Ethiopia imports South African breeds to improve sheep, goat stocks

3 July 2007

PANA

In a bid to improve the quality and productivity of its herds, Ethiopia has imported Dorper sheep and Boer goat breeds from South Africa to cross-breed with the local stock in six regions under its livestock development programme, an official source said here Tuesday. The arrival of the new breeds was part of the Ethiopia Sheep and Goat Productivity Improvement Programme that began in late 2005 at the cost of US$5.5 million, according to the source.

"These pure-bred and fast growing animals, once crossed with native sheep and goats, will produce higher quality off-spring to better meet the demands of the rapidly growing sheep and goat export market," said the official, who is associated with the programme but declined to be named. Before their distribution to permanent locations, the newcomers to the Ethiopian soil -- 120 Dorper sheep and 123 Boer goats -- are temporarily quarantined at the National Animal Health Diagnostic and Investigation Centre at Sebeta, in the outskirts of Addis Ababa since their arrival on 30 June 2007.

Upon completion of the quarantine period, the goats will be transferred to Adami Tulu Research Centre in Oromia Region and Awassa University in Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). According to the official, the Dorper sheep would be sent to Melka Worer Research Centre in the eastern Afar Region and to Fafen Agro- pastoral Research Centre of Somali Region.

In addition to the four locations, eight more facilities are to be set up in the regions of Amhara, Afar, Oromia, Somalia, SNNPR and Tigray as crossbreeding and distribution sites. Ethiopia's livestock development programme is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and is implemented by Prairie View A & M University and Langston University in collaboration with the Ethiopian agriculture and rural development ministry.

The Sheep and Goat Productivity Improvement Programme is undertaken in the six major sheep and goat production regions in partnership with regional bureaux of agriculture, research institutes, universities, small-scale livestock producers, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations.

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