摘要：Ethiopia has a large livestock population that performs multiple functions and contributes to food security both directly and indirectly. However, the contribution of the sector to the economy is much less than its potential due to various reasons, one of the important reason lies in the problems associated with domestic and international marketing of livestock. Current knowledge on livestock market structure, performance and prices is poor and inadequate for designing policies and institutions to overcome perceived problems in the marketing system to address its links with food security. Knowledge on how marketing routes and systems contribute to spread of diseases and the implications of these for national and international trade in livestock is also highly inadequate to design any policy or institutional innovation to improve marketing for the benefit of the poor. Further, exploitation of the export market will require an understanding of the market potential in the importing countries including growth in demand, SPS and other quality requirements, rules and regulations governing the market, Ethiopia’s competitiveness in the market in relation to alternative suppliers and ability of the domestic market to respond to the export market opportunities
