Diversity in livestock resources in pastoral systems in Africa

Abstract

Pastoral systems are important producers and repositories of livestock diversity. Pastoralists use variability in their livestock resources to manage high levels of environmental variability in economically advantageous ways. In pastoral systems, human-animal-environment interactions are the basis of production and the key to higher productivity and efficiency. In other words, pastoralists manage a production system that exploits variability and keeps production costs low. When differentiating, characterising and evaluating pastoral breeds, this context-specific, functional dimension of diversity in livestock resources needs to be considered. The interaction of animals with their environment is determined not only by morphological and physiological traits but also by experience and socially learned behaviour. This high proportion of non-genetic components determining the performance of livestock means that current models for analysing livestock diversity and performance, which are based on genetic inheritance, have limited ability to describe pastoral performance. There is a need for methodological innovations to evaluate pastoral breeds and animals, since comparisons based on performance 'under optimal conditions' are irrelevant within this production system. Such innovations must acknowledge that livestock or breed performance is governed by complex human-animal-environment interactions, and varies through time and space due to the mobile and seasonal nature of the pastoral system. Pastoralists' breeding concepts and selection strategies seem to be geared towards improving their animals' capability to exploit variability, by - among other things - enhancing within-breed diversity. In-depth studies of these concepts and strategies could contribute considerably towards developing methodological innovations for the characterisation and evaluation of pastoral livestock resources.

Smallholders’ perceptions on biosecurity and disease control in relation to African swine fever in an endemically infected area in Northern Uganda

“…Households that had experienced outbreaks on the third interview occasion, and thus had been exposed to the impact of outbreaks, were however more willing to sell their healthy pigs. In other communities, and for other animal species, it is well known that the number of animals carries an important social role [29]. This might have contributed to the reluctance to sell healthy animals, as might a generally optimistic attitude, expressed by one respondent as “ I don’t want to sell my healthy pigs because they might not fall sick after all ”.…”

Review: Impact of Food and Climate Change on Pastoral Industries

“…Pastoral systems utilize and maintain livestock diversity to cope with climatic variability and keep production costs as low as possible (Kaufmann et al, 2016). Locally adapted livestock breeds are reared in pastoral systems because local breeds have greater fit with the local climatic conditions than exotic breeds (Provenza, 2008).…”

Increasing the Local Relevance of Epidemiological Research: Situated Knowledge of Cattle Disease Among Basongora Pastoralists in Uganda

“…Number of cattle owned was central for perceived status and wealth in the community, and even households ranked among the poorest still had a few cattle, indicating the priority given to investing in cattle. However, similarly to many other traditional cattle-based communities ( 17 ), it was the number of cattle that was important and production levels were not prioritized. Cattle were frequently kept to old age (up to 16 years) and cows were described to produce up to 15 calves in their lifetime.…”