Assessment of Hides and Skins Market in Borana, Southern Ethiopia

Livestock production is the mainstay of the pastoral and agro-pastoral community of Borana zone though the supply of the skin and hides from these regions is hardly addressed. As the first entry, this study was undertaken in three districts of the Borana zone with 125-sample households selected on multistage followed by random sampling method. The study was undertaken to address the existing markets and the potential demand of hides and skins in the study area and nearby markets. The assessment identified that regardless of the abundance of the livestock in the area, the supply of skin and hide in the local market is relatively low due smashed market linkage among the market actors. As a result, the potential of these commodities remains neglected though the demands for skin and hide are high in the country. Moreover, even if the pastoralists are motivated to supply skin and hide on the market, the price setting is asymmetric to the producers. The lowest intrinsic of intensive intermediaries creates a strong burden on the supply of skin and hide. Thus, it is important to create visionary market linkage with clear pricing system need timely intervention to use the potential of the skin and hind from the area.