Cattle Fattening Practices, Marketing Systems, Opportunities and Constraints in Kafta Humera, Western Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate cattle fattening practices, marketing systems, constraints, and opportunities in the Kafta Humera district of western Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Large and small-scale production units were purposively selected based on their potentiality from six selected kebeles. A random sampling technique was employed to select 159 beef cattle fatteners out of the total 720 fatteners. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather data. The data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software Version 28.0. The fatteners in the study area kept beef cattle in order of importance for home consumption, income generation, draft power, and wealth. The majority of respondents (82.71%) reported that the source of beef cattle was purchased from the market, whereas 17.29% of them used from their own farm. The primary criterion used to select beef cattle for fattening in the study area was frame size (0.287), followed by age (0.245), health (0.217), breed (0.178), body condition (0.171), color (0.085), and price (0.059). Almost all the fatteners (99.61%) had no access to market information before the sale, and the price was determined through negotiations between producers and buyers. Market problems (1^st), lack of land (2^nd), poor credit access services (3^rd), feed price increments (4^th), infrastructure problems (5^th), and inadequate veterinary services (6^th) were among the major identified constraints for cattle fattening in the study area. Therefore, in order to design programs for sustained improvement, it is crucial to understand the cattle fattening practices as well as the opportunities and constraints.