Ethiopia is home to one of the largest livestock populations in the world. The government, as part of its Livestock Master Plan (LMP), intends to transform the sector to increase production and export of livestock products in order to generate foreign currency. The LMP also enables to increase production to satisfy the increasing number of consumers at local and international market.
Government encouragement of investments in meat processing, especially those that are focused on exporting value-added products abroad is showing a great progress. Many foreign companies have invested in Ethiopia in this sector. Currently mutton and goat meat is largely going for export to the Middle East in order to generate foreign exchange. Beef export is also growing, with additional market opportunities in other countries.
Many of the existing and anticipated increases in livestock production availability of quality livestock feed, animal genetics, and veterinary care are the main important things to strengthen the productivity of it. As such, investment opportunities in feed, genetics and veterinary care and the supporting industries are expected to grow in the coming years.
Quality issue is challenging to export the product in large quantity to middle east and Europe due to presence of animal diseases even if the nation has profitable and qualified breeds in Ethiopia. Rift valley, foot and mouth contagious and other diseases are out breaking and affecting the productivity of animals.
The vaccination service delivery for low land pastorals is difficult because of the movement from place to another place from time to time to get water and animal feed for their livestock and capacity of budget to pay for service delivery.
Various preventive actions were taken to prevent diseases outbreak in veterinary treatment in Ethiopia. It helped the nation to control and manage the effect of the disease in some extent.
The nation is working to control the outbreak of diseases and to eradicate them. Eradication and reduction of some type of diseases is becoming icon of Ethiopia. Government has been giving vaccine for a long period of time in coordination with FAO and other partners. Emergency response is applied in various areas to control and manage the diseases outbreak.
The government is also taking actions to prevent the possible transmission of the diseases to various places. It supplies drugs in with affordable price in spot places when outbreak of the disease occurred. The government has opened health posts up to Kebele levels to delivery services for communities, but service delivery is not sufficient due to facilities, material and appropriate professionals.
Currently, Ethiopia is producing or manufacturing its some 22 items of the vaccine. Doing this the nation can control some types of diseases, produce available product and exporting the livestock product.
There were only two veterinary drug manufacturing, especially vaccine manufacturing plants in the country; Adami Tulu Pesticides Processing S.C. and East African PLC. Due to the shortage of manufacturing plant, supply for some drugs was inadequate.
Now, the country is on the way to manufacture some veterinary drugs in addition to vaccine. The construction of veterinary drug manufacturers at a cost of 97 million birr has been completed about a month ago.
Manufacturing veterinary drugs at home would solve a key challenge of import limitations of some important drug types which some importers refuse to import because of some excuses, said Dr. Solomon Kebede, veterinary drug quality level, registration and licensing director at Ethiopian Veterinary Drug and Cattle Feed Administration and Control Authority.
Producing in the country enables the nation to address import limited drugs producing in the nation and it helps nation to save the death of many livestock, enable to save and get foreign exchange and it increases the production and productivity of livestock.
Moreover, drug production contributes a great role in production and productivity controlling various diseases types.
There are opportunities for processing livestock products for both local and export market as Ethiopia home of abundant livestock resources. Local demand for meat, milk and eggs is growing as the economy and population grow. This growth is expected to create investment and trade opportunities for certain commodities and open doors for veterinary and other livestock services.
The National Veterinary Institute is contributing a lot to the country’s efforts in controlling diseases that would seriously affect the production and productivity of livestock and which negatively affect the quality of hides and skins.
The vaccines produced by the Institute are used in campaigns aimed to eradicate some animal diseases the regional campaign against various diseases.
The demand of veterinary vaccine in Ethiopia is expanding from time to time. And the sale of vaccine also increasing as presence of various animal disease outbreaks. To balance the demand and supply the government is taking various measures including the construction of veterinary drug plant. It has a plan to increase the production of animal vaccines at the end of the second Growth and Transformation Plan period to save livestock’s life and to increase the productivity.
The institute is on its way to substitute the import of veterinary drug and streamline animal health in the country producing the desired drug in the local.
National Veterinary Institute (NVI) General Manager Dr. Martha Yami told that to solve supply problems in the nation the institute is constructing its own manufacturing factory. The trial production will start at the end of this fiscal year.
According to the director, in the future the task of meeting the demand for veterinary drugs will be shouldered by the existing manufacturers, import and national veterinary institute production.