Gebresenbet, Girma (Professor)Gudeta, Beshada2018-07-192023-11-112018-07-192023-11-112012-09http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/9339Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa. Livestock production is an integral part of the country’s agricultural production system and the livestock sector constitutes a significant share of the country’s GDP. As one of the milestones for the overall livelihood in the country, livestock serves as a source of draught power for the rural farming population, supplies farm families with milk, meat, manure, serves as a source of cash income, and plays significantly in the social and cultural values of the society. Despite the importance of the livestock sector to the agricultural and national economy in the country, the sector is underdeveloped and underutilized. The challenges facing the transport and handling of slaughter animals was thought to be one of the obstacles to the livestock sector shadowing the role it can play in the national economy. This study aimed at mapping out the animal supply chain from regions to the terminal markets in Addis Ababa and further to the Abattoirs, identifying and mapping the existing livestock market and Abattoirs in the city, mapping out the activities and processes at the abattoir, determining possible locations of the livestock markets and abattoirs in the city, and evaluating the existing meat distribution in the capital in addition to pointing out possible recommendation for efficient transport and handling of slaughter animals in the city and from different parts of the country to the city. Slaughter animals in Addis Ababa are brought from different parts of the country passing different hierarchy of markets. Isuzu trucks, not designed for the purpose of transporting animals, are used for transporting the slaughter animals from various regions to the terminal market in Addis Ababa although animal trekking was also another mode of animal transport to the city especially for shorter journeys. Considerable problems in handling and treatment of animals during loading, transport, and unloading were observed and the process as a whole was not in line with the animal handling guidelines of the country due to various technical and institutional problems. Addis Ababa Abattoir Enterprise(AAAE) was the biggest Abattoir in the city responsible to provide 85% of the city’s meat demand ( both in slaughtering and distributing meat) where the remaining 15% share of the meat consumption was covered by Kara-Alo Abattoir and Abattoirs iii in Oromia regional state nearby the capital. The meat distribution process with respect to route choice, delivery order, vehicle scheduling and management, sanitation problems were inefficient in minimizing distribution costs, delivering quality and healthy meat to the customers, and on time delivery of the product to the customers. The result of route optimization using RouteLogiX Professional V 5.5 (5 Professional) showed that the distribution routes and delivery orders were not optimized and up to 41% savings in distribution distance with an average saving of 12.33% and up to 39.68% savings in distribution times with an average saving of 13.58% would be achieved if optimized routes were used. The existing livestock market centers and Abattoirs in Addis Ababa were evaluated with respect to their location, standard and effect on the community nearby them. The result of location analysis showed that most of the market centers and Abattoirs are located at city centers with fewer standards than required affecting the health of the inhabitants negatively. Location factor rating technique was used as a tool to determine optimum positions of livestock market centers and Abattoirs at optimum locations that will resolve the existing challenges and contribute to the well being of the inhabitants as well.enRoad & Transport Engineering StreamThesis