Training Ethiopian professors
Record keeping, management and financial calculations.In the context of development cooperation, the Dutch government wants to boost the poultry sector in Ethiopia through knowledge transfer.
DLV Consultancy advisor Harm van der Zanden spent a week training ten professors from five Ethiopian universities. The training course consisted of various parts, including:
1. Record keeping
Recording data on how much feed is fed, how many eggs are laid per day, and how many animals die in a specific period provides a lot of useful information on the farm’s strengths and weaknesses. Recording this data over a long period of time enables the progress of the results to be properly monitored. The students are about to start collecting this data on several farms. The data will be used to develop a benchmark which farmers can use to measure their performance against that of other farms and develop their businesses.
2. Management
On these training courses, the DLV advisors used their in-depth livestock expertise to translate the farms’ numbers into management data and financial results.
3. Financial calculations
The professors made balance calculations, cost price calculations and long-term budgets, based on estimated technical results. DLV Consultancy has developed a program for them that simplifies this process. This program will be used as a teaching resource by the universities. Operating results and plans can then be evaluated on the basis of numbers and used to support the decision-making process.