HIDES AND SKINS MARKETING PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES IN ETHIOPIAN LEATHER INDUSTRIES: CASE OF ADDIS ABABA ABATTOIRS ENTERPRISE

Abstract

The current study was conducted with the objective of assessing hide and skin marketing practices and its challenges in Addis Ababa abattoir enterprise. Both qualitative and quantitative data’s where collected with an exploratory research design. The population of the study where sampled by using stratified probability sampling with total sample size of 192. A questionnaire survey and interview was done with 151 respondents with full respondent rate to assess the marketing situation of raw hide and skins. The general findings show that according to Addis Ababa abattoir enterprise, backyard slayers and central collectors the major quality defects found are scratch, brand marks, scar from wounds and tick mark, ripping defect and animal disease. The analyses of the study conducted with the assessing respondents’ shows marketing practices have four lines of market channels for hides and skins. This starts from producers (Addis Ababa abattoir enterprise and households) followed by middlemen, central collectors and tanneries. Also between this marketing channels Production problem such as diseases and quality defects as well as market problems such as lack of competitive market, price fluctuation and limited market information were identified. Accordingly, the end selling access goes to tannery factories of Waliya, ELICO and LIDI. As many as one-quarter to one-third of all skins processed at tanneries of ELICO, LIDI and Waliya was found that majority quality defects. Due to natural quality defects, processing defect, lack of cheap west management system and lack of foreign currency to buy chemical, tannery company are facing limitation of capacity to sock needed quantity and to receive the total amount produced and collected by the enterprise. Due to this and several reasons a number of hide and skin products do not reach to the market. Moreover, most respondents are aware of some of the criteria for determining quality of hide and skins but due to uncontrolled defects, environmental pollution, government policies, foreign currency shortage, seasonality of the product need and poor marketing systems the sector shows declination from time to time. However, they can easily be minimized through creating price incentive based marketing, creating technology based programs and project work that implement the goodwill of the sector through managing environmental pollution, infrastructure and continuous awareness creation and training and provision of more access to market and better price.