Facts & Figures

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the north east, Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With over 102 million inhabitants Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent.

Poultry and eggs

Poultry production in Ethiopia is at a rudimentary stage of development. The latest estimate of the poultry population in Ethiopia is over 60 million, of which indigenous chickens comprise about 94.33% (CSA, 2016).

The remaining birds are crosses and exotic chickens owned by improved family-run poultry and commercial farms respectively. Egg consumption in Ethiopia stands at 0.5 kg per capita per year, while neighbouring Kenya has an annual consumption rate of 1.9 kg per capita. The African average is 2.3 kg, 9.2 kg for Asia, 11.4 kg for the Americas and 12.7 kg for Europe. The global average is 8.9 kg.



Ethiopex

Nevertheless, the resources and comparative advantages of poultry development are very high. The Government of Ethiopia, in recognition of this, has placed an emphasis on poultry and set huge development targets.

Part of this action plan was the poultry exhibition Ethiopex in Addis Abeba held on 18-21 October 2018. LOHMANN and Aviagen as well as Big Dutchman shared a stand at this exhibition in order to give interested poultry farmers a “one stop” shop to obtain all the necessary information. The stand was a big success, numerous small-scale farmers, but also managers and owners of farms with 70,000 and more layers, seized the opportunity for technical discussions.

With one of the biggest and most professional farms in Ethiopia, Alema Farms in Debre Zeid, already a strong partner who received their newest parent stock flock during the show, the future for LOHMANN lines in Ethiopia looks bright.

Viola Holik