Ethiopia accuses neighbours of illicit livestock trade
23/03/2009
Ethiopia plans to more than double earnings from livestock exports to in 2009 by curbing illegal trade and opening new marketing centres, a government official said on March 21.
The African 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 government’s animal and plant health regulatory body.
“The country plans to transform the old type of animal husbandry into a modern ranching system and export processed meat, hides and skin and leathergoods rather than live animals,” Mr Berhe said.
Ethiopia has an estimated 41 million cattle, 25 million sheep, 23 million goats and 150,000 camels, but the government believes 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 neighbouring Djibouti and Somalia.
“We know that Djibouti, a Red Sea state where animals could not thrive due to the country’s climate, has become a livestock exporter and we also know that 60% of livestock being exported by Somalia are those taken from Ethiopia through contraband trade,” Mr Berhe said.
The government has established a new institution—the 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 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.
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