Assessment on Livestock Production: Opportunities and Challenges to Livestock Household in Welkayt District

Livestock production is contributing a great role in the livelihood of the rural community although is being challenged by various constraints. A questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted on 183 individuals (96 farmers, 73 factory workers, 10 peasant association and 4 veterinarians) from November 2014 to April 2015 to assess the existing opportunities and challenges on livestock production in Welkayt district. Individuals were interviewed to obtain information related to marketing information, animal health service and breed status, feed availability and management system on livestock production. Accordingly, the presence of Welkayt Sugar Project, availability of productive breeds (Begait), and proximity to Sudan and Eretria borders for the international market are some of the identified opportunities for livestock development in the district. However, out of the 96 farmer participants indicated insufficient animal feed in the quantity and quality (45.8%), poor technology supply (43.8%) and poor veterinary service provision (41.7%) as the major challenges in the district. Similarly, veterinarian expertise respondents replied as there were insufficient drugs and equipment’s supply in the existing clinic in the district. During the interview all the respondents reflected that there is declining of grazing pasture from time to time. As a result, the animal owners used animal feeds originated from factories and concerning the perception of the respondents since they have a lack of knowledge on the health and feed management of animals’ continuous awareness creation and improvement of the existing breeds using artificial insemination (AI) should put in place.

Keywords: Challenge; Livestock; Opportunity; Production; Welkayt district.