Abstract:
Ethiopia ranks first in Africa and tenth in the world for livestock population and cattle take
the lion share of this population of the country. Now a day the demand for beef in SubSaharan and eastern African countries is increasing. However, the overall performance of
beef sector in Ethiopia is very low as compared to other countries in the world; this is
because of poor value chain of the beef sector in our country. Therefore, undertaking the beef
value chain analysis and upgrading the beef sector by one step is the major issue now and
then. The study was conducted in Sodo Zuria and Offa districts in Wolaita Zone, Southern,
Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State with the general objective of analyzing beef
value chain. The random sampling procedure was used to select value chain actors such as
104 farm household heads from 7 rural kebeles, 16 beef cattle traders and 20 beef retailers
whereas 50 beef consumers were sampled purposively. Primary data were collected from
sample respondents through structured questionnaires and checklists and secondary data
were also used. Data on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of beef value chain
actors and their roles were presented by using the tools of descriptive statistics. Benefit
shares of the chain actors are determined by using costs and margins (value share) and
financial position indicators like value share and value added calculations along the beef
value chain. Heckman two-stage model was used to identify variables affecting the decision to
participate in beef cattle fattening/marketing and value of marketed supply of beef cattle.
Independent variables at conventional level of significance in the first stage are: age of the
household head, credit access, income from other sources, experience in beef cattle fattening,
sex of the household heads, distance to the nearest beef cattle market and educational level of
the household heads. The result also indicated that family size of the household heads and
other livestock in TLU are statistically significant variables. Recommendations forwarded are
creating advanced awareness on family planning practices in the rural areas, empowering
females’ participation in beef value chain, encouraging savings of income obtained from
other sources, practicing adult education policy in the rural areas, improving credit delivery
system and also accessing it, providing trainings on improved beef cattle fattening practices,
providing trainings on beef value chain governance and value addition activities.
