Overview of Livestock Feed Subsector in Ethiopia

Presented by Adugna Tolera (Hawassa University) at the Inception meeting for the ‘Fodder and feed in livestock value

chains in Ethiopia’ projectILRI, Addis Ababa, 21-22 February 2012

BackgroundBackground High livestock population (national) but low

productivity

Diverse agro-ecologies and different production systems

Increasing demand for animal products

Increased interest and efforts to promote market-led livestock development

Feed related challenges of livestock production1. Shortage of feeds 2. Seasonality

Potential feed resources

Roughages Natural pastures Conserved forages (Hay) Crop residues Cultivated forages Fast growing and high biomass crops

such as maize Hulls - Cottonseed hull, pulse crop hull

Potential feed resources (cont…) Agricultural/agro-industrial by-products

Milling by-products Wheat bran, wheat short, wheat middling Screenings – barley, wheat, bean, lentils

Oilseed cakes Cottonseed, linseed, noug, groundnut, sesame, sunflower

Whole cottonseed Molasses Horticultural by-products and wastes Brewery and distillery by-products (including home brewing

and distilling) Poultry litter

Occasional surplus grain and grain broken during processing

Natural pasturesNatural pastures Naturally occurring

grasses, legumes, forbs, shrubs and tree foliage

Seasonal fluctuation in quantity and quality

Decreasing from time to time due to expansion of cropping

Shrinkage of grazing land due to expansion of cropping

Grass hay

Variable quality CP may vary 3-12%

depending on Grass species

(botanical composition) Stage of maturity Harvesting, drying and

storage conditions Weather condition Moisture content

Crop residues Crop production provides a

range of residues and by-products

Increasingly important sources of animal feed

Low nutrient content, digestibility and intake

Variable nutritive value depending upon species/ variety, time of harvest, handling and storage conditions etc.

MaizeMaize

Food•Grain

Feed• Stover (dry or green)

• Thinnings• Leaf strippings•Topping•Grain ?•Whole plant ?

Cultivated forages and pastures

Limited availability Many years of research and development

interventions but low adoption rate Reasons?

Competition for resources (land, labour etc.) with crop production

Lack of suitable seeds and planting materials Lack of economic incentives in subsistence

farming Other ?

Some cultivated forages species

Grasses Elephant (Napier)

grass Rhodes grass Guinea grass Oats (highlands)etc.

Herbaceous legumes Stylosanthes

spp. Desmodiums (D.

intortum & D. uncinatum)

Vetch Lablab Cowpea Alfalfaetc.

•Fodder trees• Leucaena • Sesbania • Pigeon pea• Tagasaste (highlands)

Agro-industrial byproducts

Oilseed cakes, milling by-products, molasses, brewery and distillery by-products etc.

Relatively high quality feed Important sources of nutrients (protein and/or

energy) for market oriented livestock production

Localized availability and distribution

Agro-industrial byproducts (Cont…..)

Supply could not satisfy demand Factories operate below capacity Unpredictable price increase

Increase in price of raw materials Competition from export market (for raw

materials)

Thinning (maize and sorghum) Leaf stripping (maize and sorghum) Leaves or foliage of other crops (cassava, sugar cane,

banana, enset etc.) Topping (maize, cassava, sugar cane) Sweet potato vines (and tubers) Peelings and reject fruits and vegetables (eg. Banana, pine

apple, orange etc.) Occasionally whole crop (eg. Sugarcane, banana, enset and

maize) Dropped coffee leaves, coffee pulp and hulls (minor

contribution) Weeds or weed seeds Tree leaves and pods Cactus

Other feeds derived from cropping systems

Asandabo weed seed being harvested for feed at Hunte farm of Bale Agricultural Development Enterprise

Component Mean Range

Dry matter (%) 94.7 94.4-95.1

Ash (% DM) 5.8 3.2-9.1

Crude protein (% DM) 13.3 12.1-14.1

Neutral detergent fiber (% DM) 22.1 19.1-25.6

Acid detergent fiber (% DM) 8.6 6.1-10.7

In vitro OM digestibility (%) 79.5 77.7-81.0

Nutritive value of Asandabo weed seed

Feed resources used for backyard cattle fatteningWolayta Arsi-Negelle Hararghe

Crop residues Areqe atella Thinning of maize and sorghum

Cut-and-carry grass Wheat straw Leaf stripping of maize and sorghum

Boiled maize & haricot bean grain

Wheat bran Weeds and grasses from crop fields

Thinning or whole crop maize

Oil seed cake (esp. linseed cake)

Agricultural by-products like sweet potato vines

Sweet potato vines and tuber

Enset

Household wastes (atella & coffee residue)

Feed industries

At infant stage of development Few in number Localized distribution (Addis – Adama

corridor & Bahir Dar) Operate at about 25% of their capacity Mainly serve commercial producers and few

urban and peri-urban smallholder producers ACDI/VOCA installed feed mills with smaller

capacity for 9 Coop Unions distributed over a wider area

Shrinkage of grazing areas Recurrent droughts Seasonal fluctuation of feed availability and

quality Lack of well developed tradition of fodder

conservation Low adoption of improved forage production Low nutritive quality of crop residues Inadequate and fluctuating supply of agro-

industrial by-products Feed industries not well developed

Challenges of livestock feed supply

0

50

100

150

200

250

1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

Pri

ce

(B

irr/

10

0 k

g)

Maize

Noug cake

Linseed cake

Wheatscreening

Feed price trends over the last few years

How can the problems be addressed?

Improve fodder conservation practices Assess the advantages and disadvantages of

exporting oilseeds vs processing locally Encourage production of improved forage crops

in niche areas Make effective use of available feed resources

Avoid wastage of agricultural and agro-industrial by-products (cassava, sweet potato, enset etc.)

Use balanced feed to increase efficiency

Thank you !