November, 1995. Shortage of feed for livestock is a growing threat to farmers in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region. But Iraqi scientists, working in collaboration with ICARDA's Mashreq project, which is supported by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), UNDP and IFAD, seem to have found part of the answer. Now a major long-term project is starting which should feed two million sheep.
It's the use of feed blocks made from agro-industrial by-products which are locally available. These by-products can include rice bran, date pulp, poultry waste and whey, among others. The feed, which requires processing methods such as mixing, baking and pressing, can produce a useful source of supplementary feed for sheep. Moreover, the blocks are relatively easy to transport. Encouraging results from trials have led to the new Iraqi program. During the first three-year phase, which started this year, 18 new plants will be constructed in various provinces; each plant should produce at least 3000 tons of feed blocks annually.
"I am impressed with the progress Iraqi scientists and farmers have made with this technology," says Dr Nasri Haddad, who leads ICARDA's West Asia Regional Program (WARP) from Amman. "Sheep are an integral component of the farming system in the region. When we talk about feeding West Asia over the next quarter century, we're not just talking food; we're talking food and feed. And the implications of this project are not confined to Iraq. The Mashreq-Maghreb Project, as it now is, looks forward to helping other national programs take advantage of it.
"There are no magic solutions to anything, though. This technology has been field-tested with care. No one cried Eureka...It doesn't happen like that!"
The Iraqi experimental manufacture of feed blocks started in November 1992. Besides the ingredients mentioned above, tests were carried out with brewer's grain, wheat bran and corn gluten, amongst others. Urea was used as a nitrogen source.
In 1993 field trials began in the Mosul area in Iraq to establish the nutritional value of the feed blocks. These trials, held both on Government research stations and with commercial flocks, indicated that their use could lead to a reduction in barley grain and concentrate rations for feed of up to 50% - and maybe 100% in combination with stubble grazing. Moreover, body-weight gain was higher, resulting in an additional net return of 90 ID per ewe at 1993 pricesan extra profit of 67 ID per head.
These results convinced farmers that it was worth giving it a try; in fact, the Iraqis and the Mashreq Project made sure they knew about it. During 1993, several television programs, field days and leaflets extolled the virtues of feed blocks. And the Iraqi national team followed these up in the field. During 1993 consumption was 86 tons, with 42 farmers being regular users at the end of the year. At this time, the experimental plant's capacity was 1.5 tons a day.
The next steps were to increase production capacity on the one hand, and technology transfer on the other. With regard to the first, a private plant with a capacity of 4 tons/day opened in July 1994. Total production of the two plants during last year was 1043 tons. In the meantime, Iraq's national program developed a step-by-step mechanism for technology transfer. By June 1995, 3,152 tons of blocks had been distributed among 1356 sheep owners. Now, the new phase of construction and production is intended eventually to feed 2 million head. "It sounds ambitious, but look at the way the project has snowballed since 1993," says Dr Haddad.
ICARDA's Mashreq Project is itself expanding its activities. Phase 1 began in 1989, with a brief to improve barley, forage and sheep production in Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Funding was from AFESD and UNDP. The second phase began this year, and the project has now been extended to cover Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria as well; it is thus now known as the Maghreb/Mashreq Project. And it is still generously assisted by AFESD, although co-financing now comes from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
"The Maghreb/Mashreq project is, in fact, a good example of how ICARDA encourages the transfer of technology between one country and another," says Dr Haddad. "Now Syria and Jordan are looking at feed block technology as well, which is what we hoped would happen. Iraq's particular situation led to the development of this technology but there is no reason why it shouldn't be used elsewhere. With livestock numbers spiralling beyond the carrying capacity of the region's pasture and rangeland, causing increasing land degradation and loss of biodiversity, such developments can't come too soon."