Abstract
The study was conducted in Chifra district in Awsi-Resu zone of Afar Regional State to explore production objectives and strategies of sheep and goats in pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems. Cross-sectional survey with systematic random selection of 180 households (90 households from each production system was conducted. Descriptive statistics, t test, chi-square test, analysis of variance, and ranking method were employed in analyzing data using JMP-5 software. In pastoral production system, sheep and goat were primarily reared for household milk consumption, followed by live animal savings and income, while in agro-pastoral production system, sheep and goat are primarily reared for income, followed by household milk consumption and manure supply, as live animal savings. Overall mortality rates of sheep and goats (4 to >12 months of age) were 9 and 9.5 % in pastoral production systems while 7 and 6 % in agro-pastoral production system. Average age at first mating, kidding interval, days of mating after birth, weaning age, lactation length, litter size, slaughtering age, and marketable age of sheep and goats in pastoral production system were 7.4 months, 358 days, 29 days, 4.2 months, 3.1 months, 1.5 lambs, 7.4 months, and 14 months, respectively, while in agro-pastoral production system, they are 6.9 months, 353.3 days, 28 days, 3.2 months, 1.6 lambs, 6.4 months, and 14.5 months, respectively. It was concluded that production system-based development interventions could help to increase the productivity of sheep and goats and thereby enhance the livelihood of smallholders.
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Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- APPS:
-
Agro-pastoral production system
- CCPP:
-
Contagious caprine plueropneumonia
- PPS:
-
Pastoral production system
- HH:
-
Household
- N:
-
Number of respondents
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Rural Capacity Building Project (RCBP) for financing this research fund and the Afar Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Research Institute (APARI) for giving paid leave of absence during the study.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that this article journal is the result of their own work and has not been submitted to any other publisher organizations. Finally, the authors would like to declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Hassen, A.S., Tesfaye, Y. Sheep and goat production objectives in pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems in Chifra district of Afar, Ethiopia. Trop Anim Health Prod 46, 1467–1474 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-014-0668-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-014-0668-4