Araya red meat production and marketing Common Interest Group

Araya Red Meat Production Common Interest Group (CIG) members are from the same locations and all are neighbors living together by relying on subsistence level crop and livestock production. By aiming to change their lives, they have organized in a group using CIG establishment guideline that guides them work and benefit collectively. During establishment, the members have contributed and saved more than 34,000 birr that was paid as registration fee and share. By having these savings, they applied to the LFSDP project in order to get additional support and solve the problem related to initial capital to enter into red meat production and marketing activity.

It is known that the Assosa district is suitable for small ruminant fattening in general and K25 kebele has all favorable circumstances that are conducive for sheep and goat’s production. However, the shortage of capital and lack of awareness in producing livestock as businesses make them unproductive and stayed ideal after completing cultivation on their small plots of cropland. After the intervention of the LFSDP project, they have started working using the opportunity. Thus, after identifying the gaps that affected their productivity, they prepared a business plan by getting technical support from Kebele extension workers. Their business plan was approved by the woreda appraisal and approval committee and entered into the business by getting 100,000-birr support as an entry point and 34,000 birr contributed from their own source as leverage so that they have started working by investing birr 134,000 initial capital.  

Activities performed based on the prepared business plan:

• C onstructed small ruminant house accommodating 30 sheep at a time having inside and outside feeding troughs. A total cost of the house is calculated to be ETB 68,077. 00

• Procured equipment for 1,000 birr

• Procured inputs including sheep by 64977 birr

• Cultivated forage by getting improved forage seed support from Assosa LFSDP office
• Prepared sufficient roughage feed and procured concentrate and provided as supplementary feed..

• 
• K ept 30 sheep on good feeding plane and increased daily weight gain, which in turn, increase the final weight of sheep.

  Figure 1 Internal Feeding trough

  Figure 2 Best Performing Sheep

• Contributed their labor in all routine activities to increase sense of ownership and maximize profit.

Financial performance

Araya Red Meat Production and Marketing Common Interest Group has earnt 24,000 net profit from one round operation. Currently, the group has 88,408.75 ETB in the bank, and they have motivated by the result of one round operation so that they assured as it is viable and planned to expand the business and grow up to intermediate (2^nd level). They agreed to renovate and extend the existing small ruminant house to increase its capacity to accommodate 300 sheep at a time and keep in a proper way of feeding to maximize profit.

Figure 4 Revenue voucher

Figure 3 Payment voucher

Moreover, Araya Small Ruminant Production and Marketing CIG is an exemplary by having good financial recording system, which is critically important to avoid poor financial control and increase trust among the members

Figure 5 Concentrate feed as supplementation

Similarly, the group has received watering trough, reservoir, wheelbarrow, and barrel as equipment