Swine Husbandry Practices in Ethiopia: A Review

In Ethiopia, swine are mainly raised under small scale production systems of urban and peri-urban areas. The swine sector has got very little attention compared to other livestock components. This happened mainly due to religious and social reasons. Swine breeds in Ethiopia consist of exotic breeds and their crosses. The indigenous pig is an animal which has been very neglected and wild. Although smallholder swine farmers make a contribution to the livestock sector, they are discouraged and constrained by issues relevant to culture and religion, in addition to feed shortage, disease, inaccessible market, lack of clear pig and pork marketing system, lack of transport, poor extension and veterinary services, lack of market and shortage of land as the major constraints of swine production and marketing in Ethiopia. This paper highlights the Ethiopian swine industry, the role played by the smallholder swine farmers, the constraints and recommendations to the policy makers and stakeholders on the way of promoting smallholder swine farmers. Keywords: constraints, government, swine production DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/12-1-03 Publication date: January 31st 202