Fattening operations of small ruminants

in Coastal Zone of Western Desert, Egypt

Taha Hosni Abdel-Sabour (APRI , Cairo, Egypt)

Jean-Pierre Boutonnet (INRA, Montpellier, France)

Pr. Hussein Mansour (Ain Shams university)

Pr. Adel Aboul Naga and Pr. Mona A. Osman (APRI)

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ELVULMED and CLIMED Project ELVULMED project (2011-2014): “Role of livestock

activities in the process of adaptation and reducing vulnerability of Mediterranean societies facing global changes” (2011-2014)

Institutions: APRI, DRC (Egypt), CIRAD, INRA (France), ICARDA.

This project funded by ANR - France (National Agency of Research, France) as part of the research program on Society and Environment (ANR CEP&S, 2011)

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ELVULMED and CLIMED Project

CLIMED Project (2012-2016): “The future of Mediterranean Livestock Farming Systems: opportunity and efficiency of Crop–Livestock Integration”

Partners: APRI, CIRAD, INRA, IAV (Morocco) and IRD (France) associated with ICARDA

Call ARIMNET (2011) Fund: ANR-France

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Location of the CZWD in Egypt

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Our study Context

Fattening operations in the CZWD were found a good indicator of the performances of the meat commodity chain as a whole

Fattening is the operation that leads to add value for the animal by increasing its weight throughout intensive feeding for a specific duration

and as a result of this operation the prices of fattened animals are higher than non-fattened animals

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Our study

Objectives of study :

(i) characterize the fattening operations of small ruminants

in Matrouh governorate,

(ii) identify the factors that affecting the fattening

operations and

(iii) determine the criteria that drive the choice of animals

to be fattened

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Method A “trader” survey was carried out in 2012 in the Coastal

Zone of Western Desert (CZWD) of Egypt

Method: semi-directed questionnaire

Sample: 55 traders, of which 38 of them do fattening operation in 3 centers: Matrouh, Negila and Sidi-Barani

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CZWD, Egypt: Data collection ELVULMED Project

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Our sample : 38 fatteners among 55 traders

Matrouh Negila Barani Overall

n=25 n=14 n=16 n=55

Trader only 14 0 1 15

Trader and breeder 1 0 1 2

Trader and Fattener 5 2 0 7

Trader, Breeder and

Fattener 5 12 14 31

Total Fatteners 10 14 14 38 9

Classifications of the fatteners according to time of fattening operations

Time Matrouh Negila Barani Overall

n=25 n=14 n=16 n=55

Out El Aid

only 3 1 1 5

For El Aid only 3 9 13 25

Both 4 4 0 8

Total 10 14 14 38 10

Feeding systems The main problem for all the fatteners is the high

prices of feedstuff

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Variation of prices (LE/t) paid by the fatteners for different

feedstuffs – 2012

Wheat and processed feedstuffs’ prices are very volatile, generating speculative behaviours

1500

2000 1800

2156 2080

2611 2750

2300

3500

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Wheat Corn Processed feedstuffs

LE/ton

Feedstuffs

Minimum

Average Price

Maximum

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Fatteners Matrouh Negila Barani Total

number

Pay with Delay 6 9 14 29

Do not Pay with Delay 4 5 0 9

Total number 10 14 14 38

Delayed payment for feedstuffs Number of fatteners who paid and did not pay with delay

For those using delayed payment the extra price ranges from 100-300 LE/tonne, or 5-15% for 2 to 4 months, or 10-30 LE/animal (+/- 10% of their money gain per animal)

Feeding systems However, this constraint varies according to the

climatic year and the possibility to make grazing part of the fattening period, especially in the centers of Negila and Barani

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Grazing land in Matrouh governorate, 2011

15

16

967 821

983

817 872 875

1050

775

161

205

228

228 159 88

101

101

27

25

18

18 26 10

16

16

177

139

221

154 182 202

259

209

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Malesfattened

alone

Femalesfattened

alone

Males in amixed batchwith females

Females in amixed batchwith males

Malesfattened

alone

Femalesfattened

alone

Males in amixed batchwith females

Females in amixed batchwith males

Preparing Aid El Adha Rest of the year

Average money gain

Average other costs

Average total cost of feeding

Average Purchase Price

N=15

N=12 N=2

Breakdown of costs and gains in the selling price of sheep after fattening (LE/head)

N=6

N=9

N=2

Conclusion (1/2) Fatteners prefer to fatten lambs more than kids and males

more than females,

The demand of fattened lambs increases at the period of religious celebrations (El-Aid El Adha and Ramadan) and seasons (summer holidays): so the competition increases among the fatteners during these periods,

These events create a strong demand for feedstuffs during the precedent months

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Conclusion (2/2) The high prices of feedstuff during these period explains

lower margins per head during El-Aid vs the rest of the year

This can be explained by the actual specific period of El-Aid during summer time (out of grazing period)

And also the practice of delaying payments

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Marsa Matrouh, 2011