The Functions of Actors in the Tahtay Adyabo District of Tigray, Ethiopia's Small Ruminant Value Chain

Even with the fact that Ethiopia in general and Tahtay adyabo district is characterized by populated livestock, actors’ coordination are weak. The aim of the study was to see the function of actors in small ruminant value chain. Primary data were collected from a randomly selected 138 producers, 5 butchers, 6 large traders, 12 small traders, 8 collectors, 11 consumers and 7 hotels/restaurants interviewed through a semi-structured questionnaire and from key informant interview. The major actors in the district were small ruminant producers, input suppliers, farmers, collectors, small traders, large traders, butchers hotels/restaurants, and consumers. The main supporters of the small ruminant value chain in the study area are Office of Agricultural and Rural Development, Office of Trade and Industry, District Administrations, Dedebit Saving and Credit Institution, Shire- Maitsebri Agricultural Research Center and Non-Governmental Organization. The result showed that 58.7%, 67.4% and 45.7% of sample respondents have got veterinary services, market information and taking credit respectively. There are weak parallel linkage among small ruminant producers and shortage of perpendicular relation of small ruminant farmers to the supplementary market actors. Therefore, there should be an intervention on establishing small ruminant producer cooperatives, discuss with stockholders about most important marketing problems, find general solutions and creating market relationship between small ruminant farmers and supplementary actors.