Towards a new framework to assess agri-food value chains' sustainability - The case of chestnut value chain.

Food systems rely on natural resources for production causing their depletion. Sustainability assessment can encourage farms and agri-food companies to improve sustainability performances. Sustainability assessment frameworks and tools differ in their purposes, scope, methods of application, and required time for execution; however, most of them do not fit with value chains, or they do not cover all sustainability dimensions. Our objective is to propose a holistic framework to assess sustainability at agri-food value chains level. The proposed framework combines the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA) (El Hage, 2012) [1] and The Agri-food Evaluation Framework (TEEB) [2]. It incorporates the concepts of Socio-Ecological Systems, Assemblage, and Social Practices. It integrates system dynamics by emphasising human and natural capital stocks and their users. We explain in detail the methodological steps we followed to construct and to apply this new framework to two case studies in Italy and France. The new framework was applied to real-life case studies and has shown its effectiveness and demonstrates its potential for widespread use in similar scenarios.

Understanding specific gender dynamics in the cowpea value chain for key traits to inform cowpea breeding programs in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Introduction: Cowpea is an important food and nutrition security crop in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania and it is mainly produced by women farmers mainly on a subsistence scale. The majority of these farmers use local varieties despite the availability of improved varieties in the region. Low acceptability and adoption of improved varieties have also hampered cowpea breeding efforts. The low adoption, especially among women farmers, has been attributed to the failure by breeding programs to involve farmers in the process of designing and developing improved varieties with a view to meeting their priorities and preferences. Despite women constituting the majority of cowpea farmers in these countries, no comprehensive gender analysis on cowpea value chain had been instituted to understand the traits that are gender and youth responsive and how to incorporate them in the product profiling so that the developed varieties benefit men, women and youth. The main objective of the gender study was, therefore, to identify preferred traits by different gender groups within the whole cowpea value chain to inform cowpea breeding programs in the three countries. Methods: The study employed quantitative and qualitative methods to elucidate preferences, including value chain mapping, a quantitative survey of farmers, focus group discussions and key informant interviews targeting farmers/consumers, traders, policymakers and processors. Results and discussion: Results showed that the top-ranking traits in order of importance across the countries and gender were; (1) high grain yield, (2) good grain taste, (3) early maturity time, (4) large grain size, (5) good leaf taste and (6) short cooking time. It was further noted that different gender groups preferred almost similar traits though minor variations were noted in terms of prioritization of these traits. These results have had two major influences on our cowpea breeding program: firstly, the breeding program changed the way it prioritizes traits to include ones that reflect the needs of men, women and the youth in the cowpea value chain. Secondly, our breeding objectives are closely aligned to gender differences in the target population of farmers and other users, by incorporating key priority traits that address the needs of both men and women, including the youth. That is to say, product targets and specific product profiles are more gender sensitive. Since the breeding work is ongoing, the expectation is that the development of improved varieties resulting from this gender sensitive process will translate into higher adoption levels of these varieties (compared with previous releases), which might have ripple effects on food, nutrition and income security in the region.

Confronting Views of Companies and Authorities on Food Safety Issues-A Cross-Country Survey.

This study investigated food safety issues as perceived by food companies and food safety authorities in six countries in Europe and Central Asia. A total of 66 companies and 16 authorities participated in the survey. The results provide important insights related to what the main food safety priorities are, how they are addressed in the countries that participated in the survey, and what the role of the main stakeholders is in the food value chain. Almost 50% of food companies identified 'food fraud' as the most influential food safety attribute. One-third of food safety authorities recognized 'food safety management system' as the most influential food safety attribute. Principal component analysis separated food safety statements into two dimensions named 'food safety hazards and risks' and 'food safety system'. Although there are slight differences in food safety statements between the two stakeholders, i.e., food companies and food safety authorities, it is the country of origin that plays a more important role in understanding their views. Food companies will need to implement a systemic approach and transform the entire food value chain continuum while considering new food safety challenges. It is expected that food safety authorities will have to play a more proactive role in the future.

The factors affecting the development of medicinal plants from a value chain perspective.

MAIN CONCLUSION: From a value chain perspective, this paper examines the important factors from the selection of planting areas to storage, which restrict the development of medicinal plants. The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical basis for the sustainable development of medicinal plants. Medicinal plants have significant economic and medicinal value. Due to the gradual depletion of wild medicinal plant resources, cultivators of medicinal plants must resort to artificial cultivation to cope. However, there are still many problems in the production process of medicinal plants, resulting in decreases in both yield and quality, thus hindering sustainable development. To date, research on the value chain of medicinal plants is still limited. Therefore, this paper analyzes the factors affecting the development of medicinal plants from the perspective of the value chain, including the selection of growing areas to the storage process of medicinal plants, and summarizes the challenges faced in the production process of medicinal plants. The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical basis for the sustainable development of medicinal plants.

Knowledge and practices related to antibiotics among poultry producers and veterinarians in two Indian states.

Background: Antibiotics are frequently utilized in livestock, particularly poultry, for therapy and growth promotion, resulting in antimicrobial resistance. Multidrug-resistant bacteria are frequent in poultry samples from India. The purpose of this study was to better understand main antibiotic consumption patterns in poultry value chains, as well as antibiotic knowledge and practices among the stakeholders. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Assam and Karnataka, India. The poultry farmers were interviewed on antibiotic usage, antibiotic knowledge, feeding practices, and preventive measures on the farm. Poultry farmers reported their veterinarians, and we also interviewed them on knowledge and practices related to antimicrobial use in poultry and antimicrobial resistance. Item response theory (IRT) was used to assess the association between the answers and demographic factors. Results: This survey interviewed 62 poultry farmers and 11 veterinarians. Small poultry farms with fewer than 4000 birds were owned by 51.6% of farmers. Most poultry farmers had heard about antibiotics, and 62.9% thought they cured all diseases. If one chicken is sick, 72.6% said others should be given antibiotics to prevent the disease. All veterinarians utilized tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, and cephalexin on the poultry farms. Over half (54.5%) stated antibiotics prevent diseases, and 72.7% said they treat and prevent diseases. Some (45.5%) said antibiotics boost growth. IRT analysis showed that 8 questions assessed a knowledge scale well. Univariable analysis showed that Assam farmers and women were likely to have have more knowledge. Conclusion: The poultry farmers were mostly unaware of the relation between antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance. Despite being aware, the veterinarians agreed with use antibiotics as a prophylactic measure. It is vital that these stakeholders understand the repercussions of such widespread antibiotic use. In order to increase knowledge, frequent trainings and antimicrobial stewardship programmes with effective communication and incentives for behaviour change should be conducted.

Assessing global good agricultural practices standard adoption: insights from fruit and vegetable farmers in Pakistan.

This study examines the challenges Pakistani farmers face in adopting global good agricultural practices (GGAP) and highlights the limitations in infrastructure and cost-based clauses. A questionnaire based on GGAP's fruit and vegetable module version 5.0 was developed and validated by the Department of Environmental Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad. This was a survey-based study of 15 farmers divided into 5 groups according to their annual farm turnover. The findings of the study indicated that, although the basic paperwork requirements of GGAP were implementable, clauses related to capital investment and technical record-keeping were not. Results showed that 90-100% of farmers considered risk assessments, training, and documentation on their farms. However, 42-56% of clauses related to record-keeping, installation, visual presentation, and infrastructure development, and 24-37% of clauses related to external testing, health, safety, and hygiene were declared not implementable. The study revealed a need for adapting GGAP standards to Pakistan's unique agricultural conditions, suggesting the development of localized standards for more practical implementation. The study's findings highlight crucial insights for policymakers and stakeholders in the agriculture sector and suggest the need for target strategies to overcome implementation barriers and optimize the adaptation of Global GAP in Pakistan that would help to increase exports of agricultural commodities.

Animal board invited review: Improving animal health and welfare in the transition of livestock farming systems: Towards social acceptability and sustainability.

The need to integrate more clearly societal expectations on livestock farming has led the authors of this article to consider that livestock farming systems must be redesigned to position health and welfare at the heart of their objectives. This article proposes a vision of the advances in knowledge required at different scales to contribute to this transformation. After defining health and welfare of animals, the article emphasises the need to consider health in a broader perspective, to deepen the question of positive emotional experiences regarding welfare, and raises the question of how to assess these two elements on farms. The positive interactions between health and welfare are presented. Some possible tensions between them are also discussed, in particular when improving welfare by providing a more stimulating and richer environment such as access to outdoor increases the risk of infectious diseases. Jointly improving health and welfare of animals poses a number of questions at various scales, from the animal level to the production chain. At the animal level, the authors highlight the need to explore: the long-term links between better welfare and physiological balance, the role of microbiota, the psycho-neuro-endocrine mechanisms linking positive mental state and health, and the trade-off between the physiological functions of production, reproduction and immunity. At the farm level, in addition to studying the relationships at the group level between welfare, health and production, the paper supports the idea of co-constructing innovative systems with livestock farmers, as well as analysing the cost, acceptability and impact of improved systems on their working conditions and well-being. At the production chain or territory levels, various questions are raised. These include studying the best strategies to improve animal health and welfare while preserving economic viability, the labelling of products and the consumers' willingness to pay, the consequences of heterogeneity in animal traits on the processing of animal products, and the spatial distribution of livestock farming and the organisation of the production and value chain. At the level of the citizen and consumer, one of the challenges is to better inter-relate sanitary and health perspectives on the one hand, and welfare concerns on the other hand. There is also a need to improve citizens' knowledge on livestock farming, and to develop more intense and constructive exchanges between livestock farmers, the livestock industry and citizens. These difficult issues plead for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research involving various scientific disciplines and the different stakeholders, including public policy makers through participatory research.

Precursory elements of safety culture: Exploratory analyses of engineering students' safety attitudes.

INTRODUCTION: Safety culture as a concept has been well-researched in the literature. There is less work, however, on how individuals entering the workforce acquire and partake in safety culture over time and how they might be primed to partake in the positive elements of safety culture. METHOD: We begin this exploration by surveying engineering students' attitudes toward safety and experiences with safety education at the Georgia Institute of Technology (n = 316). RESULTS: We find disparities among engineering disciplines, where some majors have more negative views toward safety than others. This may point to the need for more [effective] safety education to prevent negative attitudes toward safety in the workplace. In addition to describing trends among engineering students' attitudes, this study also uses factor analysis to characterize the latent constructs of precursory safety culture: the safety-related attitudes that may direct how people engage with safety culture as early-career engineers. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The analysis provides a conceptual construction of precursor safety culture attitudes, which can serve as a guide to future measurement efforts.

- Invited Review - Pig production in Africa: current status, challenges, prospects and opportunities.

Pig production is one of the viable enterprises of the livestock sub-sector of agriculture. It contributes significantly to the economy and animal protein supply to enhance food security in Africa and globally. This article explored the present status of pig production in Africa, the challenges, prospects and potentials. The pig population of Africa represents 4.6% of the global pig population. They are widely distributed across Africa except in Northern Africa where pig production is not popular due to religio-cultural reasons. They are mostly reared in rural parts of Africa by smallholder farmers, informing why majority of the pig population in most parts of Africa are indigenous breeds and their crosses. Pig plays important roles in the sustenance of livelihood in the rural communities and have cultural and social significance. The pig production system in Africa is predominantly traditional, but rapidly growing and transforming into the modern system. The annual pork production in Africa has grown from less than a million tonnes in year 2000 to over 2 million tonnes in 2021. Incidence of disease outbreak, especially African swine fever is one of the main constraints affecting pig production in Africa. Others are lack of skills and technical know-how, high ambient temperature, limited access to high-quality breeds, high cost of feed ingredients and veterinary inputs, unfriendly government policies, religious and cultural bias, inadequate processing facilities as well as under-developed value-chain. The projected human population of 2.5 billion in Africa by 2050, increasing urbanization and decreasing farming population are pointers to the need for increased food production. The production systems of pigs in Africa requires developmental research, improvements in housing, feed production and manufacturing, animal health, processing, capacity building and pig friendly policies for improved productivity and facilitation of export.

The Transformative Impact of Community-Led Monitoring in the South African Health System: A Comprehensive Analysis.

Objectives: Community-led monitoring (CLM) is an emerging approach that empowers local communities to actively participate in data collection and decision-making processes within the health system. The research aimed to explore stakeholder perceptions of CLM data and establish a CLM Data Value Chain, covering data collection and its impact. Methods: Qualitative data were collected from stakeholders engaged in health programs in South Africa. Data analysis involved a collaborative workshop that integrated elements of affinity diagramming, thematic analysis, and the systematic coding process outlined in Giorgi's method. The workshop fostered joint identification, co-creation of knowledge, and collaborative analysis in developing the data value chain. Results: The findings showed that CLM data enabled community-level analysis, fostering program advocacy and local collaboration. It enhanced program redesign, operational efficiency, and rapid response capabilities. Context-specific solutions emerged through the CLM Data Value Chain, promoting sustainable and efficient program implementation. Conclusion: CLM is a powerful tool for improving program implementation, quality, and advocacy in South African healthcare. It strengthens accountability, trust, and transparency by involving local communities in data-driven decision-making. CLM addresses context-specific challenges and tailors interventions to local needs.

System Mapping of the Production and Value Chain to Explore Beekeeping Potential in Southwest Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has a high potential for the production of honey and other apiary products due to its ideal agroecology. This potential is, however, not yet well utilized due to weak production and valorization systems. The study analyzed beekeeping systems and their honey value chain to detect the barriers and to explore ways to better exploit the existing potential. Descriptive statistics, a SWOT and PESTEL matrix, and system mapping were utilized for analysis. Ethiopian beekeeping is still dominated by traditional production systems, followed by modern and transitional systems, differing in types of beehives and the average amount of honey yield. The combined SWOT-PESTEL analysis revealed challenges like a limited supply and high cost of modern beehives, shortage of credit, absence of a honey marketing legal framework, pest and predator attacks, absconding, and uncontrolled application of agrochemicals. Opportunities include the globally increasing demand for honey, availability of good investment policy, conducive agroecology, and support from NGOs. The less productive techniques of smallholder beekeepers' crude honey production for local beverage making affected the good use of the potential and minimized its contribution to the local and national economy. On the contrary, strengthening private investors and cooperatives towards the production of fully and semi-processed honey impacted the utilization of the potential positively.

Assessment of factors influencing adoption of postharvest loss reduction practices along the mango value chain in Embu, Machakos, and Nairobi counties, Kenya.

Use of loss reduction practices are critical to ensuring losses are reduced significantly along the value chain. This necessitates for the need to assess the factors that influence adoption of the loss reductio practices to have better targeting and development. Therefore, the current study assessed the factors that influence adoption, and multistage sampling technique was employed. The counties and the sub-counties were purposively selected, and the mapping began from Nairobi which is the main market for mangoes. Wholesalers, and retailers were interviewed making use of snowballing, while farmers were randomly selected. A total of 70 farmers were selected, 74 wholesalers, and 98 retailers were sampled. From the study, at the farm level results revealed that about 38.7 % of the farmer respondents prefer use of stick and bag. On the other hand, about 37.1 % of farmers in Machakos had preference of hand picking as the main method of harvesting. Wholesaler preferred the use of cartons in Nairobi, while those in Embu and Machakos had higher preference of use of shades. Result from the empirical model showed that credit was a critical factor to use of the practices at the farm with a 40 % influence on use of multiple practices. Experiencing higher losses influenced adoption of the practices by 4.3 %, and would influence use of multiple practices by 19.2 %. Organized selling was the critical factor for wholesalers and influenced adoption by 43.4 %. Retailers in Embu and Machakos on the other hand, were 19.9 % less likely to take up the practices. The results further showed that higher PHL influence retailer to take up loss reduction practices by 30.2 %, and those that were more experience were 20 % more likely to take up the practices. From the result it was thus concluded that cost effectiveness, ability to reduce losses, and increase of incomes were some of the things actors were interested with before they could take up any loss reduction practice. Through the study it was evident that high PHL less to higher use of the practices, and also positively influence the intensity of use of the practices. It was thus recommended that there is need for upgrading the current low-cost technologies to make them more user friendly so that they are not time-wasting during harvest, and for the traders they are able to carry optimal quantities that lead to profit maximization.

Evaluation of interventions to improve markets for rural dairy households of Ethiopia: Evidence through system dynamics approach.

There is a growing consensus that improving market access for smallholder farmers will help them earn more income and enhance food security. In this respect, we employed system dynamics approach to evaluate interventions to expand market access for the traditional system dairy producers in West Shewa zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. Investment by dairy cooperatives in milk collection capacity and/or raising the price of milk for producers are the interventions identified in the study. These interventions were assessed ex-ante for impacts on (1) milk collection and dairy enterprise balance for dairy cooperatives and (2) milk production and profitability of dairying for producers. Analysis results show that compared to the baseline, the interventions can increase milk production by 17 to 57 %, milk collection by 24- to 43-fold, dairy household's profit by 11- to 21-fold, and cooperatives' dairy enterprise balance by 27- to 55-fold. In the long-term, both dairy cooperatives and producers are better off under market access improvement than under market access with higher milk price for producers. The findings suggest that continued improvement in market access for the traditional dairy farmers in Ethiopia is necessary to sustain higher gains in milk production, milk marketed, and income from dairying.

Environmental regulation, technology density, and green technology innovation efficiency.

From the perspective of the innovation value chain, this study divides the innovation efficiency of green technology into two stages: R&D efficiency and achievement transformation efficiency. Technology density is introduced as a threshold variable to examine the influence of environmental regulation on the efficiency of green technology innovation at both stages. The findings reveal that China's overall green technology innovation efficiency (GTIE) is improving. R&D efficiency initially declined, then increased, while the efficiency of achievement transformation experienced a three-stage pattern: rise-fall-rise. The GTIE distribution across the two stages progressively increases from the northwest to the southeast, resulting in a concentrated, contiguous "line-shaped" and "block-shaped" pattern. High-efficiency areas are primarily found in the eastern coastal regions. Nationally, Environmental regulation and R&D efficiency share an inverted U-shaped relationship, with a double threshold effect of technology density. Environmental regulation does not significantly affect achievement transformation efficiency, but there is a single threshold effect due to technology density.

Evolution of global value-added trade networks and response to risk transmission.

To enhance the international division of labor of developing countries and scientifically respond to the risks and conflicts in the network system, it is important to examine the evolutionary characteristics of the global value-added trade network, simulate the impact of risk shocks, and propose corresponding measures. Based on UNCTAD-Eora value-added trade data, this paper measured and evaluated the evolution characteristics of the global value-added trade network from 2003 to 2018 using the social network analysis and value-added decomposition methods. Then we analyze the impact of risk shocks on the evolution of the trade network using the bootstrap percolation model, building global trade networks and proposing countermeasures. The results show that the global value-added trade network has formed a complex structure and structurally stable distribution pattern, with Germany, China, and the U.S. as the core and the most crucial supports. Among which, China's core position is mainly due to the rapid rise in its export center status. The trade benefits of the three core countries are both competitive and complementary along the "One Belt and One Road". Furthermore, simulations of bootstrap percolation model reveals that the adoption of trade protection policies (caused by poor institutional quality) by different countries will spread and diffuse non-linearly in the network, and the impacts triggered by low-centered countries are comparatively more widespread. By improving defense capabilities and changing the network structure, the "cascading" impacts of trade policy uncertainty can be reduced.

Gaps between needs of patient and public involvement and interests of researchers on pancreatic cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Identify whether there were gaps between needs of end-users and interests of researchers focusing on pancreatic cancer. METHODS: A questionnaire for end-users (patients, close family, others) and researchers was developed to measure value from the perspective of different stakeholder groups. Two separate literature analyses were conducted to assess the prevalence and impact of patient and public involvement (PPI). RESULTS: Significant gaps were found between end-users and researchers in valuing basic research (15 vs 25 points, p = 0.005) and treatment (36 vs. 26 points, p = 0.015), but not in early diagnosis, risk factors, or quality of life. PPI was absent from the top 100 cited publications on pancreatic cancer research and was featured in 0.1% of all studies within the field. CONCLUSIONS: Gaps existed between needs of end-users and interests of researchers on basic research and treatment. PPI constituted an insignificant part of the overall pancreatic cancer research literature and had negligible impact in terms of citations. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: To help close the gaps, PPI should be incorporated throughout the research process. The impact of PPI can be enhanced by prestigious journals in consideration of journal policies and encouragements and by dissemination at academic conferences.

Impact of global value chain embedding on decoupling between China's CO2 emissions and economic growth: Based on Tapio decoupling and structural decomposition.

With the increasing fragmentation of global production, China's participation in cross-border production sharing activities has had a considerable impact on the nation's economy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This study applied the Tapio model to quantitatively evaluate the decoupling between CO2 emissions and economic growth in China, dividing the decoupling index based on global value chains (GVCs) and domestic production within the IO framework, and introducing structural decomposition analysis (SDA) to analyze the GVC-related factors to the decoupling. The relevant research results are fourfold. (1) From 2000 to 2018, China achieved weak decoupling between emissions and economic growth. Domestic and GVC effects each had a negative impact on the decoupling; however, after 2008, the GVC effect had a promotional effect and the negative domestic effect declined. (2) Emission intensity was the primary factor promoting decoupling through domestic and GVC effects, while the scale of final demand was the main hindrance. And the negative effects of GVC-related factors declined following the economic crisis. (3) The regional and sectoral structures of GVC production (58.44 % and 56.08 %) had promotional roles in the changes in GVC effects, while GVC production linkages (-20.19 %) had hindering effects. Various factors contributed to the hindering effect from the 2008 to 2011 index, whereas from the 2011 to 2018 index, all factors contributed to the promotional effect. (4) From 2000 to 2018, the average annual global value chain effect promoted the low-carbon development of China's labor-intensive and knowledge-based manufacturing. In order for GVCs to play a positive role in decoupling, China should promote trade facilitation through international platforms, support the advancement of production technology, reasonably guide China's industries to participate in the regional and industrial links of GVCs, and develop strategic emerging industries.

Managing open loop water resource value chain through IoT focused decision and information integration (DII) modelling using fuzzy MCDM approach.

Water is a limited and invaluable resource that is essential for human survival. Negligence and unregulated water use have brought about a global water crisis. Proper management with a relevant decision and information integration approach can aid water to continue as a renewable resource. The water and wastewater industry must shift from outmoded, inefficient techniques to more sustainable, data-driven solutions to address water concerns and improve public health. The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as an innovative strategy for decision and information integration to drive an open-loop Water Value Chain (WVC) efficiently. The IoT-driven network allows objects to connect and communicate, gather data in real-time, analyze data and develop reasonable decision - making insights instantaneously. This study aims to find the enablers of IoT for an open-loop WVC. It examines 25 factors for IoT implementation in the open-loop WVC. The 25 factors are clustered into seven enablers using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). These principal components are analyzed by employing a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach, i.e., the Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), which helps to find the cause-effect relationship to prioritize the enablers. The fuzzy set theory is used to address the uncertainty and vagueness in experts' opinions and data deficiency problems. The study reveals that the Ecosystem of an IoT network, IoT network configuration and adaptation and data mobility in an IoT network are the most prominent enablers to consider for the implementation of IoT in an open loop WVC. The study may be helpful for regulatory agencies and enterprises in water distribution and processing for identifying and prioritizing the potential enablers of IoT in an open-loop WVC.

Exploring policy options to transform traditional dairy system in Ethiopia: A system dynamics approach.

Despite having a larger herd size and a favourable climate, Ethiopia generally lags behind developing nations in terms of both production and consumption of dairy products. For the purpose of finding and assessing ways to increase milk production by the traditional dairy system in Ethiopia's West Shewa zone, we integrated system dynamics (SD) modelling with a participatory model building approach. The main objective of the research was to develop SD model for West Shewa dairy value chain and apply it to assess ex-ante milk production and dairy household profit impacts of various interventions. The interventions evaluated in the study include enhanced urea treatment of crops residue, increased production of improved feed, and investment in more dairy cows. Analysis reveals that policies targeting feed development can boost milk production and household profits above the baseline. They also lead to a higher seasonal variability in milk production. Through the feed development strategy producers can achieve a 70 % and 735 % increase in milk production and household profit, respectively. However, the implementation of improved feed policy still leaves a gap in the average feed protein requirement of a dairy cattle in the study area. On the other hand, policy of increasing cow herd is not profitable. In addition, improved feed policy in drought results in reduced herd size, yet it leads to a higher milk output and household profit. Hence, with the feed development options explored in this study, increasing herd size is not a recommended course of action for improvement of the West Shewa dairy value chain. Therefore, future research should explore for further enhancement of the supply as well as quality of feed resources and the potential of investment in improved breeds.