Afar

The Afar is an indigenous cattle type of the Afar people of northeastern Ethiopia, with related herds extending into Eritrea and Djibouti. It is usually described as a hardy zebu or zebu-influenced pastoral breed, shaped by the hot lowlands around the Awash Valley and the Afar Depression. Animals tend to be small to medium framed, humped, and long legged enough to travel between scattered grazing and water. Horn shape and coat color vary, which is typical of livestock maintained under traditional selection rather than show-ring uniformity.

Afar cattle are kept mainly in mobile or semi-mobile herds for milk, calves, meat from culls, and household security. Their value is tied to survival under heat, sparse forage, seasonal disease pressure, and long walks, not maximum production in a feedlot or dairy barn. Herd management depends on water planning, dry-season grazing access, and keeping breeding females fit through periodic feed shortage. Outside their home region, buyers should confirm local adaptation goals and avoid treating Afar cattle as standardized high-output beef or dairy animals.

Colors: Belted, Black, Black and White, Blaze Faced, Blue Roan, Brindle, Brockle Faced, Brown, Brown and White, Dun, Gray, Grey, Highbelt, Highpark, Lineback, Mottled, Pied, Red, Red and White, Red Roan, Riggit, Roan, Silver, Solid Black, Solid Red, Solid White, Speckled, Spotted, White, White Faced, Yellow