Characterization of Washera sheep husbandry practices under smallholder production systems in north-west Ethiopia

A comprehensive understanding of sheep husbandry practices in a given production environment provides essential baseline information for designing sheep breeding and development plans. This study characterized the Washera sheep husbandry practices of farmers under the smallholder production systems in north-west Ethiopia. Data were collected from a total of 480 randomly selected farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire survey. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed using Frequency Procedures in the Statistical Package for Social Science version 22 and the General Linear Model Procedure in the Statistical Analysis System version 9.0, respectively. Sheep constituted the largest proportion (38.42%) of livestock species owned by farmers. Natural pasture (index = 0.445) was the primary feed source for sheep. Most (97.1%) farmers graze their sheep freely (84.6%) on natural pasture. The majority of farmers (84.6%) face seasonal feed shortages mainly in the dry season (74.1%). About 52.2% of the farmers conserve feed to cope with seasonal feed shortages. Rivers were the main water source for sheep in both the dry (65.4%) and wet (63.3%) seasons. Most farmers (59.2%) house their sheep in separate pens with stilted floors (72.3%). Sheep sale decisions were made jointly by male and female household heads. The main opportunities for enhancing sheep production in the area include favorable agroecology, an adaptive breed, and market access. However, production and productivity are greatly affected by feed shortages and disease occurrences, mainly linked to poor sheep husbandry practices. Therefore, the potentials and challenges of sheep production in this study need to be considered in designing future sheep breeding and improvement programs in the area.