MART-AZR Project Research Report 71: Marketing and Processing of Small Ruminants in Highland Balochistan

Abstract

MMost small ruminants in highland Balochistan are produced under transhumant and nomadic pastoralist systems. This study investigated the livestock and meat marketing practices in this area through interviews with producers, village dealers, wholesalers, commission agents, butchers, and consumers. Producers have little knowledge about market forces and quality of livestock, and this limits their ability to increase income. However, they incorporate live weight in their perception of livestock price per unit of weight. The average weight of a sheep was 26.4 kg and for a goat was 21.8 kg, with estimated farm-gate prices of Rs 512 and Rs 480, respectively. The average prices paid by the consumers were Rs 750 for a sheep and Rs 682 for a goat. Correspondingly, services of intermediaries in the marketing chain represented 32% and 30%, respectively, of the price paid by consumers. Meat grading is absent but there is government regulation of retail prices. Thus, consumers do not have ways to convey their degree of dissatisfaction to producers through intermediaries in the marketing chain. Most services could be improved for the benefit of consumers and producers: the overall volume of the market could be higher, the quality of the meat could be more uniform and some marketing costs could be decreased. However, extension efforts to improve the market awareness of producers will face the pastoralists' risk-minimizing strategy in livestock management.