Impact of feed shortages on livestock and crop production in Ethiopia: implications for rural poverty reduction

Abstract

Livestock productivity is low in Africa, primarily due to feed shortages. We quantify the impacts of the feed shortage experience on livestock and crop production, and its implications on poverty using an instrumental variable approach. Results revealed that the feed shortage experience increased the value of livestock deaths (14 per cent), increased production expenses (77 per cent) and reduced the value of crop production (4 per cent) by reducing investment in modern inputs and increasing the likelihood of livestock being affected by diseases. The income lost due to feed shortages would have lifted 2.57 per cent of affected households out of poverty. Increasing feed availability could, therefore, be pro-poor.