Price analysis of indigenous goat traits in afar Region, northeast Ethiopia

Abstract

Economic opportunities exist for small ruminant producers to supply animals to both the export and domestic markets. The growing demands of meat products at the domestic as well as international markets also increase the importance of goat in the national economy of the country. Despite the large size of the country’s goat population, the productivity per unit of goat and the contribution of the goat sector to the national economy is relatively low. Understanding traits that are important in determining goat prices is vital to produce goats targeted to satisfy the increasing market demand so as to make producers grasp better benefits and improve their livelihoods. Therefore, this study was aimed at establishing a hedonic price analysis of indigenous goat traits in the domestic markets of the Afar region, Northeast Ethiopia with specific objectives of characterizing the major traits of indigenous goats; analyzing the implicit prices of the indigenous goat traits; and identifying demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing the indigenous goat price in the study area. A hedonic price model was fitted to analyze factors determining the observed goat prices. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select representative samples. The study was based on the transaction data from 200 goats and goat buyers generated through a formal survey conducted in three sample markets in Administrative Zone 1 of the Afar region. To analyze the collected data, the fitted hedonic price model was used with OLS and Heteroscedasticity consistent estimations. The statistical software STATA version 12 (STATA, 2011) was used for analysis of the collected data. Of the indigenous goat traits, body size, body condition, age of the goat, and castration and fattening significantly influenced the observed goat prices. The study also identified demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing the indigenous goat prices. Based on this, purpose of purchase, income level, literacy status, family size, from whom the goat was bought, distance from urban center, and buyer-seller prior relationships significantly influenced the goat price in the study area.