The purpose of the project "Increasing livestock productivity in mixed crop-livestock systems in South Asia" is to develop a crop-livestock typology that will ultimately improve the effectiveness of technical and socio-economic interventions aimed at improving animal performance and protecting the natural resource base at farm level in South Asia.

Climate related shocks are among the leading cause of production and efficiency losses in smallholder crop and livestock production in rural Africa. Consequently, the identification of tools to help manage the risks associated with climactic extremities is increasingly considered to be amongst the key pillars of any agenda to enhance agricultural growth and welfare in rural Africa.

Livestock production in Ethiopia has, for long, remained subsistence with limited market-orientation and poor institutional support. Farmers and pastoralists produce and keep animals for various valid reasons, with little market-orientation. However, producing for the market requires re-orientation of the production system and development of a knowledge based and responsive institutional support services.

Climate related shocks are among the leading cause of

production and efficiency losses in smallholder crop and

livestock production in rural Africa. Consequently, the

identification of tools to help manage the risks associated

with climactic extremities is increasingly considered to be

among the key pillars of any agenda to enhance agricultural

growth and welfare in rural Africa. This paper describes the

application of a promising innovation in insurance design –

index-based insurance – that seeks to bring the benefits of