Management Practices, Utilization and Challenges of Donkey in Godey Town, Somali Regional State, Ethiopia

The study was conducted in Godey town of Shebelle zone, Somali Regional State, Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to assess management practices, utilization, and challenges of donkey. A total of 200 households who own working donkeys were selected purposely for this study. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, key informants interviews, focus group discussions with communities who own donkeys and personal observations. The study revealed that the majority of the respondents were illiterate which might be associated with poor education access in the area. The study further revealed that 92% of working donkeys were involved in drought work, whereas 18% were used for pack work. The common feed resources for donkeys were feeds obtained from natural pasture, green maize leaves, hay, household wastes and grain supplements. Pipe water, river water, and pond water were the main water sources for working donkeys in the study area. About 91% of households kept their donkeys in an open backyard, while 9% of them kept them in a separate shed built adjacent to or a short distance away from the family home. Donkeys provide cart services in the study area, transporting various items weighing more than 300 kg in order to obtain a high benefit in a short period of time and are more than six days per week. Working donkeys in the current study area had a life span of fewer than 6 years, 7 - 10 years, and more than 10 years, with 18.5%, 75.5%, and 6%, respectively. The most important constraints that affect donkey production and utilization in the study area were a lack of feed, health problems (sickness, wounds, etc.), overloading and overworking, poor road and harnessing problems, and poor attitude/lack of awareness. As a result, in order to enhance working donkey management concerns, area-based development interventions that can overcome current constraints should be employed.

Sheep Production Systems and Breeding Practices for Selected Zones of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

A study was undertaken to identify the production system, breeding practices and major production constraints of common Tigray highland sheep in 16 rural kebelles from eight districts of Tigray Regional State. A total of 480 households (30 households for each rural kebelle) were selected purposively to collect data through personal observations and a detailed structured questionnaire. Mixed crop-livestock production system was the dominant farming system in all the study districts. The farmers kept a variety of livestock species including sheep, goats, cattle, chickens horse, donkeys and bee colony. Sheep, principally as source of income, meat for home consumption, production of manure and for socio cultural purposes, are commonly herded with other species in the open grazing fields by young boys in a family. Mating was generally uncontrolled. Body size, growth rate and adaptability were the major traits in selecting rams, whereas ewes were selected based on body size, twining ability and lambing interval. Majority of sheep across all districts are housed in structures known as Gebella which is built from stone and mud wall and tree/corrugated iron sheet roofing separated from the main family house. The major constraints hampering sheep production in the study areas were feed shortage (0.25), lack of capital (0.24), insufficient veterinary services (0.2), limited grazing land (0.2), water scarcity (0.06) and predators (0.05) with index value indicated in parenthesis. In order to improve the productivity of sheep, it is important to involve farmers and other stockholders in addressing these constraints and designing breed improvement interventions, considering the overall farming and breeding practice of smallholders.