The Meat and Dairy Industry Development Institute is drafting a proclamation to prohibit live goat and sheep exports with a view to encouraging exports of processed meat and ensuring quality. The proclamation is expected to be enacted by the end of this fiscal year.
Haileselassie Weres, Director of the institute, said the draft will be reviewed by the ministries of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Industry and Trade, the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Association and the Livestock Exporters before it is submitted to the parliament for enactment.
Ethiopia generated USD 192.7 million from livestock exports, mainly from sending animals to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and other North African countries in the 2017/18 fiscal year. However, the government aimed to generate USD 350 million for the past fiscal year and the size of the revenue generated is not considered satisfactory considering the large livestock population found in Ethiopia. Ethiopia leads Africa in livestock resources and ranks fifth in the world with 59.5 million cattle, 30.7 million sheep, 30.2 million goats and one million camels.
Director of Livestock Marketing at the Ministry, Fikadu Getachew, indicated that the proposed prohibition on livestock export would motivate exporters to shift to processed meat. There are 12 companies that process and export meat operating in Ethiopia as listed by the Ethiopian Meat Producer-Exporters Association. The country also has 14 meat export abattoirs.
The livestock business in Ethiopia contributes about 16.5% of overall GDP. Within the agricultural portion of GDP, livestock constitutes 35.6%. The contribution of livestock to the overall export earnings of the nation is 15%, and livestock constitutes 30% of all employment in the agricultural sector.
Ethiopia is home to abundant livestock resources. There are opportunities to manufacture livestock products for both local and export markets. Local demand for meat, milk and eggs is growing as the economy and population grow. This growth is expected to create investment and trade opportunities for certain commodities and open doors for veterinary and other livestock services.
Source: Addis Fortune and https://www.export.gov/article?id=Ethiopia-Livestock
