The CSIR-STEPRI, in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Bio-economy Research (NIBIO), Technical University of Madrid (UPM) of Spain, Institute of Food Technology (ITA) of Senegal, and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), organized a two-day Participatory Livestock and Poultry Value Chain Analysis Workshop under the LEAP-AGRI SPEAR Project in Accra. The workshop was organized as part of activities of the “Empowering small-scale farmers (SPEAR): towards the SDGs through participative, innovative and sustainable livestock and poultry value chains (LPVC)” project. SPEAR is one of the projects being funded under the LEAP-AGRI ERA-Net.
The overall objective of SPEAR is to improve the livelihoods of small-scale livestock and poultry farmers by improving the productivity and quality of local livestock and poultry value chains (LPVCs) in Senegal, Ghana, and Kenya through research (e.g., identifying constraints and opportunities for sustainable production and consumption) and innovation (e.g., insect meals as an animal feed and new livestock and poultry-based products with long shelf life) that will contribute to policy. SPEAR is mainly articulated around five work packages: (i) Management and Coordination Platform; (ii) Investigation of constraints and opportunities for improving productivity and quality of local LPVCs; (iii) Development of participatory value chain modelling framework; (iv) Participatory research on LPVCs – “from the lab to the mud” focusing on developing low cost- and nutrient-rich food supplements from local cereals and insects and new livestock and poultry-based products, and (v) Outreach and Learning to enhance innovation capacity.
Stakeholders at the workshop comprised input dealers, poultry and livestock producers, processors, retailers, livestock marketers, meat consumers, and researchers, Together, they collectively co-defined the challenges that SPEAR needs to respond to and design ways forward while exchanging experiences and knowledge between Ghana and Senegal researchers on protein-based feed improvements for livestock and poultry feeding.
On the first day, 4 presentations by the research team members of Ghana, Norway, Senegal, and Spain preceded breakout sessions with the participants. The first presentation was on a review of the literature review discussing a livestock and poultry value chain analysis for Ghana. The second presentation was on livestock and poultry technologies developed by the CSIR-Animal Research Institute of Ghana. The third presentation was given by the Food Technology Institute of Senegal on the state of livestock breeding in Senegal. The fourth presentation was on laying the foundation for building a value chain map in a participatory way. The second part of Day 1 saw the participants going into two groups to interact and discuss matters relating to the quality of livestock feed with respect to defining the situation in a broader sense.
Day two started with a recap of the activities of Day 1. This was followed by an interaction with stakeholders to identify the different way of understanding the situation. Then there was a second interaction Day two came to a close after discussion among stakeholders to understanding the values of the situation.
In closing the workshop, Drs. Wilhemina Quaye and Giovanna Ottaviani Aalmo thanked the participants for good participation and for providing useful insights to inform the SPEAR project.
Main results from the workshop so far point out at policy regulations supporting the local market, increased awareness of consumers, and improved quality of poultry feed as the main levers for change that need to be further explored under the SPEAR project.