Nat'l Dairy Dev’t Strategy that Envisions Quadrupling Milk Production Unveiled

Addis Ababa, December 19/2023 (ENA) A National Dairy Development Strategy, which aims to quadruple milk production by 2031 in Ethiopia, was officially launched today. 

The strategy under implementation since 2022 was unveiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). 

Agriculture State Minister Fikru Regassa said on the occasion that the 10-year strategy is a crucial step forward toward transforming the dairy sector.

Effective implementation, however, needs collective effort and support from all stakeholders, he added.

Stressing Ethiopia's large but diverse livestock resource, Fikru noted that the resources have not been fully exploited. 

But “now livestock have been elevated on Ethiopia’s development agenda and recognized as providing important assets for livelihood and job creation as a source of income and foreign currency earning as well as important cultural resources, social safety nets, and means of saving.”

According to him, the potential for livestock to contribute to national economic growth and poverty reduction is strongly acknowledged.

The Ten-Year Perspective Plan prioritizes investments in dairy sector development to address major bottlenecks in genetics, improved technologies, feeding, health, input and output marketing, value addition, product quality, and consumer safety. 

ILRI Director General's Representative to Ethiopia, Namukolo Covic said the strategy is aimed at helping and guiding the development of the dairy sector in Ethiopia.

 

And this will improve milk production, increase productivity by looking at genetic improvements of the breeds and the quality of feed that is given, in addition to health like vaccination.  

ILRI's work seeks to improve food security through better production of foods and addressing the different challenges including climate and environmental issues, she pointed out.

“Our work really seeks to help smallholder farmers to have better lives through livestock and  improving the production and productivity of dairy cows is one way through which we can help smallholder farmers to have better lives through livestock.” 

So in Ethiopia, Covic stated that ILRI's work is to align to the national transformation efforts. 

“We are researching institution. So through our research, we can contribute evidence that can help guide that transformation process in a positive way.” 

According to the CSA (2021) livestock sample survey, Ethiopia boasts of 70.3 million cattle, 42.9 million sheep, 52.5 million goats, and 8.1 million camels.