Investment in livestock market sheds improves market participation and income from small ruminants: Evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract

The livestock marketing system in Ethiopia hardly receives any attention from policy makers and rural development practitioners. However, investments in livestock market developments need to be part of the rural development plan if the national agenda of agricultural transformation is to be achieved. There is in fact lack of scientific evidence to justify prioritization and hence investments in livestock marketing. Based on a panel data, an experimental study recently estimated the impact of livestock market sheds - one of the key facilities identified as critically important by farmers, on the level of market participation and revenue from small ruminants in Central Ethiopia. The study constructed experimental market sheds in nine markets and conducted baseline and follow-up surveys in 16 markets on a sample of 50 marketers from each of the markets. The results of the study show that market sheds have improved farmers’ income from small ruminants by 40% and farmers’ market participation by 14%. This evidence will be useful in designing market development interventions in central highlands and in other comparable socioeconomic settings in Ethiopian.