Fattening operations of small ruminants
in Coastal Zone of Western Desert, Egypt
Taha Hosni Abdel-Sabour (APRI , Cairo, Egypt)
Jean-Pierre Boutonnet (INRA, Montpellier, France)
Pr. Hussein Mansour (Ain Shams university)
Pr. Adel Aboul Naga and Pr. Mona A. Osman (APRI)
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ELVULMED and CLIMED Project ELVULMED project (2011-2014): “Role of livestock
activities in the process of adaptation and reducing vulnerability of Mediterranean societies facing global changes” (2011-2014)
Institutions: APRI, DRC (Egypt), CIRAD, INRA (France), ICARDA.
This project funded by ANR - France (National Agency of Research, France) as part of the research program on Society and Environment (ANR CEP&S, 2011)
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ELVULMED and CLIMED Project
CLIMED Project (2012-2016): “The future of Mediterranean Livestock Farming Systems: opportunity and efficiency of Crop–Livestock Integration”
Partners: APRI, CIRAD, INRA, IAV (Morocco) and IRD (France) associated with ICARDA
Call ARIMNET (2011) Fund: ANR-France
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Location of the CZWD in Egypt
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Our study Context
Fattening operations in the CZWD were found a good indicator of the performances of the meat commodity chain as a whole
Fattening is the operation that leads to add value for the animal by increasing its weight throughout intensive feeding for a specific duration
and as a result of this operation the prices of fattened animals are higher than non-fattened animals
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Our study
Objectives of study :
(i) characterize the fattening operations of small ruminants
in Matrouh governorate,
(ii) identify the factors that affecting the fattening
operations and
(iii) determine the criteria that drive the choice of animals
to be fattened
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Method A “trader” survey was carried out in 2012 in the Coastal
Zone of Western Desert (CZWD) of Egypt
Method: semi-directed questionnaire
Sample: 55 traders, of which 38 of them do fattening operation in 3 centers: Matrouh, Negila and Sidi-Barani
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CZWD, Egypt: Data collection ELVULMED Project
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Our sample : 38 fatteners among 55 traders
Matrouh Negila Barani Overall
n=25 n=14 n=16 n=55
Trader only 14 0 1 15
Trader and breeder 1 0 1 2
Trader and Fattener 5 2 0 7
Trader, Breeder and
Fattener 5 12 14 31
Total Fatteners 10 14 14 38 9
Classifications of the fatteners according to time of fattening operations
Time Matrouh Negila Barani Overall
n=25 n=14 n=16 n=55
Out El Aid
only 3 1 1 5
For El Aid only 3 9 13 25
Both 4 4 0 8
Total 10 14 14 38 10
Feeding systems The main problem for all the fatteners is the high
prices of feedstuff
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Variation of prices (LE/t) paid by the fatteners for different
feedstuffs – 2012
Wheat and processed feedstuffs’ prices are very volatile, generating speculative behaviours
1500
2000 1800
2156 2080
2611 2750
2300
3500
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
Wheat Corn Processed feedstuffs
LE/ton
Feedstuffs
Minimum
Average Price
Maximum
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Fatteners Matrouh Negila Barani Total
number
Pay with Delay 6 9 14 29
Do not Pay with Delay 4 5 0 9
Total number 10 14 14 38
Delayed payment for feedstuffs Number of fatteners who paid and did not pay with delay
For those using delayed payment the extra price ranges from 100-300 LE/tonne, or 5-15% for 2 to 4 months, or 10-30 LE/animal (+/- 10% of their money gain per animal)
Feeding systems However, this constraint varies according to the
climatic year and the possibility to make grazing part of the fattening period, especially in the centers of Negila and Barani
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Grazing land in Matrouh governorate, 2011
15
16
967 821
983
817 872 875
1050
775
161
205
228
228 159 88
101
101
27
25
18
18 26 10
16
16
177
139
221
154 182 202
259
209
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
Malesfattened
alone
Femalesfattened
alone
Males in amixed batchwith females
Females in amixed batchwith males
Malesfattened
alone
Femalesfattened
alone
Males in amixed batchwith females
Females in amixed batchwith males
Preparing Aid El Adha Rest of the year
Average money gain
Average other costs
Average total cost of feeding
Average Purchase Price
N=15
N=12 N=2
Breakdown of costs and gains in the selling price of sheep after fattening (LE/head)
N=6
N=9
N=2
Conclusion (1/2) Fatteners prefer to fatten lambs more than kids and males
more than females,
The demand of fattened lambs increases at the period of religious celebrations (El-Aid El Adha and Ramadan) and seasons (summer holidays): so the competition increases among the fatteners during these periods,
These events create a strong demand for feedstuffs during the precedent months
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Conclusion (2/2) The high prices of feedstuff during these period explains
lower margins per head during El-Aid vs the rest of the year
This can be explained by the actual specific period of El-Aid during summer time (out of grazing period)
And also the practice of delaying payments
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Marsa Matrouh, 2011