Livestock Market and Mortality Risk

in East AfricaChristopher B. Barrett

Vet Med 615 Guest LectureFebruary 28, 2006

Overview Livestock’s role in east

African economic development

Wealth accumulation and mortality risk

Market risk Conclusions

Livestock’s role in development Livestock as input

Manure: mitigating soil degradation, spatial redistribution of nutrients

Traction services Transport services

Result: Improved productivity of agricultural or non-agricultural enterprises.

Livestock’s role in development Livestock as a production system

Milk and blood (and social prestige): renewable outputs from a single animal

Meat, hides and skins: nonrenewable output from a single animal

Reproduction: dividends from the asset

Result: Income stream generated directly by livestock

Livestock’s role in development Livestock as a quasi-financial asset, providing savings and insurance

Store of value (walking bank) Sometimes sold to stabilize

incomes Collateralizable for credit

Result: Livestock can play a valuable role where access to conventional financial products is limited or where such products are unattractive.

Wealth accumulation and mortality risk

Not everyone is equally able to acquire or maintain livestock

Agroecological differences (disease, aridity, etc.)

Lumpiness of investment (Dercon, JDE 1998) Threshold effects (Lybbert et al. EJ 2004) Herder ability (Santos and Barrett 2006)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Year

Med

ian

hous

ehol

d he

rd s

ize Trend line: Herd1980+t = 51.3-1.7t

Wealth accumulation and mortality riskPronounced cattle cycles are common And accumulation dynamics are

highly nonlinear

Examples from Boran pastoralists, southern Ethiopia, per Lybbert et al. (2004 EJ)

Mortality risk: Resource competition: Tragedy of the commons? Rainfall Disease

How idiosyncratic or covariate are these risks (i.e., what’s the best way to deal with them)?

In southern Ethiopia, we find that, rainfall aside, mortality risk is idiosyncratic w/o any significant tragedy of the commons effect (see also McPeak 2005, Human Ecology, similar findings from northern Kenya).

Wealth accumulation and mortality risk

2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5(a) Ln(Average community herd size)

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

Mortality rate

Fig. 3. LOESS estimates of mortality rates, conditioned by (a) average community herd size and (b) own herd size, southern Ethiopian Boran pastoralists

0 2 4 6(b) Ln(Own herd size)

Wealth accumulation and mortality risk

Livestock market risk Prices fluctuate dramatically

covary negatively with mortality … wealth hypervariable in livestock, unlike cropping systems where market prices covary negatively with yields, thereby stabilizing incomes and wealth.

rainfall, quarantine, seasons affect prices dramatically

limited spatial market integration, i.e., major price disconnects across distinct geographic markets

Nairobi-Marsabit price differentials (“basis”)

Livestock market risk

Estimated Effects of Drought On Livestock Prices(hypothetical drop of 200 and 300 mm over 3 and 12 months, respectively)

Percent Price Change

Males Females

Camels Marsabit -3.1 -4.6

Moyale -8.1 -11.9

Cattle Marsabit -22.1 -52.3

Moyale -33.4 -47.5

Goats Marsabit -14.6 -17.4

Moyale -12.2 -16.3

Sheep Marsabit -21.3 -34.1

Negative correlation exists between price and mortality because rainfall drives both lactation/reproduction and mortality.

- big species variation

Source: Barrett et al. (2003 J. African Economies)

Livestock market riskFor animals traded over long distances, intermarket margins appear the source of most livestock price risk. For animals traded locally, local market conditions key:- Auction vs. dyadic exchange- # traders/lorries (partly a function of food aid backhaul capacity)- veterinary services availability is negatively associated with market price due to endogeneity of vet care in markets (reflects disease problems that drive price down)

Livestock market risk

Animal disease control measures matter to prices (Barrett et al., 2003 J. African Economies)

Estimated Effects of Quarantine On Livestock Prices

Percent Change

Males Females

Camels Marsabit -9.1 -6.4

Moyale -6.2 -3.7

Nairobi 0.2 0.1

Cattle Marsabit -23.7 -12.2

Moyale -16.1 -7.4

Nairobi 2.4 2.2

Goats Marsabit -2.1 -2.4

Moyale -1.1 -1.0

Nairobi 0.4 -0.1

Sheep Marsabit -5.9 -2.7

Nairobi 0.2 0.1

Livestock market and mortality riskRisks are much broader than just livestock, however, and livestock-related risk is minor to many livestock-dependent peoples

- Livestock disease, livestock prices and pasture availability are of greatest concern to wealthier men among Ethiopian/Kenyan pastoralists(Smith et al., J. Dev’t Studies 2001)

- Poorer households are more concerned about human disease, violence and food availability.

- Development priorities among pastoralists are typically related to health, education and security, not livestock production/marketing

ConclusionsLivestock play a major role in rural

development in east Africa- as inputs to ag/non-ag enterprises- as production systems- as quasi-financial asset

But …- not everyone has equal access- mortality and market risk are considerable and tend to be mutually reinforcing, making livestock keeping a high risk-high reward activity.

Thanks very much for your comments and questions!