Ethiopian field studies

Field surveys were undertaken in several areas of Ethiopia between 2001 and 2009. Key

informants in villages were poultry owners (mainly women), extension workers and

community leaders. One-on-one interviews and group discussions were held in

villages with information being provided on reasons for keeping poultry, numbers and

species kept, general management practices (housing and feeding), marketing and prices,

production parameters and diseases and mortality. Further key informants were district

(‘wereda’) and regional livestock extension workers.

Field information was complemented by data from district, regional and national

statistics and agricultural censuses. Other sources of data included conventional

literature sources, records and surveys of livestock and rural development projects

(and information from their personnel if projects were still extant) and statistics from

international organizations. In spite of the plethora of formal publications and

mimeographed documents data remain deficient and are often contradictory. There is,