In May and June 2013, LIVES regional and zonal teams in the four regions (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray) were busy, together with public sector staff, prioritizing and aligning project interventions with the bureaus and agencies at region, zone and district levels. As a result, the regional team identified and aligned action plans and assigned responsibilities to kick off value chain interventions in selected priority areas and commodities. Furthermore, many of the sites have an assigned LIVES focal person to ensure rapport and working procedures for implementation of the planned interventions. The project expects to have 49 such focal persons from the public sector. In all project sites, pilot project areas (Pas) were selected according to mutually agreed upon criteria that included on the ground validation. In addition, space for the LIVES Zonal Coordinators offices and knowledge centers were provided. In all the consultations, the innovative participatory approach and focus of LIVES to contribute to commercialization of livestock and irrigated agriculture value chains was appreciated by the partners.
Contributed by LIVES regional team
