Production Performance, Consequence and Constraints of Small Ruminants in Ethiopia: A Review

Livestock are an integral part of agriculture that contribute to 35 to 49% of the agricultural GDP, 37 to 87% of the household incomes, and 15 to 17% of the foreign exchange earnings of the country. There are about 33.02 million heads of sheep and 38.96 million heads of goats’ population in Ethiopia. They are important components of the livestock subsector and are sources of cash income, milk, meat, wool, manure, and saving or risk mitigation during crop failures, property security, monetary saving and investment in addition to many other socioeconomic and cultural functions. Despite their large number, the reproductive, as well as productive traits of small ruminant are affected by several factors including breed, a season of conception, interval between parturitions, age, sex and health and nutritional status of the individual animal. Therefore, this paper is to review of concerned issue on reproductive and productive performances, consequence and constraints of small ruminants in Ethiopia.