content as the newly learned technique had drastically increased the shelf life of milk produced, ultimately preventing wastage and bringing more income for their cooperative.
Making animal health care accessible
Except the public veterinary service that came once in a blue moon, there was no reliable health support for cattles in the project targeted kebeles. Pastoralist in the kebeles often had to travel to the private veterinary pharmacies in main town to get veterinary medicines for their sick animals, having to invest additional time and money. Often the diseases spread among the livestock rapidly leading to loss of productivity, death of their animals and causing financial losses for the dependent families.
To deal with it, training of community-based animal health workers (CAHWs) and linking them with existing private pharmacies (PVP) emerged as a quick win intervention. The ILO and VSF supported the training of 15 (12 men and 3 women) CAHWs from the targeted kebeles in association with the regional and woreda level pastoral development office. The training had followed nationally recognized guideline called “National Minimum Standards and Guidelines to Design and Establish a Sustainable Community-Based Animal Health Service”. Through the support of the ILO and VSF-Suisse, the training module was contextualized to cater to the unique characteristics and needs of the region. On successful completion of 21-day training and passing the examination, the CAHWs were awarded with a certificate accredited by the government veterinary service.
The CAHWs equipped with the necessary basic knowledge and start-up kits started to reach out to their respective pastoralist community on time, providing affordable and quality basic veterinary services for their livestock.
Jemal Ahmed from Gerbi Kebele was one among the first to receive the training and became Community Animal Health Worker (CAHW) of the kebele.
“Since I finished my training and started serving the community, I have treated 395 animals with various clinical cases. I help pastoralist community in and around Gerbi Kebele and they are really relieved with my presence,” said Jemal.
Promoting locally produced animal feed for livestock
The project has also focused on improving the quality of livestock feed through commercial animal feed production. It selected a cooperative in Gerbi Kebele, 20 kms outside Kebribeyah town, to execute an innovative feed solution initiative for the production of concentrate and total mixed ration (TMR) livestock feed. The initiative has involved a cost-sharing mechanism where Gerbi cooperative members agreed to cover the cost of constructing the feed production shed. The cooperative constructed a shed on their site while the project procured and delivered the required feed processing machineries (Chopper, hammer mill grinder and mixer)..
After the machineries were installed, selected members of the cooperatives were trained in basic machine operation, minor protective maintenance. Now the cooperative is producing animal feed for the members as well as selling it to the community living around the area. This initiative has not only enhanced livestock health but has also created new economic opportunities for locals.
Addressing water scarcity
Water is a vital resource in the Somali region and even one of the most expensive one. Adequate supply of drinking water is crucial for maintaining the health and productivity of cattle. During droughts, water scarcity can lead to severe consequences, including decreased milk production, higher mortality rates, and increased vulnerability to diseases.
The ILO has built two water detention ponds in two kebeles of the Kebribeyah woreda as part of the milk value chain development intervention. These ponds with the capacity to store 6,165,000 and 6,610,000 litres of water will provide relief during the dry season. These ponds will provide relief during the dry season. The construction phase has been completed and is ready to be used.
The interventions by the ILO and VSF Suisse in the Somali region demonstrate how targeted, context-sensitive approaches can address complex challenges and unlock the potential of local communities. These efforts underscore the transformative power of cooperatives in fostering resilience, improving livelihoods, and creating pathways for sustainable development in regions affected by forced displacement.