Livestock, Gender, and Agency Amid Conflict in Ethiopia

Livestock plays a crucial role in sustaining the livelihoods of farm households and other participants in the livestock value chain in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Approximately a third of the African population relies directly on livestock for their incomes and overall livelihoods. In Ethiopia, the livestock subsector stands out as a vital source of income for farm households, generating employment opportunities across the entire supply chain. However, the growth and productivity of the livestock sector in many LMICs is not keeping pace with the increasing demand for animal source foods. Furthermore, the livestock sector in Ethiopia faces recurrent and prolonged droughts and other shocks, including conflict. Recent conflicts and recurring droughts in Ethiopia are adversely impacting the livestock sector as well as other sectors of the rural economy. Boosting the productivity of the livestock sector is crucial for facilitating poverty reduction and ensuring sustainability of food systems in LMICs. Achieving these objectives requires reliable livestock data and rigorous research for informing livestock policies. However, there is a significant gap in availability of reliable data on livestock production and management, which hinders the formulation and implementation of evidence-based livestock policies and investments. These necessitate major investments to rebuild the resilience of the livestock sector as well as rural livelihoods in Ethiopia, which in turn, require investment in data and empirical evidence to identify cost-effective and sustainable investments.

Objectives of the seminar

This event aims to share recent research findings conducted by CGIAR and its partners. This event, which is organized by the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS) aims to bring together relevant policy makers, development practitioners and researchers working in Ethiopia and beyond. The event will feature presentations of new empirical work that aims to improve livestock statistics and inform policy priorities and investment options to improve the productivity of the livestock sector as well as other sectors of the local food system in Ethiopia.

Highlights video

Individuals attending this event may be audio taped, videotaped, or photographed during a meeting, and by attending grant permission for their likenesses and the content of their comments, if any, to be broadcast, webcast, published, or otherwise reported or recorded. Questions? Please contact nps@cgiar.org

This work is part of the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS). CGIAR launched NPS with national and international partners to build policy coherence, respond to policy demands and crises, and integrate policy tools at national and subnational levels in countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CGIAR centers participating in NPS are The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Potato Center (CIP), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and WorldFish. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.  

Photo credit: Apollo Habtamu/IWMI.