Ethiopia’s beef industry has earned over US $72 million through exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, over the past nine months.
The UAE and Saudi are major importers of Ethiopia’s fresh goat’s meat and mutton.
Khalifa Hussein, Deputy Director-General at the Ethiopian Meat and Dairy Industry Development Institute said 60% of Ethiopian meat makes it way to UAE while 38% to Saudi Arabia and the remaining 2% to other Middle East countries.
He said the country exports up to 50 tons of meat daily to the two countries.
Ethiopia targets to secure over 150 million USD from meat export in the current fiscal year.
Meanwhile Abebaw Mekonen, Secretary-General of the Ethiopian Meat Producers-Exporters Association said the association has managed to make most abattoirs across the country implement ISO 22000 food safety management system that helps meet international standards.”
He said consultation forums have also been carried out with suppliers to ensure quality of cattle apart from capacity building trainings offered to workers in abattoirs.
Apart from regulating the market, Abebaw said the Association collaborates with cattle suppliers to ensure sustainable meet export.
