A 28 million U.S. dollar program has been designed, with a view to boosting Ethiopia's animal resource productivity and improving the revenue the nation gets from the sector, the government said Wednesday.

Abera Deressa, state minister of agriculture and rural development, told journalists that the program includes improving veterinary health services, infrastructure development and animal feeding.

Abera said the program focuses on improving the capacity of veterinary services and perk up Ethiopia's competitiveness for meat and livestock export.

He said the government envisaged raising the annual meat export of the country to 30,000 tons in the coming five years which stands at 10,000 tons at present.

The fund for the program was secured from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), he added.

Ethiopia is claimed to have the largest livestock population in Africa. Livestock export is an important source of foreign exchange for the Horn of Africa country.

Source: Xinhua