Ethiopia: Christmas Cattle Chaos

The livestock market in Flamingo area, off Africa Avenue, was vibrant by the late afternoon of Monday, January 6, 2013 - the eve of the Ethiopian Christmas holiday. With just two hours left until the market closes, goats and sheep marked on their backs with rose and red paints for convenience by the vendors, filled the space on either side of the narrow asphalt road, waiting for potential buyers. Vendors were vying for the attention of buyers while driving their cattle, putting them in order and tapping their backs to show how fat and strong they were.

Compared to the New Year holiday last September, the price of goats and sheep has dropped. Back then, the price of a sheep varied from 1,500 Br to 4,000 Br, depending on the size of the sheep and, of course, the area of origin. This time, however, sheep were sold for between 1,800 and 3,400. The decline, some vendors approached by Fortune explained, is related to a good farming season.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.