From Courtroom Dreams to the Farmyard
In Aleltu, Oromia Region, Ethiopia, where agriculture remains the mainstay of rural livelihoods, few young people dream of becoming dairy farmers. For 22-year-old Biruk Tesfaye, the ambition was far from the farm. As a child, he idolized courtroom lawyers, drawn to their crisp suits and commanding presence. His dream was to study law and make a name for himself in the city. But, constrained by financial realities and limited access to education, Biruk took an unexpected path, one that would ultimately reshape not only his future but his community’s perception of youth in agriculture.
Before the intervention of the Oromia Dairy Farmers’ Bounty Project (ODFBP), implemented by Solidaridad and funded by the World Bank, Biruk’s family owned 18 cattle, including nine local-breed dairy cows. Daily milk yields averaged just 2.5 litres per cow, generating a modest monthly income of ETB 11,520 (~ 60 euros). Without access to cold storage, up to 15% of their milk spoiled daily, further eroding their earnings and undermining confidence in dairy as a sustainable livelihood.
Structure, Training and a Farm Transformed
The turning point came in 2023, when Biruk was selected as a project beneficiary. With technical support and materials from ODFBP, he constructed a modern 10×8-meter barn, replacing the traditional shelter that had exposed animals to stress, disease and inefficient feeding. The new facility featured improved ventilation, drainage and hygiene standards, helping reduce livestock illness and simplifying manure management.
Through training sessions on cow signaling, lactation management, composting and cooperative development, Biruk’s approach evolved. What had once been a routine chore became a viable enterprise. Supported by the local Dairy Service Hub, he adopted bundled services, including veterinary care, artificial insemination and the E-Dairy Management System, a digital platform that enables real-time tracking of milk volumes and payments.
Over the course of 11 months, milk production at his family farm rose from 20 to 33 litres per day across five milking cows. This represents a 65% increase. He now supplies up to 30 litres daily to the cooperative, boosting household income from ETB 4,500 (~ 24 euros) to over ETB 58,995 (~ 315 euros) per month. The added revenue supports his siblings’ school expenses, improves household nutrition and enables reinvestment into improved feed and animal health inputs.
Biruk also began producing his own organic fertilizer through composting — replacing chemical inputs with a nutrient-rich alternative. Artificial insemination services, once inaccessible and costly, are now integrated into his breeding schedule. His household’s experience mirrors trends seen across project sites, where average yields per cow increased from 6.7 to 9.7 litres per day, and artificial insemination adoption rose to nearly 97% by late 2025.
Barriers, Ambition and the Road Ahead
Despite these gains, Biruk remains one of the few young members actively participating in cooperative governance. His suggestions, like shared fodder plots, artificial insemination cycle-tracking apps, or community manure trading, often face delays due to budget limitations and low youth representation. Gender disparities also persist: while his mother once did most of the milking, young women in the area rarely access digital tools like E-Dairy or attend technical training, keeping them excluded from decision-making and innovation in the dairy value chain.
Still, Biruk is undeterred. For him, farming is no longer a fallback; it is a future worth building.
“This training opened my windows,” he reflects, describing the cooperative development course that reshaped his view of farming as a professional, growth-oriented path.
Looking ahead, Biruk plans to expand his herd using improved genetics, integrate artificial insemination and feed planning through digital tools, and take on a leadership role in Oromia’s dairy ecosystem. His story embodies ODFBP’s broader ambition: to unlock rural economic potential through climate-smart dairy models, cooperative strengthening and active youth engagement.
Biruk embodies the next generation of Ethiopian agriculture: confident, capable, and driven by purpose. His transformation is proof that when young local actors are trusted with the right tools, empowered to lead and connected to communities of active learning, rural development stops being a distant possibility and becomes a movement. One rooted in local hands, local knowledge and local ambition.