Opportunities and challenges of hides and skins trade in Ethiopia
2003
Girma Mekonnen(Livestock Marketing Authority, Addis Abeba (Ethiopia))
Ethiopia has been exporting hides and skins in the past 100 years. Hides and skins represent major source of foreign exchange earnings for the country accounting to 14-16% of the total export revenue. The country has big potential to develop the sub-sector. The paper reviews available published and unpublished literature in an attempt to show the development opportunities and constraints facing the hides and skins industry in the country. Different policies adopted by the Federal Government of Ethiopia, availability of cheep labor force and availability of the resource base create conducive environment especially for being competent in trading in hides and skins in the world market. However, the trade in the sub-sector is constrained by various structural, production, information exchange, and promotional problems. Recommendations are developed based on the discussion of the problems. They include:-Designing of shorter market channel, improvement of trade licensing procedure, establishment of purchase by grade system for raw hides and skins, skill development of market forces, planning for transformation from export of semi-processed to finished products, delivery of current market information, development of product promotion strategies etc. Implementation of these recommendations is believed to help develop the sector resulting in maximization of the economic and financial benefits obtainable from the industry.
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This bibliographic record has been provided by Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research