Live Animal Export
Ethiopia’s livestock farming sector is an enormous resource whose potential for value creation is only utilized to a limited extent. The current market is characterized by low per-capita consumption, declining exports of live animals and meat via the formal export route and substantial but difficult to capture exports of live animals via the informal export route. As a result, producer prices are often very low and the main added value is only achieved in the subsequent stages of trade. Therefore, there are few incentives for producers to improve or expand production.
Over the last two decades, Ethiopia has mainly focused on red meat exports. More important than the trade in meat and meat products is the marketing and export of live animals for Ethiopia.
In addition to important export earnings, it also provides access to foreign exchange, which is critical for Ethiopian economic development. In recent years, the export of live animals has been subject to strong fluctuations and informal export has gained in importance compared to formal export channels. For formal exports, an export value of around USD 62 million is estimated for 2017. In another publication, the value of formal exports is given as USD 190 million.
Overall, Ethiopia has not yet succeeded in taking advantage of the dual opportunities of, on the one hand, a better supply of red meat for the domestic population, and on the other hand, better export marketing in the red meat sector, where a high added value remains in the country.
So, Tamrin has been exporting live animals, meat, and meat products to fill this gap.
