End Market Analysis of Ethiopian Livestock and ... - USAID Microlinks

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ethiopia has some important comparative advantages in the Middle Eastern livestock and meat markets. The meat
characteristics of Ethiopia’s lowland breeds—particularly Boran bulls and Somali Blackhead sheep—are prized by
consumers. Geographical proximity to Egypt and the Gulf makes both live animal exports and chilled meat exports
possible. Live animal exports are high, as an estimated 1.6 million livestock1 are exported from the country annually—
although the vast majority of these (approximately 1.4 million) pass through informal channels. These livestock
exports have suffered from repeated trade bans due to importing countries’ concerns over transboundary diseases.
Yet the solution to these bans—quarantine stations in Djibouti and now in other port cities as well—has proved to
have its own drawbacks, with high costs and concerns over growing foreign influence within the Ethiopian livestock
trade.
In order to overcome these challenges and increase in-country value addition, the Ethiopian Government is
committed to supporting meat exports. Yet such exports remain small in volume, constrained by inefficiencies in
purchasing, poor animal handling and inadequate facilities at the abattoir and export level. These factors all contribute
to low meat quality and unreliable supply—which are the major complaints of Gulf importers regarding Ethiopian
meat.
In addition to these internal challenges, Ethiopian livestock and meat exporters face stiff competition from Brazil,
India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. Brazilian beef is price competitive as a result of low production costs,
while India has a ready-made market, catering primarily to the large non-resident Indian population in the Gulf for its
beef (buffalo meat) exports. Australia, which exports primarily sheep meat to the Middle East, has an aggressive
marketing campaign through its regional marketing office and targets the higher end of the market. Faced with such
competitors, Ethiopian meat exporters find it difficult to compete on price or quality.
This document analyzes the context, channels, customers and competitors for Ethiopian live animals and meat. Based
on these four factors, an initial shaded grid analysis on potential markets shows the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and
Egypt as the most promising target markets for Ethiopian livestock and meat. However, this analysis is only the first
step, and must be followed by additional on-the-ground research in order for definitive conclusions and
recommendations to be made on how to best increase the competitiveness of the Ethiopian livestock sector.
1 Author’s computation based on data from Yacob Aklilu and Catley (formal export of 200,000 head of livestock) and
Mohammad Jabbar et al (informal export of 328,000 head of cattle and 1.1 million sheep and goats).
END MARKET ANALYSIS OF ETHIOPIAN LIVESTOCK AND MEAT 1