Livestock Species Composition and Herd Size in Relation to Household Farm Resources in Mixed Farming Systems in the Ethiopian Highlands

Abstract

This paper summarizes the relationships between farming family size, food crop production, land and livestock holding of smallholder farmers in mixed farming systems in the Ethiopian highlands. The findings show farming family size, among all the factors studied, to be the single most important factor affecting herd size. Area cultivated and quantity of grain produced were limited only by landholding size. As farm sizes were small, owning animals for traction did not make a difference in the area cultivated and quantity of grain produced. As livestock production in the study area predominantly depends on communal grazing lands, livestock holdings were not influenced by individual landholding or grazing land size. Thus, land size can be a deceptive criterion for identifying small-scale farmers for livestock-related studies and projects, especially where farmers employ extensive methods of livestock production.