Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2013 in Stuttgart-Hohenheim "Agricultural development within the rural-urban continuum"

Marketing, Production, Constraints and Opportunities in Rural to Urban Goat Value Chain in Uttarakhand, India

International Livestock Research Institute, India

Abstract

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) conducted a goat value chain analysis in three districts of Uttarakhand, a state in northern India, during December 2011 to February 2012 to inform key public and private stakeholders on the constraints and opportunities of production and marketing in the sector. This paper presents the key findings of the study. A long urban value chain was studied at Dehradun, the state capital, while two medium rural value chains were investigated in Tehri and Nainital districts.
Results show that irrespective of location, length of the chain and number of actors involved, the price achieved by goat farmers is more than 70% of the consumer price which is higher than milk (65%), potatoes (58%), onions (46%) and tomatoes (25%) indicating that middle level agents were not exploitative. Across all goat value chains butchers receive the highest margin along the value chain (15%), due to their comparatively higher expenses, in comparison to wholesale traders (10%) and retail traders (5%). Farmers sell 2-3 animals per month, while wholesale traders handle about 500 animals, retaining INR 150 000 as margin. Further, the local hill goat keepers are not able to benefit greatly from market demand as 90% of the traded goats are sourced from the plains of neighbouring states.
Production is constrained by feed shortages, high kid mortality and the pricing of animals without weighing. Marketing constraints include butchers' lack of knowledge on hygienic and sanitary practices as well as the loss of animal weight after purchase because of health issues. Both traders and butchers face credit issues. Wholesalers in particular are challenged by an inadequate number of animals, improper facilities for buying and selling, high transportation costs and corruption. Consumers in the urban chain reveal that butchers sell chevon adulterated with mutton as consumers prefer chevon. Lastly, rural consumers prefer black goats and report a shortage, especially for religious sacrifices.
It can be concluded that breeding strategies targeted at consumer preferences, improved health care, credit provision, improved buyer-seller platforms, training on and introduction of hygienic slaughtering facilities with an appropriate support frame-work and an efficient collaboration between relevant stakeholders will enable the emergence of sustainable and efficient goat value chains in hill areas.

Keywords: Constraints, goat value chain, marketing ,production, opportunities

Contact Address: Sapna Jarial, International Livestock Research Institute, 9th Floor, Aggarwal Corporate Towers, 23 Rajendra Place , 110008 New Delhi, India, e-mail: s.jarialcgiar.org