Conservation of indigenous cattle genetic resources in Southern Africa’s smallholder areas: turning threats into opportunities — A review

Abstract

The current review focuses on characterization and conservation efforts vital for the development of breeding programmes for indigenous beef cattle genetic resources in Southern Africa. Indigenous African cattle breeds were identified and characterized using information from refereed journals, conference papers and research reports. Results of this current review reviewed that smallholder beef cattle production in Southern Africa is extensive and dominated by indigenous beef cattle strains adaptable to the local environment. The breeds include Nguni, Mashona, Tuli, Malawi Zebu, Bovino de Tete, Angoni, Landim, Barotse, Twsana and Ankole. These breeds have important functions ranging from provision of food and income to socio-economic, cultural and ecological roles. They also have adaptive traits ranging from drought tolerant, resistance to ticks and tick borne diseases, heat tolerance and resistance to trypanosomosis. Stakeholders in the conservation of beef cattle were also identified and they included farmers, national government, research institutes and universities as well as breeding companies and societies in Southern Africa. Research efforts made to evaluate threats and opportunities of indigenous beef cattle production systems, assess the contribution of indigenous cattle to household food security and income, genetically and phenotypically characterize and conserve indigenous breeds, and develop breeding programs for smallholder beef production are highlighted. Although smallholder beef cattle production in the smallholder farming systems contributes substantially to household food security and income, their productivity is hindered by several constraints that include high prevalence of diseases and parasites, limited feed availability and poor marketing. The majority of the African cattle populations remain largely uncharacterized although most of the indigenous cattle breeds have been identified.

The potential of reproductive technologies in breeding smallholder cattle populations in Zimbabwe

“…Many researchers have observed that cattle provide a variety of goods and services that generate income, ensure food security, and support smallholder rural livelihoods (Nyamushamba et al, 2017;Wilson, 2009). In Rwanda, Hirwa et al (2017) reported seven major reasons for keeping cattle among smallholder farmersmeat, income, savings, conservation, beauty/aesthetics, milk and cultural uses.…”

“…These breeds have demonstrated superior performance in fertility, reproduction, hardiness, survivability and climatic stress resistance traits over their exotic counterparts under prevailing environmental and management conditions (d'Hotman and Hatendi, 1998;Moyo, 1997). The peculiarity of these local breeds is also perceptible in higher heat tolerance, resistance to local disease epidemics, ticks and tick borne diseases, as well as improved and diversified production ability, making them better adapted to survive and tolerate harsh environments (Nyamushamba et al, 2017;Hirwa et al, 2017). They are therefore not only acclimatised to their habitat but also fit for their purpose (Wilson, 2009).…”

“…Most of these farms are multi-enterprise in nature, and are based on an integration of livestock and crops (van Vliet et al, 2015). On such farms, cattle are multi-functional, providing a wide variety of goods and services that generate income, ensure food security, and support rural livelihoods (Nyamushamba et al, 2017;Assan, 2012). These functions include livestock-derived food (meat, milk), transport and agricultural draft power, hides and skins, manure for soil fertility amelioration, dung as a source of fuel, income from sale of live animals and/or their products, provision of savings and insurance services (especially where these services are non-existent, inaccessible or unreliable), diversification of rural livelihood options, and meeting the socio-cultural roles and obligations of their owners (Nyamushamba et al, 2017;Rege et al, 2011).…”

“…Ninety one per cent of the nation's 5.2 million cattle head is kept under smallholder grazing systems (MAMID, 2014;Nyamushamba et al, 2017). Sanga and Zebu breeds and their crosses form the bulk of the nation's cattle genetic resources (Hirwa et al, 2017;Rowlands et al, 2003).…”

“…On such farms, cattle are multi-functional, providing a wide variety of goods and services that generate income, ensure food security, and support rural livelihoods (Nyamushamba et al, 2017;Assan, 2012). These functions include livestock-derived food (meat, milk), transport and agricultural draft power, hides and skins, manure for soil fertility amelioration, dung as a source of fuel, income from sale of live animals and/or their products, provision of savings and insurance services (especially where these services are non-existent, inaccessible or unreliable), diversification of rural livelihood options, and meeting the socio-cultural roles and obligations of their owners (Nyamushamba et al, 2017;Rege et al, 2011). Cattle also form a social safety net and an important component of the resilience (to crop pest, disease and drought occurrences) of land based livelihoods for millions of people living in marginal production areas (Murungweni et al, 2014;van Vliet et al, 2015).…”