Animal traction and the potential for use of dairy cows in the Ethiopian highlands

This paper presents and discusses the results of the IAR/ILRI (Institute of Agricultural Research/International Livestock Research Institute) Dairy-Draft Project study which was carried out to examine the performance of F1, Boran X Friesian crossbred cows both in terms of traction and milk, to examine the effects of crossbred dairy cows on food security, to quantify the economic returns of crossbred dairy cows on food security, to quantify the economic returns of crossbred dairy cows used for both traction and milk versus those used for milk production only, and to identify factors affecting the adoption of the crossbred cow technology on farm.