Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program

Conventional productivity evaluation criteria are inadequate to evaluate subsistence livestock production, because: (1) they fail to capture non-marketable benefits of the livestock; and (2) the core concept of a single limiting input is inappropriate to subsistence production, as multiple limiting...

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Main Authors: Ayalew, W., King, J.M., Bruns, E., Rischkowsky, Barbara A.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1919
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author Ayalew, W.
King, J.M.
Bruns, E.
Rischkowsky, Barbara A.
author_browse Ayalew, W.
Bruns, E.
King, J.M.
Rischkowsky, Barbara A.
author_facet Ayalew, W.
King, J.M.
Bruns, E.
Rischkowsky, Barbara A.
author_sort Ayalew, W.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Conventional productivity evaluation criteria are inadequate to evaluate subsistence livestock production, because: (1) they fail to capture non-marketable benefits of the livestock; and (2) the core concept of a single limiting input is inappropriate to subsistence production, as multiple limiting inputs (livestock, labour and land) are involved in the production process. As many of the livestock functions as possible (physical and socio-economic) should be aggregated into monetary values and related to the resources used, irrespective of whether these ‘products’ are marketed, home-consumed or maintained for later use. A broad economic evaluation model involving three complementary flock-level productivity indices was applied to evaluate subsistence goat production in eastern Ethiopian highlands. The results showed that indigenous goat flocks generated significantly higher net benefits under improved than under traditional management, which challenges the prevailing notion in countries like Ethiopia that indigenous livestock do not adequately respond to improvements in the level of management. It is then concluded that the evaluation model not only allows a broad aggregation of benefits from subsistence livestock, but also provides a more realistic platform to propose sound improvement interventions.
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spelling CGSpace19192024-04-25T06:01:20Z Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program Ayalew, W. King, J.M. Bruns, E. Rischkowsky, Barbara A. animal genetic resources animal production small farms goats economic analysis genetic resources land races evaluation subsistence farming Conventional productivity evaluation criteria are inadequate to evaluate subsistence livestock production, because: (1) they fail to capture non-marketable benefits of the livestock; and (2) the core concept of a single limiting input is inappropriate to subsistence production, as multiple limiting inputs (livestock, labour and land) are involved in the production process. As many of the livestock functions as possible (physical and socio-economic) should be aggregated into monetary values and related to the resources used, irrespective of whether these ‘products’ are marketed, home-consumed or maintained for later use. A broad economic evaluation model involving three complementary flock-level productivity indices was applied to evaluate subsistence goat production in eastern Ethiopian highlands. The results showed that indigenous goat flocks generated significantly higher net benefits under improved than under traditional management, which challenges the prevailing notion in countries like Ethiopia that indigenous livestock do not adequately respond to improvements in the level of management. It is then concluded that the evaluation model not only allows a broad aggregation of benefits from subsistence livestock, but also provides a more realistic platform to propose sound improvement interventions. 2003-07 2010-06-13T17:23:13Z 2010-06-13T17:23:13Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1919 en Limited Access Elsevier Ayalew, W., King, J. M., Bruns, E., & Rischkowsky, B. (2003). Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program. Ecological Economics, 45(3), 473–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0921-8009(03)00098-3
spellingShingle animal genetic resources
animal production
small farms
goats
economic analysis
genetic resources
land races
evaluation
subsistence farming
Ayalew, W.
King, J.M.
Bruns, E.
Rischkowsky, Barbara A.
Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program
title Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program
title_full Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program
title_fullStr Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program
title_full_unstemmed Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program
title_short Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program
title_sort economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production lessons from an ethiopian goat development program
topic animal genetic resources
animal production
small farms
goats
economic analysis
genetic resources
land races
evaluation
subsistence farming
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1919
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AT kingjm economicevaluationofsmallholdersubsistencelivestockproductionlessonsfromanethiopiangoatdevelopmentprogram
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AT rischkowskybarbaraa economicevaluationofsmallholdersubsistencelivestockproductionlessonsfromanethiopiangoatdevelopmentprogram