Metema Pilot Learning Site diagnosis, program design and atlas

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) initiated a 5 year project in June 2004 with the financial assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The project, entitled: “Improving productivity and market success” (IPMS) of Ethiopian farmers, aims at contributing to a reduction in poverty of the rural poor through market oriented agricultural development. The IPMS project will assist by bringing knowledge on technologies generated by International and National Research Institutes as well as from other sources to the attention of the technology transfer agents and the farming community. It will also facilitate the feedback on these technologies. Such assistance will be provided to 10 pilot learning sites (PLS) across the country; Metema district is one of the 10 sites selected. To further enhance the utilization of such knowledge and the introduction of technologies, the IPMS project will also provide assistance to extension, input supply, marketing and finance institutions, including cooperatives. Such institutional support will be in the form of technical assistance, capacity building, supply of demonstration and training materials, some limited funds for innovative institutional arrangements and studies aimed at developing innovative institutional arrangements.