Restoration of Livestock Services in Conflict and Drought Affected Areas of Ethiopia (RESTORE) Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination services: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Solomon Gizaw1, Wubet Sinishaw2 and Theodore Knight-Jones1 1 International Livestock Research Institute, Ethiopia 2 Amhara Livestock and Fishery Resource Development Office, Ethiopia July 2025 ii Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers ©2025 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) ILRI thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund This publication is copyrighted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. 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Editing, design and layout—ILRI Editorial and Publishing Services, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Cover photo: ILRI. Citation: Gizaw, S., Sinishaw, W. and Knight-Jones, T. 2025. Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI. Patron: Professor Peter C. Doherty AC, FAA, FRS Animal scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate for Physiology or Medicine–1996 Box 30709, Nairobi 00100 Kenya Phone +254 20 422 3000 Fax +254 20 422 3001 Email ilri-kenya@cgiar.org ilri.org better lives, better planet through livestock ILRI is a CGIAR research centre Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Phone +251 11 617 2000 Fax +251 11 667 6923 Email ilri-ethiopia@cgiar.org ILRI has offices in East Africa • South Asia • Southeast and East Asia • Southern Africa • West Africa https://www.cgiar.org/funders/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. iiiPublic-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Contents Background 1 Objectives 2 Approach for artificial insemination through public-private partnership 3 Capacity development 4 Next steps 6 Visibility 7 1Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Background Artificial insemination (AI) in cattle has been practiced in Ethiopia for nearly half a century. However, its effectiveness and impact are not well-documented, and service delivery is inconsistent, particularly in smallholder livestock systems, leading to weak AI services and poor reproductive performance. Several factors affect the adoption of AI technology by livestock keepers and the effectiveness of the service. Studies have found that households’ level of literacy, training on livestock production, hybrid cattle holding, access to extension service, milk yield of the cows, the income of the household, mobile ownership, supplementation of concentrated feed, and distance to farmer training centre (FTC) significantly affect the probability of households’ adoption of AI technology. In Ethiopia, artificial insemination service is predominantly provided in the public sector by AI technicians based at woreda livestock offices. Distance to service centres and poor communication networks often result in missed oestrus periods for insemination and high return rates. Authors have recommended effective and efficient participation of the private sector and the government, creating an enabling environment, among others, to improve access to AI services. The Restoration of Livestock Services in Conflict and Drought-Affected Areas of Ethiopia (RESTORE) project is planning to expand participation of the private sector under intermediate Outcome 2: The quality and reliability of integrated public and private veterinary service delivery improved, with more efficient production, Work Package 2 (improved vet services), and Activity 2.2.3: Expand the services provided by PPP. Further expansion of services includes Activity 2.2.3.1: Initiating an integrated ‘Herd health management’ approach in the health extension system to increase productivity and profitability, and Activity 2.2.3.2: Engaging the private sector to deliver herd health management extension services. Under this, RESTORE plans to introduce AI service through public-private partnership (PPP). This report is on the first step of the plan, which is capacity building of the private sector to effectively participate in AI services. 2 Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Objectives Goal • The overall objective is to expand the participation of private veterinary service providers supported by the RESTORE project and its predecessor, the Health of Ethiopian Animals and Rural Development (HEARD) project, in animal health services into areas that have so far been under the public-sector domain in Ethiopia. Specific objectives • To train and certify 22 private veterinary service providers in artificial insemination. • To provide basic AI equipment for 22 private veterinary service providers. • To design arrangements for AI service delivery by private service providers in partnership with the livestock development office from the regional bureau to the kebele level in the Amhara region. 3Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Approach for artificial insemination through public-private partnership Collaborators: The Amhara RESTORE and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)-led RESTORE project component will collaborate to implement the activity. The two partners have collaborated to implement the first phase of the activity, which is equipping the service providers with basic artificial insemination equipment and providing certified artificial insemination training. Private service providers: The private service providers participating in this activity are those who were supported by the Amhara HEARD project credit scheme to establish their veterinary drug stores/clinics and by the ILRI HEARD project to lease public kebele animal health posts to start their businesses in a PPP arrangement. AI service: The AI service will be provided by kebele-based service providers, either stationary at the clinic or mobile at the farm gate. PPP arrangements: The PPP arrangement is yet to be worked out. There could be a few alternatives: • The woreda livestock office provides liquid nitrogen and semen to the artificial insemination service provider at cost (cost sharing to be agreed). • The artificial insemination service providers provide the service at costs to be negotiated and revised periodically. • Woreda-kebele PPP committee for monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness of partnerships, service charges, quality etc. • Another alternative would be a private input supplier/provider for liquid nitrogen, semen. 4 Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Capacity development Basic artificial insemination equipment and artificial insemination training: To prepare private veterinary service providers for delivering effective artificial insemination service, the ILRI-led RESTORE project procured and supplied basic artificial insemination equipment and supplies shown in Tables 1 to private veterinary service providers. The Amhara RESTORE component arranged the training in collaboration with the Bahir Dar artificial insemination training centre and covered all training-related costs for 22 participants who showed up for the training. The training was held in Injebara town for 45 days from 23 January to 9 March 2025. The trainees were from 11 woredas. Gender composition of the trainees was 18 (82%) males and 4 females. The training had two parts: 10 days of theoretical and 35 days of practical training. The theoretical topics included: • Artificial insemination technique and semen handling • Reproductive anatomy and physiology of cattle • Cattle reproductive diseases and fertility • Pregnancy diagnosis • Principle of oestrous synchronization and its protocol • Field artificial insemination service organization, recording and management • Introduction to dairy cattle husbandry Table 1. Basic artificial insemination equipment supplied to private service providers Item Unit Unit price (ETB) Quantity Semen tank (liquid nitrogen container) Pcs 40,449 25 Insemination gun Pcs 540 25 Straw Pack 135 50 Sheath Pack 135 50 Gloves (Plastic, long-sleeved) Pack 162 25 Thermos Pcs 500 25 Thermometer Pcs 400 25 Graduation ceremony: The trainees were awarded certificates by Gashaw Muchae, head of the Amhara Region Livestock and Fishery Resource Development Office. During the graduation ceremony, RESTORE Technical Assistant Team coordinator Daresema Gulima, Bahir Dar artificial insemination centre director, Tirunehe Mossie, Amhara RESTORE coordinator, Wubet Sinshaw, and artificial insemination trainees representative, Nega Ewenetu, spoke at the event. 5Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Graduates’ reflections: • We need artificial insemination material support from the office and RESTORE project to do our work effectively. • For effective service delivery, we need motorcycles. • At the woreda level, the awareness of privatization is low, so the region should raise the awareness of woreda experts. • We need regular follow-up from the woreda and region. • The community in our working area needs extension for the AI service by private practitioners, so the government should support it. • We need a continuous supply of liquid nitrogen and semen. Amhara RESTORE Team artificially inseminating a cow (photo credit: ILRI). 6 Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Next steps • Designing PPP arrangements: • A series of consultations will be held with stakeholders and partners, including livestock keepers, private service providers, and the public sector, from the regional bureau to kebele offices. • Approval from the Livestock Bureau on the initiative to be obtained. • Alternative PPP arrangements to be identified and endorsed by partners. • Planning and implementation in Amhara. • Expanding the private veterinary service providers’ role: Introducing Activity 2.2.3.2: Engage the private sector to deliver herd health management extension services. • Introducing the artificial insemination PPP model in other RESTORE regions. 7Public-private partnership model for delivery of artificial insemination service: Report on the capacity building of private veterinary service providers Visibility For stakeholders’ active involvement and participation, awareness of the project objective is most important. To spread the understanding of the project objectives and activities to the main stakeholders and the target group, different visibility activities have been done. A banner for artificial insemination trainer graduation ceremony was also prepared as shown below. Banner prepared for artificial insemination trainer graduation ceremony (photo credit: ILRI/Solomon Gizaw). Restoration of Livestock Services in Conflict and Drought Affected Areas of Ethiopia (RESTORE) project is funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the implementing partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.