The role of intermediaries in innovation response capacity development: The case of livestock in Ethiopia
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Keskin, Ekin
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Abstract
Ethiopia has one of the largest livestock populations in Africa. However, the volume of its
livestock and red meat exports is surprisingly low. Increasing the volume of exports has
important implications not just for the private sector but also for livelihoods of the poor. This task
is becoming increasingly difficult with each passing day, given rising awareness of the global
outbreak of diseases and the ever-increasing quality and safety concerns of consumers all around
the world. This paper addresses this shortcoming by analyzing three different projects - dealing
with different livestock-related challenges - which are geared to increase the volume of
livestock exports from Ethiopia. It then explores the process of intermediation in the development
of innovation response capacity. The first project, titled the GL-CRSP Pastoral Risk Management
Project (PARIMA), focuses on creating missing linkages between pastoralists and the private
sector. It was initiated at a time when the rapid development of a private export industry
depended on the supply of small ruminants - a requirement that the private sector was unable to
fulfill because of a poorly-functioning livestock value chain. The second project, Pastoralist
Livelihoods Initiative (PLI), was able to successfully achieve livelihoods objectives in the later
stages of a drought. This paper examines how the project, by involving different stakeholders,
was able to raise awareness of the importance of creating a positive linkage between livestock
exporters and pastoralists during a drought. The third project, USAID SPS LMM, is focused on
improving Ethiopia's capacity and competitive advantage for meat and livestock exports. The
paper provides an account of how this project stepped in during a ban on livestock exports from
Ethiopia, due to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), by Egypt, the country's one of the largest
importers. The findings of this study clearly show how indispensable the intermediaries are for
innovation response capacity; in assisting and linking different stakeholders (companies,
pastoralists, etc.) in accessing knowle dge and other sources to overcome different challenges.
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Date
2008-09
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