301 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. R. Singh et al. (eds.), Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource Sustainability in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37537-9_18 Stratifed Livestock Production and Live Animal and Meat Export from Ethiopia: Lessons from the Experience of a Donor Funded Project Adugna Tolera and Lars Olav Eik Abstract This paper reviews the livestock production system and the performance of meat and live animal export from 2005/2006 to 2011 and the catalytic role played by Ethiopia Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards and Livestock and Meat Marketing Program (SPS-LMM), a development project designed with objectives of improv- ing the capacity of Ethiopian veterinary services and enhancing Ethiopia’s competi- tive advantage for meat and live animal exports. The performance of formal live animal and meat export increased by 442% and 241%, respectively, from a base of $27 million for live animal and $18.5 million for meat in 2005/2006 to $148 million for live animal exports and $63 million for meat exports in 2010/2011, respectively. These increments were due to the increased volume of exports, increased selling price of meat and live animals in the importing countries, and increased formaliza- tion of the livestock trade. There is a strong linkage between the pastoral livestock production and the feedlot operations and export abattoirs operating in the central highland areas of the country. In general, coordinated and concerted efforts of the public and private sector actors, with catalytic support of development projects, are needed to increase the live animal and meat export performance and to fuel eco- nomic growth of the country. However, it is imperative that all actors along the value chain beneft fairly from the development initiatives. 1 Introduction Ethiopia is endowed with a high livestock population, diverse animal genetic resources, and diverse agroecologies suitable for different livestock production sys- tems. Livestock production signifcantly contributes to the livelihoods of millions of A. Tolera (*) School of Animal and Range Sciences, College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia L. O. Eik Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway