Production and Marketing Behaviour of Hadiya Pastoralists, Southern Ethiopia

The paper characterises Hadiya pastoral cattle production system by explaining the nature of production and marketing. Both secondary and primary data were employed. Face to face interviews focus group and key informant discussions took place in the two districts considering 160 pastoral households. The main Findings of the work are the Hadiya pastoralists are keeping large number of cattle like other pastoralists not as a security against risks but it is their cultural obligation to do so and attain the cultural titles though still economic factors affect the system. Moreover, Ethiopia being a wide multiethnic country and pastoralism is an ethnic based production system. However the sample size was limited to only one part of the country and may not represent all Ethiopian pastoralists the study gives a meaningful insight into the pastoralists' production system and serves as useful reference for future studies in studies and interventions in pastoral areas. Key words : Hadiya pastoralists, Marketing Behavior, Ethiopia