Introduction Ethiopia is a home for many livestock species and suitable for livestock production. Ethiopia is believed to have the largest livestock population in Africa (CSA 2013; Solomon et al. 2003; Tilahun and Schmidt 2012). An estimate indicates that the country is a home for about 54 million cattle, 25.5 million sheep and 24.06 million goats. The livestock subsector has an enormous contribution to Ethiopia’s national economy and livelihoods of many Ethiopians, and still promising to rally round the economic development of the country.
At least half of the population live on less than $1 daily, and “over 80% of the population rely on agriculture for their livelihood.” Currently, about 7 million Ethiopians receive food aid each year (actionaid.org). Climate change, overpopulation, crop or market failure, high costs, economy, and droughts are all factors of famine. However, unstable economy and increase of population are its two main causes (geographyas.info). Ethiopia’s population has risen about 80 million since 1985 and world prices of crops increased, leading to unstable economy in which they can’t “keep up a fair trade of international food aid” (wordpress.com). People from all around the world who live in areas with an unstable economy and/or substandard climate are affected by famine.
In addition to broadening the production and export bases of the country, large-scale investments of foreign companies in the agricultural and manufacturing sector have also expanded employment opportunities for locals. In this regard, Chinese investment in Ethiopia has had a notable impact. Chinese companies that have mainly been engaged in textile and garment, shoe and leather industries have already created many jobs. The globalizing world is characterized by the greatest movement of people. International tourism has the potential
Food Insecurity The continuous increasing demand for the food requires the rapid improvement in food production technology. In a country like Ethiopia, the economy is mainly based on agriculture and the climate conditions are isotropic, still we are not able to make full usage of agricultural resources. The main reason is the lack of rains and scarcity of the land reservoir water in some areas of the country. The problem I address about my country is that Ethiopia is one of the countries among the third world countries facing food insecurity currently. It is believed that around 10.2 million people are getting hunger out of the total population of 100 million people.
Across the whole country, goats provide meat, milk, cash, skins, manure and security (insurance), as well as banking and gifts (Adane and Girma 2008). The total goat population of Ethiopia has increased by 30% in the last 12 years. Goats comprise 5.32% of the total tropical livestock units of Ethiopia; contribute an estimated 12 to 14% of meat products, 10.5% of milk production and 6% of all animals exported. While the socio-economic importance of goats is widely recognized, their full potential contribution to poverty reduction and food security is constrained by inefficiencies at all levels of the production process. The input side is constrained by poor feeds, animal health and inferior genotypes, while the lack of standardized marketing systems and infrastructure to access markets impede the output side.
For example, WFP (2009) report indicated as food insecurity levels in the rural areas of Ethiopia rose from 2 million people in 1995 to about 14 million in 2008. Out of these 7.5 million people were beneficiaries of the government’s safety net program. Similarly, Belachew et al (2013) reported a negative association between food insecurity and the growth of adolescents, especially girls, in the Jimma area of the southwestern Ethiopia. According to these authors, about 40% of the adolescents in the Jimma area experience malnutrition, one of the manifestations of food insecurity, at least once in their lifetime. Ethiopia is one of the 31 highly food insecure countries in the world; mainly due to unfavorable climate, market failures, conflict, unwise policies, and poor agricultural practices (Yu, You and Fan,
LIVESTOCK FARMING IN NIGERIA Livestock farming is defined simply as the process of breeding animals for the sole purpose of consumption. Animal husbandry which is another name for livestock farming, is a rapidly growing arm of farming in Nigeria, and the primary reason why more entrepreneurial farmers are venturing into livestock farming is its profitability. Why livestock farming? As long as humans exist, there will always be need for food and the two major sources of food for mankind are crops and animals. Livestock farming is a very important aspect of agriculture in Nigeria, as the Nigerian community depends mostly on meat, especially from cows and chicken.
In the past the ESE used to produce most of the newly improved varieties on its own farms, as well as on state farms, with large private farms playing only a minor role in production of new varieties. Despite the presence of several seed companies, the agricultural input sector in Ethiopia is currently not able to satisfy the demand for improved seed in the country. Results of Christine (2015) also showed that the formal Ethiopian seed system is largely controlled by the government and public organizations. Additionally, the research result of Dawit, Frans Verhees, Hans and van Trijp (2017) revealed that the seed sector in Ethiopia consists of three seed systems: formal, informal, and intermediary seed systems. Each seed system has a specific contribution to the delivery of seed to farmers, but they vary in their approach and respective
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Ethiopia is a predominantly agricultural economy, the agricultural sector providing about 52% of the GDP and 85% of employment to the rural force, generates 90% of the foreign exchange earnings, and it is a major source of raw materials for domestic industries (MOARD, 2014). The sector is largely characterized by subsistence farming. In subsistence agriculture and developing countries like Ethiopia, where smallholder farming dependents the overall national economy. Smallholder farmers work on 96.3 percent of the total cultivated area and produce over 95 percent of the national crop production (CSA 2015). However, smallholder farmers face severe lack of financial resources to purchase
Over 80% of the population lives in rural areas and their livelihoods depend on agriculture. The sector accounts for 26.4% of the GDP, 30% of export earnings and 65% of raw material for domestic industries, however, the sector experience low growth. Given the importance of the sector as a source income, employment and food security, this low growth has translated into little progress on poverty reduction (Hepelwa, Selejio, and Mduma, 2013). According to Hepelwa et al, (2013) agriculture in Tanzania is dominated by smallholder farmers with typical farm sizes ranging from about 0.9 to 3 ha occupying 91% of the total area under agriculture while the remaining 9% of the land is held by large scale farmers. The country has 95.5 million hectares (ha) of land, of which 44 million ha are classified as arable, but only 27 per cent of the arable land is under cultivation.