Ethiopia's livestock standards plagued by low-quality and high-priced animal feed have prompted experts at the Ministry of Agriculture to prepare a regulatory framework with hopes of increasing the feed production quality.

The new bill aims to connect animal feed producers directly with processors and exporters, while also monitoring the process through licensing. This will eliminate intermediaries and is set to remain in effect until a proclamation on the trade chain is complete.

According to Fikadu Molla, livestock & fishery output market expert at the Ministry, the multi-actor proclamation under formulation by experts from the Ethiopian Agricultural Authority, Ethiopian Cooperative Commission, Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration and the Ministry of Agriculture will provide extensive direction.

Even so, the urgent act with the directive aims to address the lingering scarcity and skyrocketing prices in the feed market.

Fiakdu indicated that exporting animal feed while failing to meet the domestic demand has exacerbated the shortage.

"The animals here are losing their lives," he said.

However, animal production researchers such as Ewnetu Kebede (PhD), argue that export prevention does not guarantee domestic demand will be met.

Ewnetu believes the scarcity of animal feed comes from failing to address the producers while directing the focus on processing companies. He reasons that intermediaries will be abated when the feed processing companies become producers themselves.

"It'll address both the price and the shortage," he said.

According to Ewnetu, there is a need to invest in plots allocated to animal feed production, indicating that a lack of expertise in the sector heightens the issue. He observes that by-products from poultry farms, such as blood and eggshells that could be used as feed are being wasted for lack of awareness.

The bill proposes to certify manufacturers for their by-products and remove the needless middle players by directly connecting the producers and processors. A long-term plan by the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration indicates establishing a sustainable supply chain by utilising agricultural and industrial byproducts.

Ethiopian Agricultural Authority controls the quality of animal feed and certifies processing companies.

Under Hamid Jemal, livestock regulatory head, the Authority plans on making certification for byproducts mandatory. Only 51 animal feed processors and four producers have gotten certified for their by-products.

Girma Negusse, an animal feed expert at the Authority, said that the ever-soaring prices of animal feed have been one of the pending bottlenecks exacerbated by illegal intermediaries disrupting the market chain.

"They are inflating the price further," he said.

Processors concur that intermediaries have contributed to the price hike while the debilitating shortage makes it hard to meet their demand.

Incorporated in 2021, Elf Manufacturing & Commercial Processes over 18 types of animal feed on 15hct of land in Tulefa Industrial Park, the Amhara Regional State, 64Km from Addis Abeba.

With a capacity of producing up to 2500qtl of animal feed a day, the company sources maize and soybean from farmers and factories. It distributes the processed feed to unions across the country through its agents with the latest deal to spread its reach to Tigray Regional State.