A Holiday of Uneasy Choices

Apr 19 , 2025. By RUTH BERHANU ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

Last week, the animated but strained Qera market became the backdrop for an unfolding logistical challenge. The scene was a flurry of activities as men in bright jackets hustled restless oxen through the alleys. The holiday season usually sees more than 65,000 animals flock to the city, yet despite pens being filled, an eerie quiet lingered as customers remained scarce, writes RUTH BERHANU, Fortune Staff Writer.

Takeaways:

• The Addis Abeba market faces logistical challenges with fewer livestock trucks arriving compared to previous years.
• Rising costs affect not only meat but also entire holiday budgets, with transportation and checkpoint fees contributing immensely.
• Traditional practices like "Qircha" face pressure as families reconsider share purchases due to inflated prices.
• New weekend markets in Addis Abeba provide some relief by spreading trade and reducing congestion, though core issues remain.

As dawn broke over Addis Abeba mid last week, a convoy of rumbling trucks swung into a market in Qera neighbourhood, each vehicle stacked high with restless oxen. Men in bright jackets dart among the animals, tugging ropes and shouting orders when a broad-shouldered bull throws its head and tries to bolt.

In the middle of the clamour stood Tadese Muleta, trade coordinator, quietly jotting down license plates and ticking off how many cattle each truck has delivered. The scene looks organised, yet Tadese felt the tension behind the routine. The number of trucks has thinned. He remembered ordinary weeks when the northern city of Gondar alone sent up to 50 trucks.

This holiday season, by contrast, a combined 45 have arrived from Harar, Jiru, Jimma and Wellega. It was the first sign that the logistics behind the capital’s meat feast were under strain.

Managers at the Addis Abeba Abattoirs Enterprise predicted more than 65,000 animals would reach the city for the holiday rush, including 4,000 oxen, plus upward of 25,000 goats and sheep for Qera and the branch in Akaki. Indeed, some livestock have shown up; customers have not. By midmorning, the stalls were full, yet the alleys felt hushed.

Prices tell the next part of the story. Big oxen trucked in from Jiru and Bahir Dar fetched as much as 400,000 Br. Smaller animals sold for up to 76,000 Br, roughly 20,000 Br higher than three months ago. At the top end, price tags have swollen by 30,000 Br to 40,000 Br.

German Fenta, who lives near Qaliti, illustrated the pressure. He is a member of "Qircha," a traditional slaughtering group that shares costs and meat. Three weeks earlier, he paid 43,000 Br for a modest ox at Akaki’s holding grounds. A full share in his four-member group is worth 10,000 Br each. German’s budget forced him to take only a half share for 5,375 Br.

“I couldn’t stretch to the full cost,” he told Fortune.

Behind the larger bills sits a jump in transport. A year ago, renting a truck for the holiday haul cost around 70,000 Br. Last holiday, the going rate was closer to 80,000 Br and could touch 90,000 Br on the 730Km run from Gondar.

“Just in checkpoint fees, our drivers spend up to 50,000 Br on the road to Qera,” said Tadese.

Ten kilometres away at Shola Market, the scene was livelier, though slower than old peaks. Plastic tarps glowed orange in the sun while buyers haggled. Moges Mengistu, a retiree in his 60s, used to join Qircha, buy a sheep and add chickens for good measure. This year, he leaned over cages, bargaining for poultry only.

“I couldn’t find a chicken for less than 1,800 Br,” he told Fortune. “I thought of buying butter, eggs and spices too. But it’s too much. Maybe Qircha is the better deal.”

Hailu Regasa, who has sold chicken here for a decade, shouted prices above the din. Local roosters go for 1,500 Br and hens for 1,200 Br. Bigger roosters from Wolayta run 1,800 Br to 2,000 Br. Plucked ELFORA chicken cost 650 Br to 700 Br, but few buyers bite.

“By the time the holiday arrives, prices may creep up another 300 Br to 400 Br,” he predicted.

Eggs have climbed to 17 Br to 20 Br a piece, up four or five Birr in a few weeks, mainly because cooks need them for Doro Wot, the spicy chicken stew that crowns many tables on holidays. In the spice row, mounds of fresh Qibe (butter) command 1,400 Br a kilo, while riper butter sold for 1,200 Br. Cardamom hits 2,000 Br a kilo. Vegetables strain households too. Onions cost 70 Br a kilo, tomatoes 60 Br and lemons 300 Br.

Luna Hadush, newly married and five months pregnant, stared at a whiteboard of posted prices. She planned to buy 10Kg of onions, but the math forced her to cut the order in half.

“I need to stretch every Birr,” she said, folding a shopping list before turning to bargain for tomatoes that look a shade past ripe.

Sheep fetched 15,000 Br to 28,000 Br, goats 18,000 Br to 25,000 Br, depending on size and region. Harar, Jimma, Wolayta, Arsi and Debre Birhan supply much of the stock. Last Christmas, the range ran from 7,000 Br to 30,000 Br; the cheapest animals had leapt while the priciest barely moved, a squeeze for sellers and buyers alike.

Qera itself has lost some of its pull. A redevelopment project last year pushed vendors into side streets where foot traffic fell. The market then migrated to Alexander Pushkin St., a quieter address where taxis cruise past without stopping.

“The market’s gone cold,” said Tofik Mohammed, tending a pen of goats and sheep. “I used to sell 20 to 30 animals each day. Now I’m lucky if two or three find new homes.”

To spread business and ease congestion, officials of the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration (MoTRI) say 374 new weekend markets opened in the third quarter, bringing the total to 1,434 scattered across the capital. One sits under the bridge on Mickey Leland Street in Bole District, Woreda 4, where stalls offer oil, soap, fruit, and vegetables at prices lower than those in the big stores. Tsehay lugged onions and tomatoes bought for 55 Br each, up to 30 Br cheaper than her neighbourhood shop.

Economists see little quick relief.

According to Mustofa Abdella, chief executive of Zafar Investment & Business Consultancy, transport spiked, fuel costs and harvest gaps “pushed merchants to raise tags before demand even arrives.” He proposed temporary price caps, releases from state buffer stocks and incentives for fair pricing.

“Countries use buffer stocks to steady essentials like teff, wheat and oil,” he argued. “Ethiopia could do the same.”

Such moves, he cautioned, should avoid parallel markets or discouraging farmers from planting more grain. He urged tougher watchdogs, public price dashboards and hotlines to deter collusion, arguing that transparency can calm markets and restore confidence among sceptical shoppers.

Holiday budgets meanwhile thin under layers of expense, food, clothing, transport and social visits. Vendors cannot cut further; households cannot pay more. The result, on a bright morning in Qera, is a pen of restless oxen standing for hours without takers, their breath hanging in the chilly air.

At noon, another truck rolled to a halt, brakes hissing. Tadese counted only eight oxen in the trailer, where once there would have been 15. He noted the license number, added the head count and waved the driver on. From a distance, the market looked busy — pens are stocked, buyers stroll — yet the numbers in his ledger tell a quieter truth.

Across town, Moges finally settled on a single rooster from Wolayita. He handed over 1,900 Br, tucked the bird under his arm, and headed toward a battered blue taxi. German wondered whether the half share would satisfy his children, while Luna scratched pastry ingredients off her list. Everyone, it seems, was revising expectations.

By late afternoon, the sun threw long shadows across Qera’s concrete yard. Drivers lounged by empty trailers, waiting for return loads. Tadese tallied the day’s arrivals: 45 trucks carrying cattle, well below forecast. He wiped sweat from his brow.

“Let’s hope tomorrow is busier,” he said, slipping the notebook into his jacket.

Then he is back among the animals, coaxing a nervous bull toward a pen, doing what he could to keep the holiday machinery running. Pens were full, wallets thinned, and Addis Abeba’s feast balances still between patience and worry. Tomorrow’s tally would have revealed whether the thin wallets or the full pens gave way first in a city accustomed to stretching tradition through hard times, still ever resilient nonetheless.

---


PUBLISHED ON Apr 19,2025 [ VOL 26 , NO 1303]

---

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin