The Current Situation Of The Livestock In Ethiopia: Summary of Draft Research Findings
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By Dr. Desalegn Begna, Lead researcher at PSI
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At Policy study institute (PSI)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Main Points 👉
- Agriculture accounts for 40% GDP
- 80% of exports
- 75% workforce of the country in 2020 (USAID., 2020)
- Livestock accounts for more than 26% of the value of annual crop production
- The country is endowed with livestock resources
- 1st in Africa
- 5th on the globe
- Total population (million)
- cattle >71
- sheep= 43
- goats =54
- Poultry/chicken=57
- equines 13.33=
- bee colonies=7
- Including the value of plowing services, livestock provided
- 45% of agricultural GDP
- 19% of the country’s GDP
- 16–19% of the foreign exchange(Statista, 2022)
- providing employment to over 30% of the agricultural labor force
- The country produces
- over 3.8 billion liters of milk per year valued at USD 5.1 billion, respectively
- about one million tonnes of beef per year valued at USD 2.5 billion (FAO, 2018)
- About 11 million layers in 2018/2019 produced & 116 million eggs (CSA, 2019)
- 54 thousand tonnes of honey and 5 thousand tonnes of beeswax
- Livestock provides food in the form of meat, milk, egg, and honey
- To this fact, owning livestock is associated with a 20% increase in potential caloric nutrition at the household level
- Livestock are making significant contributions in the form of draught power
- for crop cultivation
- transporting goods and people
- foreign exchange earnings
- input for agro-processing industries
- manure for crop and cooking fuel
- Thus, 14 million households, or 70% of the population in the country keep livestock for various purpose
- Nevertheless, the productivity per animal is too small compared even to east African countries
- Because livestock development setup was not productivity-oriented development approaches
- This might be due to a lack of
- supportive development policy, strategy and institutional arrangement that could result in an unquantified decline in productivity, production, and a slow rate of progress
- Therefore, the livestock sector has been subjected to many challenges:
- The sector is dominated by small-scale farmers
- practicing traditional ways
- low productive technology
- low input and low output production system
- As a result, the country’s huge livestock potential had not been put to maximum uses
- towards food security
- economic growth of the practitioners
- wealth creation of the country
- Furthermore, there is an increasing recognition of a looming crisis of supply over demand for livestock products
- This is largely due to increases in the human population in urban areas
- rising affluence/wealth
- It is projected that by 2028
- the annual consumption demand for beef grows by 200%
- for mutton and goat meat by 114.3% each
- for camel meat by 83.3%
- for chicken meat by 80%
- for egg by 355.6% (Shapiro, B.I., et al., 2017).
- On the other hand, the potential is available to grow the livestock sector and their output
- vast resources in terms of
- diverse livestock and huge numbers
- vast land
- conducive and varied agro-ecologies
- considerable livestock keepers are some indicators of the potential
- Through leveraging knowledge & biological resources to develop a sustainable economy
- to provide products
- processes and services that optimize social, economic & environmental benefits.
- To solve the future crisis of supply over demand for livestock products
- significantly improve livestock productivity
- by solving the current livestock development constraints (varied across AEZs)
- Production system:
- limited knowledge of livestock keepers on improved livestock husbandry practices
- operate in a subsistence production and smallholder type
- largely practiced by indigenous livestock regarded poor production performances
- the production system is regularly affected by the recurrent drought
- The frequency and magnitude of drought have increased over time and following the drought, both the availability and accessibility of water are highly affected.
- When drought occurs, its impact is so severe that it is felt and observed immediately with unprecedented emaciation of livestock, in particular cattle, and their ultimate death
- more of a quantity-oriented livestock production system
- serve as a store of wealth and the higher the number, the better
- high competition for draught power with meat from young males (lack of alternative assets in mixed crop-livestock systems
- Weak investment and institutional support (limited access to quality livestock services limited the participation of the private sector and forced the livestock production system to continue in the traditional production style)
- Market:
- Livestock markets are marginal plots of land at the peripheries of the village/towns, with no fences, water troughs, feedlots, veterinary clinics, and sheds for animals and marketers in almost all of the livestock markets. Markets are inconvenient and hence farmers are rushed to sell/buy and leave
- lack of grades and standards – guess-based measurement of attributes
- lack of adequate market infrastructure
- No virtual market information system
- the livestock production system is not market-oriented
- inadequate number of exporting firms with a low level of capacities
- inadequate knowledge of international trade
- low level of quarantine facilities and procedures
- prevalence of various diseases
- And hence, repeated bans
- excessive cross-border illegal trade and stiff competitions
- big gap between the price at the border and local prices
- lack of timely and reliable livestock market information
- Producers are losers: due to a lack of information on price, demand, supply, and any shocks, farmers end up submitting to the demands of the traders/brokers who are much more informed about the marketing systems
- Feed:
- feed shortage due to
- due to rangeland degradation and extensive encroachment of invasive species
- shortage of grazing land and shortages of pasture due to
- reduced access to communal grazing and natural pasture
- bush encroachment
- cropland expansion
- unavailability of improved forage seeds and seedlings
- high cost of improved forage seeds
- conflict over grazing land
- lack of feedlots
- expansion of cropland at the expense of high-potential rangeland pocket areas
- increasing livestock pressure
- rangeland degradation
- Water:
- Water scarcity during the dry season forces the livestock
- to travel long distances to get access to water
- affects the quality of the water
- lack of awareness and knowledge of water harvesting techniques
- creation of pastoral wells
- construction of standing ponds for the dry season
- Health
- The widespread influence of diseases and parasites affects production and productivity through:
- increased mortality
- low fertility
- slow growth
- limited milk production
- leading to yet less efficient use of feed
- Drug and vaccine supply shortages
- shortage of drugs and veterinary experts
- deficit of veterinary facilities
- limited access to animal health services
- poor quality drugs, etc
- Limited understanding of the epidemiology of diseases in various geographic regions
- Limited laboratory and logistic resources
- The widespread influence of diseases and parasites affects production and productivity through:
- Climate changes
- Ethiopia is vulnerable to climate change
- the country lost a cumulative level of over 13% of its current agricultural output between 1991 and 2008
- climate change mostly noticed through seasonal, agroecological, and temperature inconsistency
- lowlands are vulnerable to increased temperatures and prolonged droughts
- highlands suffered from more intense and irregular rainfall and causing socioeconomic problems
- Climate change leads to reductions in livestock productivity
- directly
- indirectly
- by depressing animals’ adaptive response mechanisms
- altering the spread and prevalence of
- The climate change problem is a very serious issue in the context of
- Somali regional state
- all Harerge zones and Borena and Bale zones of Oromia.
- The areas are experiencing the occurrence of a severe drought in less than 5 years
- During drought, feeds and water resources are quickly depleted
- resulting in starvation and high livestock mortality
- the decline of reproductive performance of females
- resulting in low numbers of offspring
- Hence, declining herd size
- The record from Borena zone alone claims more than ETB 10 billion loss due to livestock death
- Technology
- Livestock technology enhances
- Productivity
- welfare, or management of livestock
- However, technology adoption remains very low in Ethiopia
- The failure of the majority of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia to take advantage of agricultural technologies and economic opportunities in the livestock sector remains an unresolved puzzle
- inefficient artificial insemination (AI) service delivery
- shortage of improved livestock breeds
- lack of AI experts, lack of partners with high-level coordination
- technical support and research-based evidence are technical problems hindering livestock development
- Factors determining technology adoption incidences
- Household head
- education level
- farm/livestock size
- access to extension services
- access to credit services
- distance from the market
- Breeding related problems
- 4% of cattle, 78.85% of poultry, and 99.72% of sheep are indigenous (CSA, 2020/21)
- all the remaining livestock species are 100% indigenous
- lack/shortage of improved genetic animals
- unattractive investment policy to the private sector on the commercial livestock
- lack of credit service
- cultural and religious attributes
- fear of adaptability of the improved animals to the local climate and feed
- lack of attention to livestock improvement
- lack of functional policy toward animal breeding
- shortage and poor quality of drug supply and veterinary experts
- Lack of finance and credit services
- Lack of enough start-up capital to start a business in the production and marketing of livestock
- Institution and infrastructure
- inappropriate institutional arrangements (regardless of its potentials and benefits)
- less emphasis and only less than 3 of livestock farmers used extension services until 2015
- extension services limited to improved feeds, improved cattle and poultry breeds and livestock vaccinated
- extension services poor or very poor timeliness and relevance
- Lack of infrastructure like standard slaughterhouses and services like
- animal welfare, adequate feed and watering points, transport facilities and resting places for adequate flow of livestock and their products are poorly developed in the country
- Livestock technology enhances
- Water scarcity during the dry season forces the livestock
- feed shortage due to
- Production system:
- vast resources in terms of
- The sector is dominated by small-scale farmers
- This might be due to a lack of
BORENA ZONE
‘‘Utu Gaanfaaf Boonyuu Gurra Nucabsan Jette Harren jedhan’’-while we are opting for horn, they broke our ear (donkey Saied)
In the Borana zone, where the livestock took the central position of livelihood for the community, the institutional arrangement is essentially misplaced. In the zone the livestock and the pastoral people are inseparable. Separating the livestock bureau from the pastoral development offices is completely wrong that didn’t regard the facts on the ground and is even immoral. Experts prefer the office to be merged with the pastoral development office. Even, this wrong setup has caused a conflicting interest between the agricultural bureau and the irrigation and pastoral development bureau due to overlapping responsibilities. Experts fail to believe and accept the decision on the current structure and lost motive that could ultimately affect their work performance. At zonal level, the number of experts for the zonal level for agriculture is 56, and for livestock is 23 only (big inequity). Due to changes in the structure, the livestock component is currently challenged by a shortage of budget and working facilities (only one motorbike and one computer for 4 teams (packages) in the livestock) and inadequate capacity to in place its mandate.
The intention of transforming pastoralists from pastoral style to agriculture is completely wrong and unacceptable. Rather, we prefer a technology system that helps us to improve our production style while we are as we used to be (like what our man Jattani did for us).
Suggested: The livestock sector should be at the ministry level to formulate appropriate livestock development policy and have its own well-functioning institution
Harerghe:
In the context of east Harerghe, livestock is ranked as the main livelihood source. The current structure is in place without research support and no single expert was consulted. It does not take into account the existing fact on the ground. Therefore, suppressing the livestock from Ministry to the sector level is not acceptable by any means. This problem of policy and the output of the sector is missed focus.
- Let 1/3 of the current wheat imitative should be given to the livestock and let their impact compared
- Why not prime minister Dr. Abiy Ahimed say a word about the livestock sector
- Policy gap
- Most of the available policies are general and mostly fail to distinguish between crop farming and livestock sector target
- Limited livestock-specific policies (health and marketing)
- Even, with poor effectiveness and implementations degree to impact livestock development by solving the pressing challenges
- some are in the draft stages
- national poultry development (draft)
- national animal breeding for genetic improvement (draft)
- national animal feed resources development (draft)
- no emergency livestock response interventions and drought resilience
- No livestock sector mechanization
- No pastoralist livelihood resilience
- No dairy development
- No control of transboundary livestock diseases
- Way out
- Need to recognize and appreciate that the livestock sector's contribution
- Recognizing a large productivity gap
- Working and investing toward changing the behavior, attitudes, and beliefs of livestock keepers to boost livestock production and productivity
- Design strategies that could possibly enhance better livestock extension and service delivery systems, better access to input and output markets for livestock producers
- Finalize the drafted animal breeding, poultry, and animal feed developments along with formulating new and functional policy that intensifies efforts needed to stimulate productivity growth through improved input use for higher productivity levels
- Develop and implement policy in the areas of pastoralist livelihood resilience, dairy development, animal feed, and transboundary livestock diseases.
- Promote higher yielding crossbreed animals supply and AI services to boost productivity
- Formulate appropriate policy by designing and placing suitable livestock institution that leads and encourages increased use of modern inputs
- Promote ecologically sound water point development and distribution in the lowland areas to efficiently utilize the temporal and spatial variability in the availability of forage
- Intensify and improved water-use efficiency and livestock management system to adapt to the emerging critical situations in pastoral areas by raising awareness and knowledge on water harvesting techniques, creation of pastoral wells, and construction of standing ponds.
- High attention that is supported by policy on the control the encroachment
- Encourage and intensify government and private sector efforts for productivity enhancement to help livestock keepers graduate from pure subsistence to semi-subsistence/semi-commercial status practicing livestock as a business
- Balance policy and investments aiming at pursuing sustainable livestock sector productivity and profitability
- Formulate clear policies that regulate the illegal expansion of individual enclosure and crop farming, severe rangeland degradation, and reduced mobility to ease unfamiliar pressure on pastoral systems and reduce vulnerability to climate change
- Encourage evidence-based government-led participatory livestock policy dialogues that could participate stakeholders and that accommodate
- Formulate and implement effective policies that are needed to support livestock keepers to develop adaptation system that reduces the negative effects of climate change
- promoting livestock sector mechanization and extension systems for commercialization clusters to operationalize
- Appropriate adequate budget for livestock research and technology development
- Strong coordination and collaboration of multiple stakeholders including livestock keepers and crop producers, agricultural organizations, political authorities, development practitioners, researchers, technology innovators, businessmen, investors, and entrepreneurs to work hand in to deal with and solve the current livestock complex problems.
- Digitalized online platforms and improvements are required in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI)
- Strong analytical approach to resolve the institutional accountability of pastoral areas