Minutes after the New Year’s sun rises, fields across Ethiopia come alive with people gathering for the traditional holiday cattle slaughters. Laughter, prayers, and a sense of community fill the early morning air as fresh meat is prepared for households.
The age-old tradition of sharing meat, known as kircha, between close members of a community is practiced by households across all social strata and geographical regions. However, with cattle prices averaging 100,000 birr and a rapidly urbanizing environment, finding partners to share the cost isn’t always easy. Additionally, many city dwellers are reluctant to make the early morning trip or deal with the logistics of transporting meat.
In response to these challenges, a group of friends launched Agape on Facebook last year. They help people find partners for communal slaughters and have already garnered 10,000 followers.
Agape begins posting ads ahead of the holidays, encouraging followers to place their orders. The ads also detail the different pricing options for joining, referred to as “medeb.” Interested users who contact Agape are instructed to deposit payments into the group’s bank account.
On the holiday, participants and anyone interested can watch the two-to-three-hour slaughter process live on Facebook. The division of meat among the groups is also broadcast. Once the process is complete, Agape delivers the meat to each buyer’s home at no additional cost.
Ashenafi Endale, one of the organizers, views their service as a way to both save money and preserve cultural traditions. “Our clients can watch the slaughter live online and have the meat delivered straight to their homes,” Ashenafi told Shega. Agape served nearly 150 customers last year and expects even more this year.
“We’ve prepared six heavy-duty trucks,” he adds. Agape takes up to 10 pre-orders before each purchase and has already secured six oxen this season, with packages starting at 10,000 birr.
A series of directives from the Addis Ababa City Administration has imposed restrictions on urban slaughters outside of licensed abattoirs. The Addis Ababa Abattoirs Enterprise announced the preparation of 3,000 oxen and 2,000 sheep for the holiday season, aiming to curb illegal slaughters.
However, newlyweds like Nebiyu Gebremichael find the traditional process of attending the purchase and slaughter in person too burdensome for their urban lifestyle. He’s content with the festivities as long as there’s a live online feed of the slaughter and the meat is delivered to his home.
“I also get to comment on the slaughter online,” Nebiyu told Shega with a smile.
The 30-something creative director purchased the 15,000 birr package and is looking forward to this year’s arrangements.
Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, with close to 42 million sheep, nearly 52 million goats, and about 58 million chickens. This abundance presents opportunities for creative business ventures in the sector. While innovation has been limited so far, the combination of increasing regulations and expanding digitization is opening new frontiers.
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