Understanding Pastoralists’ Preferences for Goat Traits : Application of All-Levels and End-Point Choice Experiments

Pastoralists are generally known for carefully selecting and maintaining their livestock. In this study, we examine the preferences of pastoralists for goal traits. We employ all-levels and end-point discrete choice experiments to investigate the relative weights pastoralists in Southern Ethiopia attach to the different traits of does and bucks. Based on data generated from 600 pastoral households, we estimated willingness to pay, trait preference heterogeneity, and attributed non-attendance using different specifications of the mixed logit model. The empirical analysis showed that the all-levels design explains the choice strategies of the respondents better than the end-point design. The pastoralists are most interested in heat/drought tolerance, white coat color, and disease tolerance both for does and bucks with slightly different orders. The consistency of the relative preferences for the different traits shows that pastoralists are well aware of the different attributes of their animals and have clear hierarchy for the attributes in choosing the next generation of buck and doe. Our findings imply that breeds with clear advantage in disease resistance and heat tolerance over the local breeds might help pastoralists improve their livelihoods