Presented by Berhanu Gebremedhin, Mengistu Woldehanna, Fiona Flintan, Barbara Wieland and Jane Poole at the Validation Workshop, Addis Ababa, 28 February 2019

1. Livestock Ownership, Market Participation and
Household Cash Income
Berhanu Gebremedhin, Mengistu Woldehanna, Fiona Flintan, Barbara
Wieland and Jane Poole
ILRI
Validation Workshop, Addis Ababa, 28 February 2019

2. Presentation Outline
• Livestock Ownership
• Cow and camel milk productivity
• Livestock market participation
• Livestock market access and market information
service
• Household cash income and savings

3. • Overall, about 83% of households own
cattle, 85% own sheep, 92% own goats,
50% own camels and 31% own donkeys.
• The proportion owning sheep ranged
from about 73% in Amibara to about 93%
in Telalak, while the proportion who
owned goats ranged from about 83% in
Amibara to 100% in Chifera.
• Camel ownership is highest in Telalak
(70% of households owning), followed by
Amibara and Aura.
• Proportion of households who own
donkeys ranged from just 10% in Amibara
to about 42% in Chifera.
Cattle sheep goats Camel donkey
Amib
ara
81.7 73.3 83.3 48.3 10.0
Chifer
a
83.3 90.0 100.0 46.7 41.7
Dawe 78.3 80.0 86.7 43.3 40.0
Telala
k
75.0 93.3 95.0 70.0 36.7
Aura 86.7 86.7 96.7 48.3 28.3
Gewa
ne
90.0 85.0 91.7 43.3 26.7
Total 82.5 84.7 92.2 50.0 30.6
Proportion who owned livestock

4. • Overall, the proportion of households
who own livestock seems to be higher
in the pastoral than the agropastoral
areas.
• Interestingly, proportion who own
sheep in the pastoral areas is higher
by about 17.5% than the proportion
in the agropastoral areas.
• Similarly, the proportion who owned
goats in the pastoral areas was higher
in pastoral by about 13% than in the
agropastoral areas.
• While more than half of the
households in the pastoral areas own
camels, just about a third own camel
in the agropastoral areas.
• There does not seem to be significant
numerical difference in the
proportion of households who own
livestock by sex of household head, or
by youth versus adult heads
Pastoral Agropastoral
Cattl
e
shee
p
goat
s
Cam
el
don
key
Catt
le
she
ep
goat
s
Cam
el
donk
ey
Amib
ara
82.6 76.1 78.3 43.5 8.7 78.6 64.3 100.
0
64.3 14.3
Chife
ra
83.3 90.0 100.
0
46.7 41.7 na na na na na
Daw
e
78.3 82.6 95.7 50.0 37.0 78.6 71.4 57.1 21.4 50.0
Telal
ak
74.6 94.9 94.9 71.2 37.3 na na na na na
Aura 92.0 88.0 98.0 50.0 26.0 60.0 80.0 90.0 40.0 40.0
Gew
ane
89.1 89.1 95.7 54.3 28.3 92.9 71.4 78.6 7.1 21.4
Total 83.1 87.3 94.1 53.1 30.6 79.2 69.8 81.1 32.1 30.2
Proportion who owned livestock by livelihood zone

5. • The average holdings were 8.1, 18.2, 22.2,
5.6 and 2.2 per household for cattle,
sheep, goats, camels and donkeys,
respectively.
• Mean cattle ownership ranged from 5.1 in
Telalak to 11.6 in Gewane.
• Mean sheep ownership ranged from 12.1
in Telalak to 28.1 in Gewane.
• Mean camel ownership had narrower
range, ranging from 3.6 in Chifera to 8.6 in
Gewane.
• Interestingly, the average donkey holding
fluctuates around two across the districts.
• Average holding slightly higher in male
headed households than in female headed
households
district Cattle sheep goats Camel donkey
Amibar
a
6.7 15.1 16.6 5.3 2.2
Chifera 6.9 18.9 22.1 3.6 2.2
Dawe 6.2 14.8 24.2 6.7 2.6
Telalak 5.1 12.1 22.6 5.1 2.0
Aura 11.0 20.2 17.8 4.7 1.5
Gewan
e
11.6 28.1 29.7 8.6 2.8
Total 8.1 18.2 22.2 5.6 2.2
Size of livestock holding (among those who owned)

6. • Average
holdings among
owners seem to
be numerically
higher among
pastoral
households
than agro-
pastoral
households,
except cattle
Pastoral Agropastoral
Cattl
e
shee
p
goat
s
Came
l
donk
ey
Cattl
e
shee
p
goat
s
Came
l
do
nk
ey
Amiba
ra
6.4 16.0 16.9 6.0 2.3 7.7 11.6 15.7 3.5 2.0
Chifer
a
6.9 18.9 22.1 3.6 2.2 na na na na na
Dawe 6.1 15.5 25.8 6.9 2.6 6.6 12.3 15.1 5.3 2.6
Telala
k
5.0 12.1 22.4 5.1 2.0 na na na na na
Aura 11.4 20.8 17.9 5.2 1.4 7.7 16.8 17.2 1.5 1.8
Gewa
ne
11.4 31.0 31.7 8.6 2.9 12.5 16.1 21.9 8.0 2.0
Total 7.9 18.8 22.8 5.8 2.3 9.0 14.1 17.9 3.6 2.2
Livestock ownership by livelihood zone

7. • The average livestock holding in TLU
was 17.5.
• As expected, the highest contribution
to TLU comes from cattle and camels
• The holding in TLU ranged from 14.2
in Telalak to 25.2 in Gewane,
indicating a wide difference in
livestock holding.
• The overall average livestock holding
in TLU is slightly higher in the
pastoral (16.5) than in the
agropastoral (14.2) areas.
• Overall, livestock holding seems to be
higher in adult headed than in youth
headed households.
District Cattl
e
shee
p
goat
s
Came
l
donke
y
Total
TLU
Amiba
ra
4.7 1.5 1.7 5.3 2.2 15.3
Chifera 4.8 1.9 2.2 3.6 2.2 14.8
Dawe 4.2 1.5 2.4 6.7 2.6 17.5
Telalak 3.6 1.2 2.3 5.1 2.0 14.2
Aura 7.7 2.0 1.8 4.7 1.5 17.6
Gewan
e
8.1 2.8 3.0 8.6 2.8 25.2
Total 5.6 1.8 2.2 5.6 2.2 17.5
Average livestock holding in TLU

8. • The overall mean per capita livestock
holding was about 1.94 TLU.
• The per capita TLU in pastoral
households is higher by 0.5 TLU than
in the agropastoral households.
• There is no difference in per capital
TLU between male headed and
female headed households.
• TLU per capita in youth headed
households is higher by 0.53 perhaps
because of the smaller family size in
youth headed households.
• Per capita TLU lower than the
minimum per capita TLU required for
above poverty line (3-4 TLU per
capita, Cornelis de Haan, 2016,
World Bank)
Distr
ict
Livelihood Sex of
household
head
Age of
household
head
Total
Pastor
al
Agrop
astora
l
Male
heade
d
Femal
e
heade
d
Youth
head
ed
Adult
head
ed
Ami
bara
1.83 1.60 1.83 1.65 1.52 1.81 1.78
Chife
ra
1.84 na 1.92 1.54 2.25 1.71 1.84
Daw
e
1.81 1.27 1.71 1.71 2.27 1.60 1.71
Telal
ak
2.23 na 2.05 2.96 3.64 1.52 2.20
Aura 2.00 .84 1.81 1.80 1.16 1.90 1.81
Gew
ane
2.34 2.17 2.26 2.50 2.37 2.29 2.30
Total 2.01 1.51 1.93 1.98 2.49 1.82 1.94
Per capita TLU

9. • The average milk yield per lactation
period was 1.5 liters.
• Cow milk yield ranged from 1.4 (Amibara
and Dawe) to 1.9 liter (in Aura).
• The average lactation length in the
pastoral areas was 173 days,
• The average lactation length in the
agropastoral areas was about 182 days.
District Lactation length
(days)
Average
total
yield
(lt/day)
Pastoral Agropas
toral
Amibara 177 176.7 1.4
Chifera 176 na 1.5
Dawe 175 181.4 1.4
Telalak 161 na 1.6
Aura 167 192.5 1.9
Gewane 182 187.5 1.5
Total 173 181.8 1.5
Cow milk productivity

10. • The overall average milk yield
over a lactation period was 2.8
liters.
• Lactation length in the pastoral
areas ranged from 156 days (in
Aura) to 250 days in Dawe).
• A maximum of 300 days
lactation length was observed in
the agropastoral areas in
Gewane.
District Lactation length average
yield
Pastoral Agropastoral
Amibara 217 190 2.6
Chifera 216 na 3.3
Dawe 250 240 2.9
Telalak 216 na 3.1
Aura 156 210 2.8
Gewane 230 300 3.4
Total 217 213 2.8
Camel milk productivity

11. • Overall, about 61%, 83%, 85% and 53%
of households participated as sellers
for cattle, sheep, goats and camels,
respectively.
• The proportion of households who sold
cattle ranged from about 44% in Telalak
to 72% in Chifera.
• The highest proportion of households
who participated in livestock market as
sellers was reported for sheep and
goats, followed by cattle.
• The proportion of sellers in the pastoral
areas seems to be slightly higher than
those in the agropastoral areas.
• There is no marked difference in the
proportion of sellers by sex of
household head.
Livestock market participation a seller
(Proportion of households)
District
Total
Cattle Sheep Goats Camels
Amibara 55.1 63.6 76.0 42.9
Chifera 72.0 92.6 90.0 57.1
Dawe 61.7 87.5 94.2 57.7
Telalak 44.4 87.5 86.0 54.8
Aura 71.2 88.5 91.4 55.2
Gewane 57.4 74.5 70.9 50.0
Total 60.6 83.0 84.9 53.1

12. • Overall, gross commercial off-take rate of
8.5%, 11.1%, 12.6% and 10.5% were
observed for cattle, sheep, goats and
camels, respectively.
• No marked difference in the off-take
rates were observed between pastoral
and agro-pastoral households.
• There seem to be differences in the off-
take rates by district.
• As by livelihood zones, no marked
difference in the off-take rates was
observed by sex of heads or by age of
household head.
district Total
Cattle Sheep Goats Camels
Amibara 6.3 8.8 11.2 7.4
Chifera 9.0 13.5 14.9 16.6
Dawe 8.7 10.3 11.1 10.7
Telalak 8.7 12.5 13.5 10.1
Aura 8.3 12.4 16.6 15.8
Gewane 9.6 9.3 9.1 6.9
Total 8.5 11.1 12.6 10.5
Gross Commercial Off-take rate of livestock

13. • About 40% of households reported
having access to livestock market
within 3 hours of waking distance.
• About 19% reported having access
to the market within 5-8 hours of
walking distance.
• About a third of the households
reported that they had to walk for
more than a day to the nearest
livestock market, suggesting the
dire need to invest in market
development in these areas.
• Access to livestock market seems to
be better in the pastoral than in the
agropastoral areas.
< 1
hour
1-3
hours
> 3 –
5
hours
>5 –
8
hours
1 day 2
days
>2
days
Amib
ara
23.9 28.2 12.7 9.9 19.7 5.6 0.0
Chife
ra
17.6 51.5 22.1 1.5 1.5 2.9 2.9
Dawe 12.8 32.6 32.6 8.1 5.8 4.7 3.5
Telala
k
3.6 33.7 22.9 16.9 12.0 4.8 6.0
Aura 3.7 16.5 9.2 9.2 18.3 30.3 12.8
Gewa
ne
12.5 18.3 16.3 5.8 1.0 5.8 40.4
Total 11.5 28.4 18.8 8.6 9.8 10.2 12.7
Proportion of households who reported access to market within certain
distance

14. • More than half of the households
used the livestock markets within
two weeks.
• More than a third reported using
the market one a month, and
about 9% reported using the
markets once a year.
• There is also a small fraction of
households (0.4%) who never used
the market in the year.
• Livestock market use frequency is
slightly more in the pastoral than
in the agropastoral areas, as
expected, since pastoralists rely
more heavily on livestock sales for
cash income
Every
day
once a
week
Every
two
weeks
once a
month
once a
year
Never
Amiba
ra
0.0 49.3 18.3 26.8 5.6 0.0
Chifer
a
0.0 45.6 17.6 36.8 0.0 0.0
Dawe 2.3 32.6 20.9 38.4 4.7 1.2
Telalak 1.2 42.2 24.1 25.3 7.2 0.0
Aura 0.9 19.3 19.3 49.5 11.0 0.0
Gewa
ne
10.6 25.0 11.5 31.7 20.2 1.0
Total 2.9 33.8 18.4 35.5 9.0 0.4
Market use frequency of households

15. Marketing fees
• Marketing fees are paid in all the study districts. An overall
average of Birr 9 was paid per cattle as marketing fee. Marketing
fees per cattle seem to be slightly numerically higher in the
agropastoral than in the pastoral areas.
• An average of about Birr 5 was paid as marketing fee per shoat.
Shoats marketing fees are paid in all the study districts and range
from Birr 2 in Telalak to Birr 5.
• An overall average of Birr 10 was paid per camel. The fees ranged
from Birr 10 to Birr 15.

16. • About 62% of households reported
having access to livestock price
information, primarily from
informal sources.
• Similar proportion of households
reported having access to livestock
price information across the
districts.
• About half of the households said
that access to price information
would influence their marketing
decision.
• This suggests the important role of
developing market information
system in supporting livestock
marketing decision of households.
District Pastoral Agropastoral Total
Amibara 58.7 64.3 60.0
Chifera 61.7 na 61.7
Dawe 58.7 57.1 58.3
Telalak 64.4 na 65.0
Aura 72.0 30.0 65.0
Gewane 60.9 64.3 61.7
Total 62.9 56.6 61.9
Proportion of households who reported access to
livestock price information

17. • The overall average cash income of
the surveyed households was about
Birr 11, 975.
• The large standard deviation
indicates that there is a wide
variation in cash income among
households.
• The mean cash income ranges from
about Birr 14, 638 (in Amibara) to
Birr 19, 583 (in Aura).
• The mean cash income seems to be
numerically higher in the pastoral
than the agropastoral areas,
perhaps because of differences in
come from the sale of livestock.
• However, there is no significant
statistical difference in cash income
between pastoral and agropastoral
areas in any of the districts.
Pastoral
(mean)
Agropast
oral
(Mean)
Whole sample
Mean Standard
Deviation
Amibara 14363 15540 14638 11297
Chifera 18250 na 18250 11479
Dawe 16784 13696 16064 12387
Telalak 16538 na 16636 11816
Aura 20412 15433 19582 11896
Gewane 18400 16025 17846 12764
Total 17493 15290 17169 11974
Household cash income

18. • livestock sales accounts for more
than two-third of household cash
income.
• The second most important
contributor to cash income seems
to be PSNP, followed by wage
income.
• Gifts, remittances and aid stands
as the fourth important
contributor.
• Interestingly, livestock product
sales, crop production and
business activities contribute very
small.
live
animal
sale
livest
ock
produ
cts
Crop
sales
Wage
empl
oyme
nt
Busin
ess
activi
ties
Gifts
remitt
ance
and
aid
PSNP
Amib
ara
9138 121. 178 1704 717 970 1809
Chifer
a
12850 137 25 1197 850 623 2569
Dawe 10369 156 743 1036 83 1072 2603
Telala
k
11217 50 316 1408 42 1066 2538
Aura 14479 292 305 1614 67 723 2102
Gewa
ne
12963 295 1050 848 425 848 1417
Total 11836 175 436 1301 364 883 2173
Cash income structure of households

19. • Overall, about 7.5% of
households reported savings.
• The proportion of households
who saved money in the
agropastoral areas was more
than twice the proportion in
the pastoral areas.
• Similarly, the proportion of
male headed households who
saved money was almost
twice as much as in the female
headed households.
• Almost equal proportion of
households saved money in
the youth-headed and adult-
headed households.
Past
oral
Agropa
storal
Male
headed
Female
headed
Youth
headed
Adult
head
ed
Total
Ami
bara
4.3 14.3 4.8 11.1 14.3 5.7 6.7
Chife
ra
1.7 0.0 2.1 0.0 0.0 2.2 1.7
Daw
e
2.2 7.1 3.9 0.0 0.0 3.9 3.3
Telal
ak
3.4 0.0 4.0 0.0 5.3 2.4 3.3
Aura 12.0 10.0 13.2 0.0 14.3 11.3 11.7
Gew
ane
15.2 28.6 20.0 10.0 33.3 16.7 18.3
Total 6.2 15.1 8.2 4.5 8.1 7.4 7.5
Proportion of households who saved money

20. • The overall mean
annual saving among
those who saved was
Birr 8143.
• The mean annual
saving ranged from
Birr 3000 in Dawe to
Birr 10, 418 in
Gewane.
District Mean Min Max Mode
Amibara 4000.0 1000 6000 6000
Chifera 10000.0 10000 10000 10000
Dawe 3000.0 1000 5000 1000
Telalak 3750.0 3000 4500 3000
Aura 9396.7 1777 20000 15000
Gewane 10418.2 500 30000 30000
Total 8143.6 500 30000 3000
Savings of households (Birr)

21. • The only saving institutions used by
savers are the home and banks.
• About 90% of savers saved their
money at home, while about 11% of
savers saved money in banks.
• No saving was reported in saving and
credit groups, SACCOS or microfinance
institutions.
• About 90% of savers saved their
money at home, while about 11% of
savers saved money in banks.
• Agropastoralists did not use banks to
save money.
District Pastoral Agropastoral Total
Amibara 100.0 100.0 100.0
Chifera 100.0 na 100.0
Dawe 100.0 100.0 100.0
Telalak 100.0 na 100.0
Aura 66.7 100.0 71.4
Gewane 85.7 100.0 90.9
Total 84.2 100.0 88.9
Proportion of households who saved at home

22. Conclusions and implications
• Ownership of livestock indicates that improving livestock
productivity could benefit more than 80% of households
• Per capita livestock holding in the pastoral areas lower than the
minimum requirement to stay above poverty line  need to
develop alternative sources of livelihoods or build asset base
• Low milk productivity (1.5 lt/cow and 2.8 lt/camel) indicate that
doubling milk yield could improve household income and food
security
• High market participation but low commercial offtake rate implies
the need to promote intensity of market participation
•

23. Conclusions and Implications
• Market access (as measured by distance) remains a challenge
implying the need to develop market infrastructure
• Access to livestock price information influences marketing decisions
suggesting importance of developing market information system
• Per capita cash income vey low at birr 2452 implying the dire need
to develop alternative income generating activities
• Livestock product sales contribute very little to household cash
income.

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