Description

Abstract: This research brief presents preliminary observations from six months of field research and interviews with key actors involved in livestock marketing in southern Ethiopia and northeastern Kenya, as well as ongoing trader surveys started in August and December 2012. Key aspects of this research include, first, the importance of understanding the ways in which climate variability interacts with livestock trade. In fact, much of our research thus far highlights the impacts of the most recent drought in 2011 on livestock marketing. Second is the complexity of livestock trade and the extent to which it has changed since 2005 as a result of growing export trade to Middle Eastern markets. And, third, we note the importance of understanding the market system from the perspectives of individual traders. Research in these three areas plus further assessments of pastoralism and marketing chains in southern Ethiopia and northeastern Kenya will aid in forming policy recommendations to strengthen livestock markets in the region