A group  in discussion at the 2015 innovation platform meeting in Ethiopia

In light of this week’s (22-23 March, 2016) second annual innovation platform (IP) meeting in Ethiopia, Solomon Abegaz of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) who is the co-principal investigator of the African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG) program in Ethiopia, highlights the importance of these meetings for the Ethiopia team.

The majority of poultry production in Ethiopia is by smallholders backyards using indigenous chickens and is characterized by low inputs and outputs. As a result, chicken productivity at the local smallholder level and at the national level is low.

There is a need for the system to transition to market oriented production. This requires the involvement of a large number of actors across the whole chicken value chain in the country. The ACGG program brings these stakeholders together once a year through the innovation platforms. These gatherings are critically important for the program’s implementation. They various stakeholders come together to:

• Analyze the smallholder chicken value chain
• Understand its challenges, opportunities and priority interventions
• Co-create solutions
• Agree on roles and responsibilities in transforming the smallholder chicken value chain
• Plan actions towards the common goal of an efficient value chain.

The agenda and objectives from the 2015 innovation platform meeting in Ethiopia

This second IP meeting will review the progress in the key areas that were identified during the first IP such as policy review, health, feed, poultry marketing and consumption, gender (women and youth), genotype identification and training material development.

We are looking forward to discussing the progress of the ACGG program with all the stakeholders in Ethiopia.

Read reports from the first annual ACGG IP meetings here.

Watch this blog for the report on the second annual IP.