Pastoral populations of sub-Saharan Africa are particularly vulnerable to losses in wealth and productive assets via herdmortality shocks. Although conventional insurance mechanisms covering individual losses are not cost effective in low income extensive grazing pastoral communities, index insurance for livestock offers a promising alternative.

The study was conducted in Bure District of the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) with objectives of characterizing the milk production & marketing systems and evaluating the effect of feed supplementation on milk yield & milk composition of local cows. A single-visitmultiple- subject survey was used to collect data on milk production & marketing systems. A total of 181 milk households were individually interviewed.

A study on characterization of cattle milk and meat production, processing and marketing system was conducted in Metema district based on data collected between September and October, 2006. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select representative kebles and households from CBFS, SBFS and Gendawuha town. A total of 270 households were randomly selected using systematic random sampling method.

Amhara Region

This report contains information on a rapid field assessment of Boran pastoralists of southern
Ethiopia to: (1) gauge local communities’ perceptions of the need for local climate change
adaptation strategies and their degree of satisfaction with existing interventions; (2) identify
emerging climate risk adaptation strategies; and (3) evaluate how existing and new strategies
including efforts by non-governmental organizations and the Ethiopian government might
complement or be compromised by index-based livestock insurance (IBLI).

Cooperatives play crucial roles in economic and social development of both men and women. The study was conducted to determine the participation of sheep farmers in sheep fattening cooperatives (SFC) in four regional states of Ethiopia with a special focus on women.

The study was carried out in Metema Woreda of Amhara National Regional State. The objectives of the study were to describe the goat production systems in the study area and to identify major constraints and opportunities of goat productivity; to evaluate the effect of supplementation with different protein sources on live weight gain of grazing goats under farmers management and to evaluate the economic feasibility of the feeding system under farmers condition.