A review on cattle husbandry practices in Ethiopia

The aim of this paper was to review cattle husbandry practices (feeding, breeding, watering and health care) and production systems in Ethiopia, identifying constraints limiting the production and quantifying cattle feed resources, specifically. Highland crop-livestock farming system in Ethiopia encompasses nearly 40% of the country’s land area, while lowlands areas cover about 60% of the country’s land area. The sector is characterized by pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems. The major constraints that limit cattle production in Ethiopia are genetic resources, shortage of feed and water, climatic factor, diseases, and poor housing. Major feed resources for cattle in the country are natural pasture, crop residue, and crop aftermath beyond other non-conventional feed resources. It was concluded that more emphasis should be given to perform applied research to improve cattle production through strong extension services in delivery of veterinary services, improved fodder cultivation and feed conservation, and improved availability of water in different agro-ecologies of the country.   Key words: Constraints, feed resources, production systems.