Transcript Feed development and its constraints in North

Sheep meat value chain in Menz
Presented by Aschalew Tsegahun (Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural
Research) at the Inception meeting for the ‘Fodder and feed in livestock
value chains in Ethiopia’ project
ILRI, Addis Ababa, 21-22 February 2012
Outline
• 1. Overview of value chain and
production
• 2. Input supplies and services
• 3. Marketing
1. Overview of sheep value chain in
Menz woreda
• Sheep major component of croplivestock livelihoods
• Classified as Menz type, well adapted to
the area and the extensive natural grazing
system
• Only sick/fattening sheep usually receive
supplements; hay, crop residues, grain
(grass pea), and weeds
1. Overview of sheep value chain in
Menz woreda
• Farmers also keep large ruminants,
poultry and pack animals (no
specialization)
• Grow barley, wheat and horse bean as
subsistence crops
• Sheep production for slaughter and
marketing through bargaining
1. Feed production overview
• Natural grasslands (grazing and hay)
primary feed; some crop residues;
negligible planted forages
• Strong seasonal influence on feed
quantity/quality
• Grazing land communal; every community
member has the right to utilize the
resource; no restriction on number or kind
of livestock
1. Feed production overview
• Hay and crop residues produced/conserved
individually; also buy from market or
neighbors
• Communal grazing denuded & overgrazed:
reduced plant vigor, less productive and
unpalatable species
• Recently grazing lands are being divided
among farmers
1. Feed production overview
• Cost of purchased fodders vary by
season, load and distance from market;
price set by bargaining
• No commercial farmer producing/selling
feeds
• In towns a few individuals sell
concentrates and oil seed cakes (D/B &
A.A. the source)
• Oat (Avena sativa) in demand as foodfeed crop
1. Problems facing sheep production
• Feed scarcity: shortage of grazing
land/infertile soils, seasonal fluctuation &
low quality, limited supplements
• Under-nutrition results in poor
reproductive performance and slow
growth rates; delayed marketing
1. Problems facing sheep production
• Unavailability of agro- industrial by
products &/or high cost
• Lack of forage seeds for dissemination
• Uncontrolled mating and sale of best
rams before reproductive maturity
1. Problems of sheep production
• Internal & external parasites
• Irregular vaccination program,
unavailability and high cost of veterinary
drugs and chemicals
• Inadequate animal health service
• Seasonality of domestic market for live
animals
• Long distance trekking before slaughter
1. Possible solutions for improving
sheep production in Menz woreda
• Develop appropriate breeding program for
smallholder farmers
• Improved productive management & culling
unproductive animals
• Improved feeding system using available
resources
• Encourage commercial farmers in forage seed
production, feed processing & marketing
1. Possible solutions for improving
sheep production in Menz woreda
• Strong livestock extension system
• Strong linkage between livestock
production & market
• Strengthen livestock health service &
para-vet training
• Improve access to inputs (breeding
animals, feed, vet supplies)
2. Inputs & services for sheep
production
• Natural mating; improved rams supplied by
ranches
• BoA supply drugs and medicines
• Drugs also sold (illegally) in open markets
• Hay & crop residues main feeds traded among
farmers
• Agric. industrial by-products only sold in
towns by traders (by-products of pulse, oil
seed cake, molasses)
2. Problems of input supply for sheep
production in Menz woreda
• Supply of breeding rams does not meet
demand
• Unavailability &/or high cost of agroindustrial by-products & drugs
• Low quality of hay & crop residues
• Feed market prices not based weight but
on volume
2. Possible solutions for improving
input supplies in Menz woreda
• Design community-based integrated strategy
for productivity improvement
• Public commitment to develop feed resources
• Incorporate feed development within the
present huge soil conservation mobilization
programs
• Increase efficiency of AI service
• Restocking of drugs and medicaments timely
Main market actors in Menz woreda
Producer
Trader
Middlemen
Consumer
Marketing channel for live sheep markets
3. Sheep marketing in Menz woreda
• Farmers sell their sheep directly to
consumers or middlemen traders on a
per-head basis
• Frequently arrive at market without a
firm idea of the price they will receive, or
prices in other markets; mostly engage in
long negotiation
3. Sheep marketing in Menz woreda
• Traders have much better information and
are thereby in stronger negotiating
position
• Traders are vehicles by which price
signals are transmitted from one market
to another
• No agency monitors sheep prices
3. Improving sheep marketing
• Improve road conditions & transport
facilities
• Provide farmers with information to
increase bargaining power and ability to
make good marketing decisions
• Organize marketing system with
transparent linkages between producers &
traders
3. Improving sheep marketing
• Form/strengthen agricultural cooperative
marketing system
• Establish small-scale processing plants
• Standard product & pricing system
•
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