Live animal and meat export value chains for selected areas in Ethiopia: constraints and opportunities for enhancing meat exports

The Ethiopian live animal and meat export marketing system is operating in an environment characterized by several constraints that needs the attention and action of the government and other non-governmental development organizations. Despite the reported high livestock population of the country, the major meat and live animal exporters are complaining of shortage of supply and inferior quality of animals (especially shoats). The problem could be because of the constraints in the marketing system of exporters themselves, the market information system, poor market infrastructures like road, seasonality in production, competition of the domestic and the export sector, problems in the production system, or a combination of several factors. Thus, it is imperative to identify the major factors contributing to the reported supply shortage that has hindered smooth functioning of the Ethiopian live animal and meat export market and take appropriate action as much as possible. This study, therefore, characterizes live animal and meat export value chains to determine constraints and opportunities for enhancing the efficiency of meat export from Ethiopia. The study was conducted using a Rapid Market Appraisal (RMA), which is a method that offers a quick and effective means for: learning about the main characteristics of the marketing system; mapping the supply chains, understanding constraints and opportunities, and generating information as a basis for designing follow-up research such as focused survey of value chain components and actors

Ethiopian Dairy and Animal Health Policy Sector: A Stakeholders' Network Analysis

Public policy making often involves a multitude of actors. The level and nature of interaction among these actors, be it cohesion or friction, determines policy outcomes. For outsiders with the aim of influencing policy based on empirical evidence, it is imperative to know who are involved in the policy making process, the interest and influence of each actor as well as the nature and extent of their interaction. A study was conducted to analyze the Ethiopian livestock policy sector in terms of the main actors and their interaction in the dairy and animal health policy subsector. The study applied participatory stakeholders and social network analysis to identify the most important actors, their salience and network characteristics. The results indicate that a multitude of actors with diverse interests is involved in the Ethiopian dairy sector in a loosely connected network with medium level of clustering aligned along administrative tiers. The results also showed that in the existing federal administrative structure, there are no policy networks in the Ethiopian diary policy landscape that cut across regional boundaries. However, the international and federal level government actors play important role as central actors with bridging role connecting the decentralized regional and local level actors as well as in initiating policy engagement and change. This implies that there is a room for pluralistic policymaking and any attempt to influence policy in the livestock sector need to work with these international, federal and regional level actors

Strategies for Animal Disease Control in Ethiopia: A Review of Policies, Regulations and Actors

Ethiopia has the largest livestock population of any country in Africa, making a considerable contribution to the livelihood of Ethiopian people and to the wider economy. However, zoonotic diseases threaten the performance and potential benefits of this vast livestock sector. Emerging zoonotic diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis and anthrax, that have acquired global significance, are seriously affecting the livestock sector in the country. A number of policies and regulations have been designed in order to prevent and control the transmission of animal and zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia. This paper documents the key policy provisions and institutions involved in these initiatives and identifies entry points for the design of specific implementable strategies for the control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB): a disease that is endemic among cattle in Ethiopia and particularly highly prevalent in its dairy sector. Our analysis is based on a review of existing documentation carried out during 2017.The results indicate: (i) the existence of various policy provisions for disease prevention and control, but with limited recognition of different disease transmission pathways including ‘animal to animal’, ‘animal to human’, and ‘human to animal’; (ii) that these policies and regulations only provide a general framework without specifying the interventions related to specific disease types e.g. bTB; (iii) that different institutions are given similar tasks and that there is no strong coordination mechanism among the institutions in terms of fulfilling these tasks and avoiding the duplication of effort, and (iv) that so far, more attention has been given to policies on human health, especially relating to selected priority diseases. These trends imply the need to design and implement strategic interventions in the prevention and control of bTB transmission both within the animal population and from the animal to the human population

Epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages and strain clustering within urban and peri-urban settings in Ethiopia

Background Previous work has shown differential predominance of certain Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) lineages and sub-lineages among different human populations in diverse geographic regions of Ethiopia. Nevertheless, how strain diversity is evolving under the ongoing rapid socio-economic and environmental changes is poorly understood. The present study investigated factors associated with M. tb lineage predominance and rate of strain clustering within urban and peri-urban settings in Ethiopia. Methods Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) and Cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN) patients who visited selected health facilities were recruited in the years of 2016 and 2017. A total of 258 M. tb isolates identified from 163 sputa and 95 fine-needle aspirates (FNA) were characterized by spoligotyping and compared with international M.tb spoligotyping patterns registered at the SITVIT2 databases. The molecular data were linked with clinical and demographic data of the patients for further statistical analysis. Results From a total of 258 M. tb isolates, 84 distinct spoligotype patterns that included 58 known Shared International Type (SIT) patterns and 26 new or orphan patterns were identified. The majority of strains belonged to two major M. tb lineages, L3 (35.7%) and L4 (61.6%). The observed high percentage of isolates with shared patterns (n = 200/258) suggested a substantial rate of overall clustering (77.5%). After adjusting for the effect of geographical variations, clustering rate was significantly lower among individuals co-infected with HIV and other concomitant chronic disease. Compared to L4, the adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (AOR; 95% CI) indicated that infections with L3 M. tb strains were more likely to be associated with TBLN [3.47 (1.45, 8.29)] and TB-HIV co-infection [2.84 (1.61, 5.55)]. Conclusion Despite the observed difference in strain diversity and geographical distribution of M. tb lineages, compared to earlier studies in Ethiopia, the overall rate of strain clustering suggests higher transmission and warrant more detailed investigations into the molecular epidemiology of TB and related factors

Network analysis of dairy cattle movement and associations with bovine tuberculosis spread and control in emerging dairy belts of Ethiopia

Background: Dairy cattle movement could be a major risk factor for the spread of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in emerging dairy belts of Ethiopia. Dairy cattle may be moved between farms over long distances, and hence understanding the route and frequency of the movements is essential to establish the pattern of spread of BTB between farms, which could ultimately help to inform policy makers to design cost effective control strategies. The objective of this study was, therefore, to investigate the network structure of dairy cattle movement and its influence on the transmission and prevalence of BTB in three emerging areas among the Ethiopian dairy belts, namely the cities of Hawassa, Gondar and Mekelle. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted in 278 farms to collect data on the pattern of dairy cattle movement for the last 5 years (September 2013 to August 2018). Visualization of the network structure and analysis of the relationship between the network patterns and the prevalence of BTB in these regions were made using social network analysis. Results: The cattle movement network structure display both scale free and small world properties implying local clustering with fewer farms being highly connected, at higher risk of infection, with the potential to act as super spreaders of BTB if infected. Farms having a history of cattle movements onto the herds were more likely to be affected by BTB (OR: 2.2) compared to farms not having a link history. Euclidean distance between farms and the batch size of animals moved on were positively correlated with prevalence of BTB. On the other hand, farms having one or more outgoing cattle showed a decrease on the likelihood of BTB infection (OR = 0.57) compared to farms which maintained their cattle. Conclusion: This study showed that the patterns of cattle movement and size of animal moved between farms contributed to the potential for BTB transmission. The few farms with the bulk of transmission potential could be efficiently targeted by control measures aimed at reducing the spread of BTB. The network structure described can also provide the starting point to build and estimate dynamic transmission models for BTB, and other infectious disease

On the joint estimation of multiple adoption decisions: The case of sustainable agricultural technologies and practices in Ethiopia

Sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) that lead to an increase in productivity are central to the acceleration of economic growth; this will alleviate poverty and help to overcome the recurrent food shortages that affect millions of households in Africa. However, the adoption rates of SAPs remain below expected levels. This paper analyzes the factors that facilitate or impede the probability and level of adoption of interrelated SAPs, using recent data of multiple plot-level observations. Multivariate and ordered probit models are applied to the modeling of adoption decisions by farm households facing multiple SAPs which can be adopted in various combinations. The results show that there is a significant correlation between SAPs, suggesting that adoptions of SAPs are interrelated. The analysis further shows that both the probability and the level of decisions to adopt SAPs are influenced by many factors: a household’s trust in government support, credit constraint, spouse education, rainfall and plot-level disturbances, household wealth, social capital and networks, including the number of traders known by a farmer in his vicinity, his participation in rural institutions, and the number of relatives he has inside and outside his village, labor availability, and plot and market access. These results imply that policy makers and development practitioners whose aims are to strengthen local institutions and service providers, maintain or increase household asset bases, and establish and strengthen social protection schemes, can speed up the adoption of SAPs