Hello, who are you?

I am Taffese Mesfin, a veterinarian, who worked over 40 years in various livestock development projects. Since my retirement in 2000, I have been working as a consultant, pastoral adviser in NGO sector and in private business companies. I am interested in indigenous veterinary knowledge and documentation. I have written a book and some articles to preserve the knowledge before it gets lost as indigenous knowledge is mostly transferred orally.

What are your roles and responsibilities as National Innovation Facilitator?

I have been a national innovation facilitator for the Milk Demand Stimulation Campaign Niche/partnership in Addis Ababa. Being the manager of the Ethiopian Milk Processers Industry Association (EMPIA), I got the chance to join the niche. My responsibility is to coordinate and facilitate stakeholders training to strengthen functional capacity and bring the desired change. Depending on the availability of donors assistance, one important activity the niche is engaged in is the introduction of pilot school milk feeding in selected schools in Addis Ababa. The niche will continue its engagement with donors until the pilot school milk feeding is done.

What has CDAIS changed for you?

Before I came to know CDAIS in 2016, I was not aware that stakeholders’ involvement as a niche is an approach to tackle a problem as opposed to individual institution working in isolation. The trainings provided at the beginning to assess stakeholders’ capacity need using several tools such as Net map, timeline exercise, problem tree analysis, coaching plan, monitoring and evaluation and later communication skills, listening skills, and facilitation skills have broadened my thinking. The R and R workshop and the coaching plan exercise have also helped me a lot to easily communicate with donors at market place. Our reflection session has encouraged me to see things in a broader dimension. I have benefitted from the various trainings which have made a change in my judgment of situations in my daily routines.