Pastoral Livestock Marketing in Eastern Africa: Research and Policy Challenges

Since 2002 John McPeak has been an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, USA. He was a researcher for the Pastoral Risk Management project of the Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program in Kenya. Peter Little is a professor and chair of the department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, USA. His research over the past 23 years falls into agrarian (pastoral) production systems, marketing, and social organization in East Africa; environmental degradation and political ecology; and the social effects on rural communities of economic restructuring, globalization, and development.

Features case studies primarily focusing on Ethiopia and Kenya to offer research from a variety of regional communities to explore issues of household sales behavior, price determinants, livestock market information systems, cross border and export marketing, and crisis period marketing. Firmly tied to recommendations for future research and policy, the editors contend that current thinking, which asserts that more effective marketing will automatically achieve multiple desirable outcomes, including environmental benefits, may be flawed. The studies presented illustrate how it is possible to improve livestock marketing and achieve multiple desirable objectives through serious and coordinated effort. Filling an important gap in the literature, this is important reading for all those interested in livestock development and pastoral economies in East Africa.

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION; Peter D. Little and John G. McPeak; Chapter 2: HOUSEHOLD-LEVEL LIVESTOCK MARKETING BEHAVIOR AMONG NORTHERN KENYAN; AND SOUTHERN ETHIOPIAN PASTORALISTS; Christopher B. Barrett, Marc F. Bellemare, and Sharon M. Osterloh; Chapter 3: LIVESTOCK MARKETING IN MARSABIT DISTRICT, KENYA, OVER THE PAST FIFTY YEARS; John G. McPeak; Chapter 4: DETERMINANTS OF MARKET PRICES OF LIVESTOCK: THE CASE OF CATTLE IN ALEMAYA, EASTERN ETHIOPIA; Teressa Adugna; Chapter 5: LIVESTOCK MARKET ORGANIZATION AND PRICE DISTRIBUTIONS IN NORTHERN KENYA; Alan M. Green, Christopher B. Barrett, Winnie K. Luseno, and John G. McPeak; Chapter 6: DETERMINANTS OF CATTLE PRICES IN SOUTHERN KENYA: IMPLICATIONS FOR BREED CONSERVATION AND PASTORAL MARKETING STRATEGIES; Maren Radeny, Patti Kristjanson, Eric Ruto, Jacob Wakhungu, and Riccardo Scarpa; Chapter 7: LINKING PASTORALISTS AND EXPORTERS IN A LIVESTOCK MARKETING CHAIN: RECENT EXPERIENCES FROM ETHIOPIA; Solomon Desta, Getachew Gebru, Seyoum Tezera, and D. Layne Coppock; Chapter 8: INNOVATIONS IN PASTORAL LIVESTOCK MARKETING: THE EMERGENCE AND THE ROLE OF 'SOMALI CATTLE TRADERS-CUM-RANCHERS' IN KENYA; Hussein A. Mahmoud; Chapter 9: THE GEOGRAPHY OF INTEGRATION: CROSS-BORDER LIVESTOCK TRADE IN EAST AFRICA; Fred Zaal, Morgan Ole Siloma, Rachel Andiema, Albino Kotomei; Chapter 10: WORKING ACROSS BORDERS: METHODOLOGICAL AND POLICY CHALLENGES OF CROSS-BORDER LIVESTOCK TRADE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA; Peter D. Little; Chapter 11: A REVIEW OF POLICIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON LIVESTOCK TRADE IN ETHIOPIA DURING THREE REGIMES (1965-2005); Yacob Aklilu; Chapter 12: LIVESTOCK MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR EAST AFRICA: THE CASE OF LINKS/GL-CRSP; Jerry Stuth, Abdi Jama, Robert Kaitho, Jimmy Wu, Abdirahman Ali, Gatarwa Kariuki, Margaret Kingamkono; Chapter 13: PASTORALIST COPING STRATEGIES AND EMERGENCY LIVESTOCK MARKET INTERVENTION John Morton; Chapter 14: POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS; John G. McPeak, Peter D. Little, and Montague W. Demment