A Review on Livestock Marketing in Ethiopia: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Improving livestock marketing is critical to enhance households’ livelihoods and alleviate poverty in the country. This paper reviewed relevant documents in Ethiopian livestock marketing to know livestock marketing system; livestock marketing channels and key actors; and opportunities and challenges of livestock marketing. The domestic livestock marketing structure in Ethiopia follows four tiers: namely bush, primary, secondary and tertiary/terminal markets.  Many actors are involved in livestock and livestock products marketing, they are broadly classified as: livestock producers, traders, processors, retailers, food service providers, and consumers. Ethiopia exports livestock and livestock products to various Middle East and North African countries. The opportunities for livestock marketing in the country are resource availability; demand availability both regionally and in the Middle East; proximity to the markets of neighboring countries; development of export-abattoirs within the country and their substantial demand for lowland animals, especially shoats; and the tendency of both the government agencies and the NGOs to work towards integrating the pastoral marketing cooperatives with the export abattoirs supply chains. Despite the above-mentioned opportunities, livestock producers and other people who engaged in livestock marketing face various challenges in marketing their livestock and livestock products. The major challenges are: poorly developed market infrastructures; inadequate and inappropriate road transport facilities; poorly developed port facilities; few and unevenly distributed export abattoirs; absence of market information and promotional activities; prevalence of diseases; repeated import bans by the major importing countries; lack of formal trade among the neighboring countries; and natural disasters (drought, famine, wars).

Keywords: Livestock, marketing, challenges, opportunities, Ethiopia

DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/59-01

Publication date: August 31^st 2019