Presentation given at regional dialogue on the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, Addis Ababa, June 2014. http://www.future-agricultures.org/pastoralism/7984-pastoralism-in-ethiopia-new-briefings-and-paper

1. Pastoralism, Livestock and
Growth in Ethiopia
Regional dialogue on Stronger food security and nutrition in dryland
and pastoral areas: harnessing the potential of the New Alliance
Addis Ababa, 10 June 2014

2. Overview
• Trends and drivers
• Challenges and solutions
Pastoralist areas

3. Trends: domestic livestock trade
• Pastoralist areas - main suppliers of livestock for the population
living within and adjacent to ~60% of Ethiopia
• Suppliers of :
– 20% of the plough oxen
– stall-fed cattle to high end butcheries
– breeding stock for farmers, donor/government projects
– and camels to mid-altitude farmers
• This contribution from pastoralist areas is often unnoticed at policy
level

4. Export trends: foundation and drivers
Livestock-
specific
National rinderpest eradication (to
May 2005)
Generic Reversion to more liberalized trade
environment (from 1992)
• industry associations
• domestic price deregulation
• more liberalized foreign trade
• streamlining bureaucracy for exporters
• more liberal investment and labour
laws
Improved roads and mobile phone
network
Private sector facilities –
abattoirs, holding
grounds etc
Private feedlots,
increased market
stratification
Livestock
-specific
Robust pastoralist livestock production system, responsive to
market opportunities (from 1920s)
DEMANDS
PRICES

5. Trends in live animals and meat export, Ethiopia
2005-2013
Year Live animals Value ($1,000) Meat (tons) Value ($1000)
2005/06 163,000 27,259 7,717 15,598
2006/07 234,000 36,507 7,917 18,448
2007/08 298,000 40,865 5,875 15,471
2008/09 150,000 77,330 6,400 24,480
2009/10 334,000 91,000 10,000 34,000
2010/11 472,041 148,000 16,877 63,200
2011/12 800,000 207,100 17,800 78,800
2012/13 680,000 150,000 16,500 68,000
Source: National Bank of Ethiopia
Amount of Ethiopian meat exported increased up to 2.3 times from 2005 to 2013
cf. US beef exports increased 2.4 times in same period www.usmef.org

6. Recorded Exports of Livestock, Berbera (“from or through the
Somaliland Protectorate”) 1927-1951a
-
500,000.00
1,000,000.00
1,500,000.00
2,000,000.00
2,500,000.00
3,000,000.00
3,500,000.00
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
Numnerofanimals
2011-2013b
a Hunt (1951)
b Somaliland Chamber of Commerce (2014)
Proxy data for Ethiopia’s informal exports
2011
2012
2013
• Between 1927 and 1950 Berbera exported ~ 3x more animals/year than Ethiopia
exports today
• Between 2011 and 2013 Berbera exported ~ 5x more animals than Ethiopia
• Other transit routes via Djibouti , Puntland, Somalia and Sudan
• Kenya is a terminal route

7. Policy issues
• In 40 years trade policies have shifted from free market to command
economy and then to liberalized system
• Strong progress in formal exports – but volumes and values still far less
than informal exports
• General investment policy is skewed towards crop production rather than
livestock (e.g. see GTP factsheet)
• The pastoral production system is performing well - but no substantial
investments in commercial livestock farms in non-pastoral areas

8. Critical issues: Coordination
Challenges
• The mandate for live animal
markets has changed twice
between the MoA and MoT since
2005 including a new live animal
markets proclamation by the latter
• MoI in charge of export abattoirs;
• MoA role is limited to production
and health aspects
• The MoF sets VAT on livestock feed
– despite critical feed shortage
• Federal – regional harmonization
Solutions
• Develop a harmonized “joined up”
national policy for livestock trade
• Assign clear leadership and
coordination role to one Ministry
• Define roles of the new ATA Livestock
Team
• Strengthen national – regional
coordination

9. Critical issues: Land
Challenges
• Large tracts of land for crop
production not livestock
• Growth in the livestock sector can
only be achieved if there are
commercial livestock farms that
provide sustainable services to
other livestock keepers
(technology, fodder etc.)
• Such commercial farms also rely on
pastoralists for supply of young
stock
• Myths around ranches – poor
performance in drylands
Solutions?
• Make land available for commercial
farms in areas in proximity to
pastoralist producers
• Raise awareness of limitations of
ranches

10. Critical issues: Feed
Challenges
• Further growth in the sector
needs better quality and
availability of animal feed
• VAT issues:
– VAT is applied in principle on
value added products;
livestock feed ingredients are
products, the value of which
has been degraded
– Livestock feed is used for
adding the value of livestock
on which VAT is applied
• Wide-scale use of safety net feed
to feed livestock?
Solutions?
• Attract investors to engage in
fodder, edible oil and oil cake
production
• Regulate animal feed quality
• Build on positive trend of wider use
of feed by pastoralists
• Integrate feed policy into overall
livestock development and trade
policy
• Remove VAT on livestock feed
• Review food distributions in PSNP if
food is fed to livestock

11. Critical issues: Preventable livestock
mortality
Challenges
• Preventable disease-related losses
in pastoralist areas ~ 3.6 million
animals/year
• This is > 5 times the number of
animals exported formally
• Good progress with private
veterinary services in pastoralist
areas but key concerns over:
 vaccination policies and
strategies
 quality control of
pharmaceuticals
Solutions?
• Strengthen capacity of federal
veterinary drug administration e.g.
random testing of pharmaceuticals
• Support stakeholder review of
vaccination policies and strategies,
supported by epidemiological and
economic analysis
• Strengthen institutional support to
private services, including CAHWs

12. Critical issues: Regional trade
Challenges
• Aligning national policies with
regional free trade policies of AU,
IGAD and COMESA
Solutions?
• Support economic analysis of
livestock FTA, especially potential
forex gains
• Test the COMESA Green Pass
system for livestock
• Revisit, adapt and expand
experiences from the EXCELEX
project
• Aimed to create a win-win formalized cross-border trade Ethiopia-Djibouti &
Ethiopia-Somaliland
• Led to an agreements between Ethiopia, Somaliland and Puntland
• Somali traders deposited a proportion in hard currency for livestock they purchase
• Enabling the traders to move purchased livestock through official custom posts
• The short life span of the project (2 years) did not allow the conclusion of a similar
deal with Djibouti and the deal with Somali traders was compromised over time

13. Lesser issues/misunderstandings
• Market information systems – mobile phones far more cost effective in
obtaining information by market actors cf. “market information systems”
• Market yard infrastructure – not critical or useful for stimulating supply
and demand in pastoral areas (Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan)
• Transboundary animal diseases
• Rinderpest eradication pivotal for Ethiopian formal exports of beef and live
cattle from 2005
• Export earnings to 2013 justify investments in rinderpest eradication
• But rising exports from 2005-2013 associated with limited change in status of
other TADs
Increased investments in “TAD control for trade” needs:
• Prior economic analysis to show added value e.g. by accessing new
markets?
• Analysis of competitiveness
• Analysis of risk e.g. changing private sector standards in importing
countries

14. Thank you