National Learning Alliance – Ethiopia

The Ethiopia National Learning Alliance (NLA) is hosted by the . The facilitation team is composed of experts from ILRI, and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Ethiopia NLA works closely with SAIRLA’s four research projects in Ethiopia to engage decision makers on SAI evidence and tools under the themes of;

1. SERVICES: Small holder farmers risk management

2. TRADE-OFFS: (i) Livestock-Environment, and (ii) Land management–Livelihoods

3. SERVICES: ICT for research and extension.

2019 activities include;

o        A market place event for agro-advisory ICT tools: hosted jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture and other partners that will showcase ICT decision making and advisory tools for the agricultural sector; link ICT providers, users, policy makers and investors; and inform public and private investment in this sector. For more information, see the event website

o       Hands on training and the opportunity to experience the practical applications of  tools developed by the SAIRLA research projects in Ethiopia;

•    The  participatory  SHARED tool – to increase understanding of and the quality of decisions relating to trade-offs between land management practices and livelihoods 
• The CLEANED tool – helping decision makers to better understand and manage the trade-offs between increasing livestock productivity and environmental impacts. 
• A Replicable Business Model for smallholder risk management 
• An experimental ICT application for better targeting of advisory services developed by the What works where for which farmer? project

The NLA is also working closely with the government, donors and the private sector to inform investment and policy making decisions with evidence on SAI. This includes;

o       Contributing SAI evidence and private sector perspectives to the development of the government of Ethiopia’s draft Livestock Feed Strategy

o       A series of learning events and visits to develop SAI principles in relation to the  supply chains for Ethiopia’s Agro-Industrial Parks and to raise awareness amongst senior decision makers of the SAI considerations relevant to the Parks.