In May and June 2013, LIVES regional and zonal teams in the four regions (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray) were busy, together with the public sector staff, prioritizing and aligning project interventions with the bureaus and agencies at regions, zones and districts. 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 assigned a LIVES focal person who will ensure rapport and working procedures for the implementation of the planned interventions. Therefore, the project will have 49 focal persons from the public sector. In all project sites, pilot PAs were selected according to mutually agreed upon criteria that included on ground validation. In addition, space for the LIVES Zonal Coordinators offices and knowledge centers were allocated during these consultations. 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
