Livestock Marketing in Kenya and Ethiopia
Livestock marketing is critical to development of arid and semi-arid
lands in Kenya and Ethiopia. Donors are showing renewed interest
in funding livestock marketing activities. Livestock market
improvement offers the potential to reduce poverty in areas that are
identified as the poorest in these countries. Such activities
also allow donors to move from a "relief" mode to a "development" mode
in dryland areas, as there is growing frustration with dryland
activities being in permanent "relief" mode. However, the
research community is not currently able to provide donors with clear
and specific information to use in designing livestock marketing
activities. It is not at all clear how research findings at the
macro, meso, and micro levels are to be reconciled and used in program
design. It is also not clear how markets should be designed to
meet marketing needs in both "normal" and "crisis" periods. At
this point in time, it is difficult to provide specific recommendations
based on research to donors. The objective of this project is to
bring together researchers knowledgeable about livestock marketing in
this area in order to integrate information about livestock marketing
at different levels. The outcome will be the publication of these
various insights, and the provision of a set of recommendations to
donors interested in livestock market development.
Sponsor:
Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program