Monday, February 20, 2017

Destocking in Atsbi : a move to dairy production? (2)

My last post has discussed the move toward dairy production in Atsbi. We visited another farmer who also moved to improved cattle but within a settlement.

the carpenter who became a farmer
The farmer was landless (see here what this means in Ethiopia), and his wife had a job in the nearby school. He used to be carpenter but he had an accident, so had to change occupation. He had recently go the house he is living in and as he moved he had sold his sheep to buy a pregnant dairy cow that he keeps in his compound.

off-spring from his first dairy cow

He is landless but get access to 0.25 ha irrigated land, where he gets crop residue from. But he does not get access to the communal land and therefore buys crop residues, grass and concentrate for his cow.
The dairy cow in the settlement
His shed has enough space for at least two cows. So when we asked him where he will be in 5 years, he said that he will have a cow more so that he can get more income. He hopes that with this income he can move to Wucro the nearest big town, where the economy is booming.


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