Local breeds, livelihoods and livestock keepers’ rights in South Asia

Abstract

In South Asia, and throughout the developing world, the predominant official approach to livestock development has been improvement of production by means of upgrading local breeds via cross-breeding with exotic animals. This strategy has led to the replacement and dilution of locally adapted breeds with non-native ones. This has resulted in an alarming loss that has been estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to amount to one breed every two weeks. Based on selected case studies this paper argues that development strategies using locally adapted breeds and species are much more likely to benefit livestock keepers whilst also maintaining domestic animal diversity and bearing a smaller ecological footprint. It also analyses the rationale for "Livestock Keepers' Rights", a principle that grew out of the struggle of traditional livestock keepers to retain control over their production resources, such as grazing areas and breeding stock, in the face of unfavourable policy environments.

Motives and values in farming local cattle breeds in Europe: a survey on 15 breeds

“…Although LKR were originally modelled on farmers' rights as articulated in the ITPGRFA, they have evolved into a much more comprehensive concept than farmers' rights by not being restricted in scope to the right to breed, save and exchange genetic material but by encompassing a broader approach that would strengthen small-scale livestock keepers and support them to make a living in their traditional agro-ecosystems (Köhler-Rollefson et al, 2009). …”

Effect of Genotype on Morphometric Traits and Body Temperature of Three Genotypes of Chicken (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) Raised in the Humid Tropical Stressful Environment.

“…The Least squares (LS) mean of body weight, weight variation and daily body weight gain (W1, W12, W30, WG [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] and dWG [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] ) of birds used in this study were assigned in table 2. Growth parameters at 30 week of age of birds used was ranged between 929.41 and 1987.50 g for body weight, and between 2.53 and 6.71 daily body weight gain.…”

Effect of management on reproductive performances of the Achai cattle in the Hindu Kush (Northern Pakistan)

“…Reproduction traits are also critical to predict milk yields, herd longevity, availability of replacement stock, and opportunities for more selective culling (Evans et al 2006;Chang et al 2006). In order to prevent the loss of valuable reproductive traits of indigenous breeds and to make their conservation possible, scientific documentation is crucial (FAO 2007;Kohler-Rollefson et al 2009). …”