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By
Tsegaye Tadesse
ADDIS ABABA Mar 20, 2009 (Reuters) - Ethiopia plans to more than double
earnings from livestock exports to $85 million in 2009 by curbing
illegal trade and opening new marketing centers, a government official
said on Friday.
The Horn of Africa country sold 297,662 heads of livestock for $40
million in 2008 but hopes to raise this by exporting 429,244 livestock
for $85 million this year, according to Berhe Igziabher, head of the
Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Body.
"The country plans to transform the old and backward type of animal
husbandry into a modern ranching system and export processed meat, hides
and skin and other leather goods rather than live animals," Berhe said.
Ethiopia has an estimated 41 million cattle, 25 million sheep, 23
million goats and 150,000 camels, but poor husbandry and contraband
trade with neighbouring countries have kept the industry underdeveloped.
The country has also started programmes to check smuggling of animals
through neighboring Djibouti and Somalia.
"We know that Djibouti, a Red Sea state where animals could not thrive
due to the country's climatic conditions, has become a livestock
exporter and we also know that 60 percent of livestock being exported by
Somalia are those taken from Ethiopia through contraband trade," Berhe
said.
To curb the black market trade, the government has established markets
in remote areas to cater for pastoralists in far flung areas such as
Afar and Somali.
Berhe said the main thrust of Ethiopia's livestock development policy
would not centre on live animal exports alone.
The government has established a new institution -- Ethiopian Meat and
Dairy Technology Institute -- whose mandate is to enhance modern dairy
farming and improve the stock and quality of cattle in the country, he
said.
The body will also help pastoralists protect their livestock against the
vagaries of climate change by providing feeds and water and veterinary
medicine in each districts, he said.
The country's leather sector earned $103 million last year and plans to
take $190 million from leather exports in 2009, according to the
Ethiopian Leather Industries Association.
Source: Reuters
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