Dynamics of Poultry Production System, Constraints, Opportunities and Marketing in Ethiopia

The objectives this paper focuses on thedynamic ofpoultry production system constraints, opportunities and marketing system in the Ethiopia in the form of summary from past, recent and/or current studies. Currently, Ethiopia poultry production systems are classified into industrial and integrated/medium- and large-scale intensive systems and family poultry production systems (i.e. the small-scale intensive is characterized specialized, commercial day-old chicks (DOCs) or pullets (200–1 000 broilers, 100–500 layers), commercial balanced rations and good quality houses. semi-intensive is characterized by flocks ranging from 50 to 200 birds, using commercial, crossbred or indigenous breeds reared under scavenging management conditions with regular supplementation., extensive scavenging is characterized ranging from 5 to 50 birds comprised of indigenous and/or crossbred chickens and it is practiced by households having access to rural markets and small-extensive scavenging systemsit is based on a flock size of 1–5 indigenous chickens kept under scavenging conditions.The national average flock size of chicks, cockerels, pullet, hen, cocks, and total chicken per households were 5.3, 1.3, 1.7, 4, 1.5 and 11.1, respectively in Ethiopia. All scavenging chicken producer practice supplementary feeding (100%) from all type of feed, supplemented maize account (63%). It needs incorporate protein source feed at dry season.


Structure of the Ethiopian Poultry Production
The poultry production systems of Ethiopia are classified into the industrial and integrated/medium-and largescale intensive systems and the different categories of family poultry production systems (i.e. the small-scale intensive, semi-intensive, extensive scavenging and small-extensive scavenging systems) (FAO, 2014). The classification based on some selected parameters such as location, farming system, breed, flock size, housing, feeding, health care, bio-security, access to vet. Services, rate of mortality and other technologies.Integrated/mediumand large-scale intensive producer's system keeping over 1000 broilers or 500 layers. Within such systems, there are large variations among producers in terms of technology use, management level and scale of operation.
Ethiopia livestock master plan 2015state that successful poultry interventions would allow the sub-sector to move to improved family poultry with semi-scavenging crossbreds and for substantial increases in the scale of specialized layer and broiler operations. Such a transformation would contribute considerably to reducing poverty and malnutrition among rural and urban poor, as well as increasing national income.Small-scale intensive and semi-intensive poultry production systems are found both in urban and rural areas. However, the former are mainly concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas in the central parts of the country. Such producers use different breeds of exotic and indigenous chicken and obtain inputs (e.g. day-old chicks of broilers and layers, pullets, feed and vaccines) from the medium-and large-scale intensive poultry producers in addition to a very limited supply from government sources particularly research centres. (FAO, 2019). The dominant proportion of the national poultry meat and eggs are produced under the scavenging family poultry production systems using low producing indigenous breeds. However, exotic breeds in intensive production systems are contributing to an increasing share of production. In 2016, exotic breeds contributed to more than 27 percent of the total number of eggs produced nationally, despite they constitute only 9 percent of the total national flock. Family poultry production systems Small-scale intensive poultry production system, is based on the use of specialized, commercial day-old chicks (DOCs) or pullets (200-1 000 broilers, 100-500 layers), commercial balanced rations and good quality houses. Producers under this system have full access to veterinary services and the overall mortality rates of birds are low to medium (<20 percent).The small-scale intensive system is rapidly growing in the urban and periurban areas of the country. They are mostly run as family businesses and considered as important sources of income for many families. Small-scale intensive poultry production currently plays a significant role in the employment of youth. (FAO, 2019). Semi-intensivepoultry production system, is characterized by flocks ranging from 50 to 200 birds, using commercial, crossbred or indigenous breeds reared under scavenging managementconditions with regular supplementation. Differently from scavenging systems, birds are provided with housing and improved health care, resulting in low to medium mortality rates (from 20 to >50 percent)(FAO, 2019).The Ethiopian Livestock Master Plan (LMP) estimated that there were about 120 000 households under the semi-intensive family poultry system in 2014 (Shapiro et al., 2015). However, the CSA report shows that the number of chicken holders with flock sizes ranging from 50 to 199 is only about 9 000, of which around 8 000 holding from 50 to 99 chickens (CSA, 2017). Extensive scavenging system, shares almost all the attributes described below for small extensive system. However, it is based on a larger flock size (ranging from 5 to 50 birds) comprised of indigenous and/or crossbred chickens and it is practiced by households having access to rural markets. Producers in this system do not have regular access to exotic chickensand usually raise their own replacement stock. Food security and income generation are the primary reasons for keeping chickens. They use broody hens to hatch replacement stock(FAO, 2019). Small-extensive scavenging system, ispracticed by households located in remote villageswith little or no access to markets, with the main purpose of chicken rearing being for household consumption. It is based on a flock size of 1-5 indigenous chickens kept under scavenging conditions. Birds have no or little supplementary feeding and no housing. Chicksare produced through natural incubation. This system is also characterized by high chicken mortality (often >70 percent) due to lack of proper health care and veterinary services(FAO, 2019).

Production and Productivity Performance of Chicken Indigenous chickenproduction in Ethiopia
In 2016, indigenous chickens represented about 91 percent of the total national poultry population. (FAO, 2019).The importance of village poultry production in the national economy of developing countries and its role in improving the nutritional status and incomes of many small farmers and landless communities has been recognized by various scholars and rural development agencies for the last few decades (Abera and Tegene, 2011;Fissehaet al., 2010a). The indigenous chicken always fetches better price than exotics because of its taste and flavor. Ethiopia has a wealth of indigenous chicken genetic resources with unique meat and/or egg qualities, a low susceptibility to stress and other useful characteristics. Considerable variation in genetic and morphology of indigenous chickens in Ethiopia is potential resource for improvements.(Mammo and Tsega, 2011) Village based chicken production requires less space and investment and can therefore play an important role in improving the livelihood of the poor village family (Samson and Endalew, 2010).The average of egg production potential of scavenging chicken is 76.3 eggs/year/hen and the average age of scavenging cockerels at first mating and pullets at first egg were 24.2 and 24.2 weeks, respectively. (Alemayehu G. 2017).
The birds scavenge in the vicinity of the homestead during daytime where they may be given cereal grains, cereal bran, broken grains and other house waste products as supplementary feed (Aklilu et al., 2007). Ethiopia is one of the few African countries with a significantly large population of chicken, estimated at 56.87 million (CSA, 2015). However, the number of chicken flocks per household in most Ethiopian rural communities is small; constituting an average of 7-10 mature chicken, 2-4 adult hens, a male bird (cock) and a number of growers of various ages (Tadelle and Ogle 2001). Alemu and Tadelle (1997) also reported that the local chicken in Ethiopia vary widely in body size, conformation, plumage color, comb type and feather cover.
Source CSA,2009CSA, /10, 2010CSA, /11, 2012CSA, /13, 2015 Flock composition Knowing of the flock composition and size of a given livestock breed is a prerequisite for designing, planning and implementation of appropriate breeding strategies and other management intervention. Generally higher flock size per households was recorded in October, November, December and January and average flock size of chickens per household was 5.6, 8 in lowland and midland agro-ecology, respectively and ranged from 2 to 20 chickens. (Alem. et al., 2013). Flock structure is described in terms of proportion of the different sex and age groups in the flock. According to Meseret (2010) the mean flock size per household was 6.23 chickens. In contrast, the mean flock size recorded in this study was lower than the mean flock size of 8.8 and 9.2 chickens/ household reported by Asefa (2007) for AwassaZuria and by Mekonnen (2007) for Dale woreda in Ethiopia, respectively.
Findings of several studies indicated that the average of flock size per household was 7.13 chicken and flock size varies between seasons mainly due to availability of feed, the occurrences of disease, the presence of predators as well as the economic status of the owners in Northwestern Ethiopia (Halima, 2007; 6.2 chicken in GommaWereda of Jimma zone (Meseret, 2010) and 13.1, 12.4 and 9.22 in Burie, Fogera and Dale woredas, respectively (Fessehaet al., 2010b). The indigenous, Exotic and crossbreed chicken flock size per house hold were 22.83, 0.96 and 1.57, respectively in the Western zone of Tigray region. (Shishay, 2014). The general indication is that the national average flock size of chicks, cockerels, pullet, hen, cocks, and total chicken per households were 5.3, 1.3, 1.7, 4, 1.5 and 11.1, respectively in Ethiopia. Ownership and pattern and gender role Chicken are reared by any members of a given family in both urban and rural areas of Ethiopian because they required less input (space, labour, capital and others). Overall women (53%) accounted the maximum share in the offering feed for chickenfollowed by father and mother (13), hired person (7%), all family member (9%), mother with children & father and mother with sole children female (5%), mother and children female (3%) mother with male children and sole female children equally (2%) and motherwith children account (1% A study conducted in Fogera woreda of Amhara regional state (Bogale, 2008) revealed that women human higher responsibility of providing feed and water (59.72%). cleaning chicken house (62.5%), Selling chicken (56.95%) while men had the responsibility of shelter construction (63.89%). According to Abubakar et al., (2007), in a study conducted on village chicken production in some parts of Nigeria and Cameroon, all gender categories are involved in chicken management, with children having the highest responsibility of housing the chicken at night and letting them out in the morning. Based on the result of the study, women own the majority of chicken (52.7%) followed by children (26.9%) and men (20.4%) in Cameroon; unlike the situation in Nigeria, where the majority of the chickens are owned by men (55.6%) followed by women (38.9%) and 15 children (11.1%). Halima (2007)) also reported that rural women in North-West Ethiopia are more responsible for chicken rearing in both male and female headed households, while men are responsible for crop cultivation and other off-farm activities.

Feeding and feed resource
All scavenging chicken producer practice supplementary feeding(100%) from all type of feed, supplemented maize account (63%) (Alemayehu. et. al. 2020). According to the results of this study, almost all of the respondents (97.8%) reported to practice scavenging system with supplementary feeding. The result of this study was in agreement to that of Asefa (2007) and Mekonnen (2007) who reported 95 -98% of the small scale household poultry producers in Awassa Zuria and Dale offer supplementary feeding to their chickens. The respondents of the current study also confirmed that the scavenging feed resource in Gomma Woreda consists of insect, grass, enset (Enseteventricosum), kitchen wastes, and harvest leftovers indicating that the village chicken production system is friendly with the environment.Poultry producers in Ethiopia are constantly complaining about the high cost and quality of poultry feed on the market. The quality of mixed feed used is generally poor and most formulations available do not have vitamin or mineral premixes (EIAR, 2016).

Housing
Majority (61.1%) scavenging chicken producer construct separate house for their chicken from local available material while the rest (38.9%) of them did not construct (Alemayehu et.al. 2020).Some research works also indicated that the mortality of scavenging birds reduced by improved housing. The finding of the survey carried out in village of Bangladesh by (Billah et al., 2013) indicate that poultry rearing and management practices were not satisfactory. Approximately 30% of farmers kept poultry in their village house, 46% in the earthen houses. 10% wooden house/ shed 8% wooden house or bamboo house and 6% concrete house. According to Nyoni and Mssika (2012), different form of housing structure were provided for the chickens (96.7%) but 3% of chicken were roosted overnight in open space in Amatola Basin in Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Chicken house were constructed using wide range of materials. All structure was roofed with iron sheets. 8.6 % of the structure had solid walls 14.8% had been wire mesh and 76.5% had a combination of iron sheet and wire mesh.

Disease and predators
Alemayehu G and Solomon A 2018 stated that diseases are the major constraints to the production of scavenging chickens which was rated (40%) of the respondents followed by lack of chick management (16%), lack feed (9%), lack improved local chicken (8%), absence of medicine (6%), lack of regular vaccination (5%), predator (4%), lack of market chain and government favor chicken producers(3%) and lack of capital, exotic chicken and weak extension (1%).Among the disease Newcastle disease (ND), Infectious bursal disease (IBD), Marek's disease, Mycoplasmosis, Salmonellosis, Colibasilosis, Coccidiosis, Toxoplasmosis and Heliminthosis are poultry diseases with significant economic importance both in the family poultry production systems and intensive production systems in Ethiopia(FAO, 2019). ND is identified to be the most important disease in all production systems, being responsible for the largest proportion of morbidity and mortality in all parts of the country (Desalegn, 2015).

Challenges and opportunities of chicken production
FAO 2019 state chicken production challenges were poorly functioning farmers' organizations, Most potential investors tend to be risk averse and incline towards adopting short term investment strategies (potential investors are unlikely to make large long-term, financial investments unless they can achieve an adequate return on their investment), low level of education among primary producers, lack of feed quality control., inadequate availability of credit services, inadequate availability of water and electricity, poor coordination in the value chains: links among input suppliers, service providers, producers, and actors in the marketing channel are poorly coordinated, fluctuation in demand (especially as demand declines drastically during the Orthodox, Christians' fasting periods). Another constraint of chicken production under intensive management in Tigray were lack of knowledge to prepare mixed feed, the high price of mixed feed, unavailability of commercial feed in nearby area and cost of feed ingredients (Tadesse et al., 2017). Journal of Marketing andConsumer Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8451 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.77, 2021 7 The majorityscavenging chicken producers whereas (58%) of the household hasnot discussed about their chicken productionit might be because of the development agent they were focus only on crop production, assigned inthe area were focus only on crop production (Alemayehu et.al. 2018a).Chicken have a short generation interval and a high rate of productivity. They can also be transported with ease to different areas and are relatively affordable and consumed by the rural people as compared with other farm animals such as cattle and small ruminants. Chickens also play a complementary role in relation to other crop-livestock activities. Indigenous chickens are good scavengers as well as foragers and have high levels of disease tolerance, possess good maternal qualities and are adapted to harsh conditions and poor-quality feeds as compared to the exotic breeds.

Marketing systems of village chicken and egg in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia selling of chickens and eggs is one of the functions of keeping free-range chickens by smallholder farmers. Village birds and eggs were taken by producer farmers to the local and urban markets and sold to traders (collectors) or directly to consumers depending on the location of the farm dwelling. Aklilu, (2007) reported that market access was low with increased distance to the market for poorer households. According to (Assefa, 2000;Halima, 2007), small holder chicken owner farmers found in different parts of Ethiopia sell chicken and eggs for the following objectives: to purchase food items, to cover school fees, grain milling services, purchase improved seeds and adjust the flock size. (Tadelle et al., 2001) also reported that few chicken owner farmers, in central highlands of Ethiopia, exchange their free-range chickens for food and household items.

Egg production
The annual egg production performance of local hen under farmers' management condition was found to be 60 egg/hen ranging from 24-112 egg in Bure district North West Ethiopia (Fisseha, 2009). Meseret (2010) also report that the mean annual egg production of the indigenous local hens of Gomma woreda was 43.8 egg/year/hen, which is comparable result to the reported ranges of 18-57 eggs in North West Ethiopia by (Halima, 2007) and 27-45 egg/year/hen in changni town, Awi administrative zones of Amhara region by (Ayalew & Adane, 2013) but are lesser than the means of 60 eggs, 53 eggs and 55 eggs reported by Fesseha et al., (2010)  Evaluation of the external and internal quality of chicken eggs is important because of consumer preferences for better quality eggs. Yolk color is a key factor in any consumer survey relating egg quality (Okeudo et al., 2003). It is generally agreed that all characteristics of egg quality have a genetic basis. Egg quality is the more important price contributing factor in table and hatching eggs. Therefore, the economic success of a laying flock solely depends on the total number of quality eggs produced. Quality of chicken eggs may vary due to several factors like rearing, temperature, relative humidity and season.

Conclusion
Chicken production system in Ethiopia were classified based on the situation/dynamic happen in the country. The current classification industrial and integrated/medium-and large-scale intensive systems and family poultry production systems (small-scale intensive, semi-intensive, extensive scavenging and small-extensive scavenging). Majority Ethiopian farmer engaged small extensive scavenging system, all scavenging chicken producer practice supplementary feeding (100%) from all type of feed, supplemented maize account (63%) which source of full of energy, so it needs incorporated protein source feed. To reduce cost of chicken feed government, have to focus increase the major feed ingredient in the country