Ethiopia Beef

Facts about beef in Ethiopia

• Ethiopia is known to have one of the largest livestock populations in the world. Yet the overall contribution of livestock products to households’ daily consumption is very limited.
• In pastoral areas- livestock formed the basis of the economy. Per capita meat consumption was high by developing countries’ standards- an estimated thirteen kilograms annually. According to a l987 estimate- beef accounted for about 5l percent of all meat consumption
• The average per capita annual consumption of meat and dairy products are just 4.6 kg and 16.7 kg- respectively. Given recent growth in income- there is potential for growth in the demand for livestock products.
• As Ethiopia’s 2003 estimated population of 70.5 million continues to grow at a rate of 2.7 percent- it is critical to understand the food situation. Many Ethiopians- like residents of other developing countries- do not consume an adequate amount of meat.
• while the United States had an average meat intake of over 120kg per capita annually- at hardly over 8kg annually- Ethiopians remained slightly below the meat intake of all low-income countries consuming 9kg per capita annually