Pro-poor livestock development: Analysis of performance of projects and lessons

The importance of livestock as a pathway out of poverty is widely recognized, but debate continues on the effectiveness of pro-poor livestock development projects. This study examines a random sample of livestock development projects to draw lessons and identify best practices. It used cluster analysis to generate groups of successful and unsuccessful projects based on performance indicators (selected after a review of literature on project performance evaluation in development agencies) and also on effects of projects on market access and utilization. The study applies descriptive statistics and regression (OLS, Logit and Ordered Probit) to identify features of projects that influence success. Although about 60% of livestock development projects were categorized as unsuccessful, the results shed light on ways to foster the successful livestock development projects. Big-budget projects implemented over long periods of time tend to be successful. Targeting of market actors from multiple stages of the value chain is associated with project success, supporting the current trend in whole-chain project design. Institution development activities in projects, effective monitoring and evaluation, and involvement of beneficiaries in project design and management also enhance success. Furthermore, against a backdrop of growing enthusiasm for market-led development, the results indicated that project activities need not necessarily feature marketing-related activities to deliver market-related results; rather, a well-implemented project did so regardless of its content. Conversely, unreliability of government partners and inclusion of other non-livestock agricultural activities in projects undermine success

A rapid appraisal of the Yemeni end-market for Somali livestock exporters

European Unio

The complex and gender differentiated objectives of livestock keeping for Somali pastoralists

This study describes the livestock keeping objectives of female and male Somalia pastoralists, for camel, sheep, goat and donkey. The objectives were assessed using a matrix scoring approach, implemented during participatory rural appraisals conducted in 20 settlements in northwestern Somalia, involving 254 female and 252 male participants. All species were kept for multiple objectives (up to 14), with the most important objectives including domestic milk consumption and milk sale, income from the sale of slaughter as well as breeding animals, savings and insurance, domestic meat consumption, transport / loads, drawing water from wells, ceremony / dowry, and hide use. There were strong gender differences in the scoring of objectives, notably with ‘savings and insurance’ and ‘sale of breeding animals’ being more important to female and male pastoralists, respectively. This work is part of a larger project aimed at pro-poor livestock development in Somalia

Knowledge and exploitation of small ruminant grading and pricing systems among Somaliland livestock producers

This study sought to determine the level of awareness of the informal indigenous livestock grading and pricing system among producers and the exploitation of this knowledge to increase market participation and realise better prices and returns for their animals. Data was collected from 144 small ruminant producers in 3 livelihood zones (West Golis pastoral, Togdheer agro-pastoral and Hawd pastoral regions) in the northern Togdheer region using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and econometric methods were used in the analysis of data. Results confirmed the importance of small ruminants as sources of income among livestock producers in Somaliland. On average, a household kept 53 sheep and goats with most of the producers (79-85%) having sold some animals (mean=10) during the preceding 12 months. It was also established that producers were generally well versed with the grading and pricing system except for the very fine details. However, this knowledge did not have significant effect on level of market participation, but rather, other supply influencing factors like the number of animals kept by the household, gender of sales decision maker, age of household head and livelihood zone in which the household resided significantly influenced household annual small ruminants sales volumes. Despite level of awareness of grading and pricing having no significant effect on the absolute annual household sales volumes due to other adjunct supply constraints, producers tended to avail more of the superior quality grades for sale. For example, Grades I and II of small ruminants accounted for the largest proportions of animals sold (40% and 29%, respectively) with inferior quality grades (grade III and the local grade) accounting for only 15% and 17% respectively. Furthermore, results of an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression showed that supply of higher grade animals had a positive effect on prices received. In addition, number of animals sold and involvement in other economic activities besides livestock production positively affected the level of prices received by producers. Although a significant number of producers (39%) said that they deliberately fatten animals before sale, the strategy employed simply involved grazing of animals in communal land during the rainy season. Sheep and goats producers in Somalia face formidable constraints of drought and the attendant lack of feed and water for livestock, and also animal health issues. This provides a justification for development agencies and research organisations to continue working to address these problems