Youth groups

Formed with the objective of training youth on improved sheep fattening technologies and practices and entrepreneurial skills development, Youth groups were overseen by CBBP cooperatives and mentored by a champion farmer. Youth groups are further supported by Communities of Practice (CoP), which develop actionable ideas, knowledge, and policies to promote innovations in sheep fattening. CoPs are composed of researchers, key sheep value-chain actors, Government experts, and administrators. A total of 485 youth (287 male; 198 female) participated in 44 youth groups across 29 sub-villages, within 6 districts of the 2 regional states of Amhara and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR).

  • Free start-up package
  • Mentorship
  • Development of actionable ideas, knowledge and policies
  • Supported by CoPs

Shifting attitudes and mindsets towards a business-orientation is challenging; some youth are still at a stage in which they spend their earnings immediately without setting aside savings. This approach of creating an enabling environment for sheep fattening and providing start-up inputs to youth has demonstrated reproducibility across 29 sub-villages in Ethiopia. Legally organized groups also have better access to loans (for expansion of sheep fattening) from microfinance institutions, thus the formal registration of groups should be facilitated.