Swine Husbandry Practices in Ethiopia: A Review

doi:10.7176/jbah/12-1-03

Abstract

In Ethiopia, swine are mainly raised under small scale production systems of urban and peri-urban areas. The swine sector has got very little attention compared to other livestock components. This happened mainly due to religious and social reasons. Swine breeds in Ethiopia consist of exotic breeds and their crosses. The indigenous pig is an animal which has been very neglected and wild. Although smallholder swine farmers make a contribution to the livestock sector, they are discouraged and constrained by issues relevant to culture and religion, in addition to feed shortage, disease, inaccessible market, lack of clear pig and pork marketing system, lack of transport, poor extension and veterinary services, lack of market and shortage of land as the major constraints of swine production and marketing in Ethiopia. This paper highlights the Ethiopian swine industry, the role played by the smallholder swine farmers, the constraints and recommendations to the policy makers and stakeholders on the way of promoting smallholder swine farmers. Keywords: constraints, government, swine production DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/12-1-03 Publication date: January 31 st 2022

Highlights

Ethiopia has around 28 thousands swine which represent 0.1% of African swine population (FAO, 2005) and they are 100 percent exotic breeds and not yet characterized very well
The swine sector has not been well advanced in African countries like in Ethiopia, it has the potential to contribute to the food security and create job opportunities especially for the poor farming communities (Petrus et al 2011; Amills et al 2013; Tekle et al 2013; Berihu et al 2015; Birhan et al 2015; Goraga et al 2015; Greve, 2015; Adeoye et al, 2016; Goraga et al, 2016)
As swine production is at its infant stage in Ethiopia, it is challenged by several bottlenecks (Tekle et al 2013; Berihu et al, 2015; Birhan et al 2015; Goraga et al 2015 & 16)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Ethiopia has around 28 thousands swine which represent 0.1% of African swine population (FAO, 2005) and they are 100 percent exotic breeds and not yet characterized very well. The swine sector has not been well advanced in African countries like in Ethiopia, it has the potential to contribute to the food security and create job opportunities especially for the poor farming communities (Petrus et al 2011; Amills et al 2013; Tekle et al 2013; Berihu et al 2015; Birhan et al 2015; Goraga et al 2015; Greve, 2015; Adeoye et al, 2016; Goraga et al, 2016). Most livestock producers in Ethiopia do not have keen interest to invest in swine sector compared with their interest to invest in other livestock sectors, and this could be partly associated with the lack of functional marketing systems for live pigs and pork, and due to the religious taboos against swine production and pork consumption in the country (Goraga et al, 2015 &16). There is limited information on the performance of swine production and marketing in the country

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Findings

Conclusion