Assessment of Sheep Production and Marketing System in Jimma Geneti Wereda, Horo Guduru Wollega Zone of Oromia Regional State, Western Ethiopia

• Background of the Study 

Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa with estimated number of 65 million cattle, 40 million sheep and 51 million goats respectively [1] indicated that the livestock production systems in Ethiopia have evolved largely as a result of the influence of the natural production environments and socio-economic circumstances of farmers/pastoralists rather than market forces. Sheep and goat in Ethiopia and most developing countries are kept under traditional extensive systems. The livestock production a system is of subsistence nature has evolved largely as a result of the influence of the natural production environments and socio-economic circumstances of farmers, rather than market forces in Ethiopia. Like all other livestock species, sheep and goat in Ethiopia are kept under traditional extensive systems with no or minimal inputs and improved technologies, which results in characteristically low productivity [2]. Even though different attempts have been made in the past to improve the performance of sheep, there was no significant increase in the productivity in Jimma Genet Woreda in particular and Ethiopia in general. For instance, [3] indicated that although various research and development activities have been carried out, no significant increase in productivity was achieved. As a result, improvement programs are highly important to improve productivity of sheep in a sustainable manner of the country. However, such development achievement for sheep will only be successful when accompanied by a good understanding of the different farming systems and when simultaneously addressing several constraints: feeding, health control, general management, as well as cost and availability of credit and marketing infrastructure. 

• Statement of the Problem 

Despite the potential of sheep and their contribution to the livelihood of the farmers and the national economy, sheep production in Ethiopia is below its potential due to different factors like feed shortage, prevalence of disease and parasites. In the same manner, Jimma Geneti woreda of Horo Guduru Wollega zone is one of the most potential of sheep production found in southern Ethiopia. The productivity of sheep production in the study area remains low like in Ethiopia despite of the large potential and suitable environment for production. Moreover, sheep has a great economic importance, the production; management and marketing system are not well studied and documented so far at Jimma Geneti Woreda Horo Guduru Wollega zone of Oromia Regional State, Western Ethiopia.  Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the existing sheep production and marketing system in Jimma Geneti wereda.

• Objective of the Study

1. General Objective 

The general objective of this study was to assess the existing sheep production and marketing system in Jimma Geneti wereda

2. Specific Objectives 

To identify existing sheep production systems

To identify major sheep marketing systems

to assess the sheep production and marketing constraints

• Scope of the Study 

The study was delimited to Jimma Geneti district for assessing sheep production and marketing systems.

• Significance of the Study 

The result of this study would be used as a survey line study for next research works beside help us as a requirement for holding BSc degree.

• Description of the study area 

This study was carried out in the Jimma Geneti district, Horo Guduru Wollega Zone of Oromia region, Western Ethiopia. Geographically, it lies between 9°13'00’’ to 9°33'00’’ North latitudes and 36°3'00’’ to 36°17'00’’ East longitudes (Figure 3). It is situated between 2100 to 3100 meter above sea level. And thus the wareda is categorized into mid and high land agro ecological zones. The annual average rainfall and temperature are 1500mm and 18⁰c respectively [4]. The wareda has 14 kebeles (lowest administrative systems); 12 rural kebeles and 2 urban kebeles.

This woreda is known by mixed farming system, i.e., crop production and livestock rearing. The population of livestock found in the district is listed in the (table 1). 

Table 1: Types and number of livestock in Jimma Geneti Wereda 

Source: JGANRO, Livestock dep’t socioeconomic data, 2021

• Sampling Techniques and Sample Size 

Jimma Geneti district has 14 Kebeles. The Woreda is characterized by two agro-ecologies namely ‘Woina Dega’ (mid altitude) and ‘Dega’ (high land). The number of Kebeles in the Woreda which is characterized by ‘Woina Dega’ and ‘Dega’ is 9 and 5 respectively. For the present study to make representative based on agroecolgy 2 and 1 Kebeles were selected by proportional simple random from “Woina Dega” and “Dega” respectively. From each Kebele, 15 households were selected purposely based on the experience and involvement of sheep production. Thus, the total number of respondents who included in the study was 45 (i.e. 3 Kebeles ×15 house holders).

• Data Collection 

Both primary and secondary source of data were used for the study. The primary data were obtained through questionnaire and personal observation. The Primary data like respondents’ socio economics characteristics, livestock holdings, sheep production systems and constraints of [5-7] sheep production were gathered from the selected respondents through the pretested semi structured questionnaire. The secondary data were obtained from written documents, journals and the Woreda Agriculture and Natural Resource office, livestock department.

• Data analysis 

Data collected through questionnaire, interview, personal observations and secondary sources were analyzed qualitatively using excel. Simple descriptive statistics (frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation) were used to describe and summarize the data.

• Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents

Sex of the Respondents 

As shown in the (Table 2), about 73.3% male respondents and 26.7% of female participants were involved in this study. This indicates that the overwhelming majority of male household heads that [8] participated in sheep production and marketing. But, it also indicates that large numbers of female household heads are participated in sheep production and marketing in the study area. 

Table 2: Sex of respondents 

Source: own computation from survey (2022) 

Age of Respondents 

Regarding ages of respondents, for simplicity ages of the respondents are categorized into three groups. Accordingly, the ages of majority of respondents (75.56%) were dropped between 30-50 years while about 15.56% and 8.89% of respondents were below 30 years and greater than 50 years respectively (Figure 1). This indicates that most herders are those whose ages fall in active working age [9]. This presence of high proportion of active working age force may be an opportunity for active participation in agricultural activities and this agrees with reports of Asaminew and Eyasu (2009). 

 Figure 1: Age of Respondents 

Source: own computation from survey (2022) 

Educational backgrounds of Households 

As indicated in the (Table 3), majority 27(60%) of the household heads had attended basic primary education and 31.1% had attended secondary school education and above. But, few households 4 (8.9%) have no formal education (uneducated). This shows that most of respondents participated in this study are literate (can read and write). It is understood that the presence of high percentage of literate individuals in farming community can be an opportunity for easily training, transfer and adoption of improved farming practice [10-12]. 

Table 3: Educational backgrounds of Household heads of charcoal producers 

Source: own computation from survey (2022) 

The livestock type and size of the respondents 

As indicated in the (Table 4), types of livestock and their number were identified. Accordingly, the highest average number of livestock per household head was identified as sheep with 12 heads of sheep per household. Thus, sheep was ranked first in the study area. The present research finding indicated that the population of sheep is slightly higher than the finding of Madebo and Anja (2018) who showed that the average number of sheep was 10 for study conducted in Shashego wereda, Hadiya zone and also the result of present study is higher than the study of [13] who indicated that the average number of sheep was 7.4 for the sites being dominant in sheep dominating site in Alaba, Southern Ethiopia. The higher number of sheep in study area compared to other livestock species can indicate that the area is potential of sheep production and also its higher importance to the contribution of the livelihood of the community.

Table 4: Type and number of livestock recorded from the respondents 

Source: own computation from survey (2022)

Sheep production system in the study area

Method of sheep production 

The production method of sheep in the study area is shown in the (Figure 2). As it is evident from the figure, most (98%) of the interviewed households were practicing using extensive sheep production system, while the rest (2%) practiced semi intensive system [14-16]. This indicates that the extensive production system is considered to be the most dominant in sheep production system under small holder farmers in the study area. This production system is known to be the low input, management and finally low output system. Therefore, awareness to the farmer about improved management system of sheep production should be advised (Table 5). Figure 2:  Sheep production system in the study area 

Source: own computation from survey (2022) 

Feed resources and feeding management of sheep 

Grazing of sheep in different forms is the dominant feed resources for sheep in the study area. Accordingly, the major (86.7%) of the respondents use natural grazing and browsing land to feed their sheep, and about 13.3% give supplementary crop residues during dry season. But none of them provide concentrate feed to their animals (Table 5). In agreement to the results of the current study, Belete (2009) reported that Communal grazing land, roadside grazing, riverside grazing and aftermath grazing are the major types of grazing for sheep [17]. 

Table 5: Feed sources and feeding management of sheep in study area 

Source: own computation from survey (2022) 

In this study, majority (60%) of the respondents faced feed shortage during dry season, while the rest (40%) reports feed shortage occurs during the wet season (Table 5). This shows that there was feed shortage problem both during the dry and the rainy seasons. With respect to feeding frequency most (64.4%) of respondents feed their sheep once a day. In this case the products let out their animal to grazing/browsing area at the morning and this type of feeding system is common in the extensive sheep production system. This finding agrees with the results of Madebo and Anja (2018) who found that 66.7% of the respondents faced feed shortage during dry season and also the same number of respondents responded that thy let their sheep to graze once a day [18-20]. 

Housing of sheep 

Farmers in the area use different types of sheep houses. Attaching sheep house with a main house is predominant housing system in the area (53.3%) followed by sheep houses separately constructed (31.1%). Sheltering sheep in the main house (15.6%) is also found in the area (Table 6). Sheep houses were made of locally available materials. The types of materials used for wall construction of sheep houses were different among kebeles based on the availability construction materials [21]. In Lalisa Biya and Charo Gobano kebeles, the wall of most of sheep houses were constructed using eucalyptus poles while indigenous woods were used in case of Gudetu Geneti kebele. In the two kebeles, eucalyptus trees are widely grown. 

The wall was usually plastered with mud to protect against wild prey animals. The roof is usually made of corrugated iron sheet (90%) [22-24]. The dominant floor type was usually earth both during the dry (70%) and rainy (52%) seasons (Table 6). Regarding cleaning of houses, majority of respondents (42.2%) clean sheep houses once a week. While about 26.7%, 17.8%, and 13.3% of households clean sheep house twice a week, three times a week and on a daily basis respectively. The differences of frequency of cleaning by the respondents might depend on number of herds they have. 

Table 6: Housing and house management for sheep production in the study area. 

Source: own computation from survey (2022)

Sheep marketing in the study area

Sheep marketing system and high demand season for sheep 

The marketing system and season of high demand of sheep area are shown in (Table 7). According to the data collected from the respondents, majority (80%) of respondents indicated that sheep were marketed through formal system, i.e., bringing to market place while only (20%) of the respondents showed that sheep were marketed through informal systems. This shows that marketing of sheep in the study area is exercised largely by formal system in which a seller and a buyer meet at a specific market place. Respondents were asked to give a response on what was a high demand season or occasion for sheep marketing. Accordingly, the data collected from the respondents revealed that about 44.4% of the respondents indicated that there is a high demand of sheep in the market during Easter holiday. In the same manner, about 31.1 and 20% of the respondents indicated that the demand for sheep is high during Christmas and New Year occasions respectively. Few respondents responded that there is a high demand for sheep other than these aforementioned occasions. The seasons might be during Muslim holidays. 

Table 7: Marketing system and season of high demand for sheep 

Source: own computation from survey (2022) 

Marketing constraints 

As indicated in Table 8, marketing of sheep was constrained by different factors (Table 8)

Table 8: Marketing constraints and determinants of sheep price 

Source: own computation from survey (2022) 

Mainly lack of marketing channels (46.7%) was indicated as major marketing constraint in sheep marketing in the study area. And also lack of awareness on marketing issues and distance of a household home from a market place were considered as constraints in sheep marketing system by about 37.8% and 15.6% of respondents respectively (Table 8).The respondents also reported that the price of a sheep is determined by physical characteristics of a sheep and season. Accordingly, the most important factor to influence price of sheep in the study area was found to be body condition of a sheep which was responded by more than half of respondents (51.1%).  Age of sheep, color of sheep and season of selling have contributed to 24.4%, 17.8% and 6.7% of influence on price change of a sheep (Table 9). 

Table 9: Factors affecting sheep market. 

The result shows the preferability of red color sheep is 81% of market, brown color sheep  15%, white color shares 3% and black color sheep accounts about 1% of the total market choice in percentage. This can show the most marketed color is red. In respective of their age sheep of age 0-1 year is preferred by 64.44 and the sheep aged 1 year or above have 35.56% preferability.

• Conclusion

The study was conducted in Jimma Geneti district to assess production and marketing system of sheep. Three kebeles were randomly selected as sample kebeles from which sample respondents were purposively selected based on their potential of rearing sheep and other livestock. Data were collected from 45 respondents selected from the three kebeles using semi-structured questionnaire. 

The result of the present survey study showed the dominant (93.3%) of sheep production systems was the extensive system. Sheep production was common in study area and average numbers per households were 12 heads. The common feed resource for sheep was natural grazing and crop residues and house hold wastage. Feed shortage during dry season was the most critical constraints for sheep raised by majority (60%) of the respondents. The most common (64.4%) feeding frequency of sheep was once a day. High demand for sheep was happened during holidays. The highest demand was thus observed during Easter holiday. Even though marketing of sheep was through formal market system, marketing constraints such as lack of market channels and lack of awareness about market issue were identified as big issues which need collaboration.

• Recommendation 

Based the finding, the following recommendations were forwarded 

• Strong extension work must be done to alleviate the problems associated with production and marketing constrains of sheep.
• Possible market channels should be created to facilitate marketing options for the farmers
• Attention should be given to create awareness about improved sheep production system.

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