Animal Feed Policies and Feeding Practices in Ethiopia

Abstract

Feed shortages, both in quantity and quality, are a major factor hindering the sustainable development of the livestock sectors in Ethiopia. This study assesses the availability and quality of animal feed in different livestock production systems, the feeding practices of smallholder livestock producers, and the policy actions adopted by the government to improve the availability and quality of animal feed in Ethiopia. The results show that livestock production systems in Ethiopia are largely mixed crop-livestock, pastoral, or agro-pastoral. Most are extensive in nature, relying on low levels of inputs and generating low levels of outputs. The quality, quantity, and feeding value of the major feed sources are primarily natural pasture or crop residues and are nutrient-poor, bulky, and of low density. The share of livestock producers using agro-industrial by-products and concentrates or improved forages remains negligible, with any use of such feeds concentrated in urban and peri-urban livestock production systems. The feeding regime employed by most livestock producers is only grazing (or scavenging for poultry) without supplementation of other feed types. Less than ten percent of livestock producers provide supplemental feed to their animals in addition to grazing. Very few feed their livestock using zero-grazing. Investment to develop an adequate feed supply system for improving animal nutrition in Ethiopia would improve animal production and productivity and the livelihoods, income, and food and nutritional security of livestock producing communities. Transforming the feed industry and livestock sub-sector at large will require not only technological and knowledge-based interventions, but also institutional innovations and policy reforms.