Dryland fodder production and utilization in Borana zone of Ethiopia

Livestock plays an important role in the lives and livelihoods of pastoral communities across sub-Saharan Africa, serving as a key source of nutrition for households and income and support for education. However, over recent decades its role has been undermined by the impacts of climate change and rangeland degradation, leading to reduced quality and quantity of feed availability and livestock losses. This study investigated current rangeland conditions, existing forage species and forage production in Borana zone of Ethiopia, examining how these challenges impact the resilience of pastoral livelihoods to provide recommendations to government and different actors related to fodder production and use. The study employed six gendersensitive focus group discussions (FGDs) with purposefully selected participants from three different ecological zones within Borana zone. The discussions were complemented with key informant interviews (KIIs) with development actors, government and individual interviews with rangeland experts. This joint study by ILRI and Ayuda en Acción under the Resilience Building Project in Borena to generate evidence on locally available dryland fodder resources, management practices and developed a commercialization model to strengthen pastoralist resilience