Ownership pattern and management practices of small ruminants in The Gambia — implications for a breeding programme

Jaitner, J.; Sowe, J; Secka-Njie, E; Dempfle, L.

doi:10.1016/s0921-4488(00)00221-2

Cited by 94 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The results confirm that small ruminants are non-pooled household resources in southern Benin and individual owners are independent decision-makers who have different socioeconomic characteristics and also different objectives and preferences. These findings are in agreement with the results of previous studies (Okali and Sumberg 1986;Jaitner et al 2001). In the study area, household income was not pooled, and household members often had separate, culturally designated obligations to meet different sets of needs within and beyond the household.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

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Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin

et al. 2008

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An understanding of factors influencing the decision of rural people to keep sheep and/or goats is crucial when formulating technologies and policies that support village-based small ruminant production. The knowledge of such factors will also improve assessment of impact intervention strategies on the livelihoods of rural people. Structured questionnaires administered in 228 households were used to study the ownership patterns of small ruminants in southern Benin. The ownership of goats was higher (91%) than sheep (35%) because goats are not affected by any ethnic or cultural restrictions. Goats are also perceived to be a less risky to invest into compared to sheep. Women represented 71% of the keepers of goats. Predictive models of ownership were developed using logistic regression. The results showed that younger household members (p \ 0.05) especially young women (60%) are more likely to own small ruminants. Owners of small ruminants are less likely to be involved in off-farm activities and would often have no access to credit facilities. Gender, ethnicity, and perception of risk associated with species are the major factors affecting people's choice of species. These findings highlight the financing and insurance roles that small ruminants, particularly goats, are playing in the study area. In order to develop suitable technologies and formulate policies to improve productivity and enhance livelihoods, the constraints to goat production need to be identified, and the local knowledge of the keepers should be investigated.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

“…In Gambia, Jaitner et al (2001) found that small ruminants are non-pooled household resources and are independently owned and managed by household members who are often women. Similar observations were made in Nigeria (Okali and Sumberg 1986;Ajala 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin

et al. 2008

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“…Farmers reared goats more for pleasure than for money. These results were quite different from those found in other tropical countries, where insurance and income were highly ranked as reasons for keeping goats (Jaitner et al, 2001;Dossa et al, 2007;Kosgey et al, 2008). Second, goat stealing and wandering dog attacks discouraged farmers.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 84%

“…Health was not seen as a desired trait. These results are consistent with those of for goats in Martinique, of Jaitner et al (2001) for West African Dwarf goats in Gambia and with those of Kosgey et al (2008) for small ruminants in Kenya. They differed from the preference of the Djallonké goat breeder in Benin (Dossa et al, 2007) who considered as equally important reproduction, behaviour, health and meat production.…”

Section: Production Systems Of Creole Goatsupporting

confidence: 88%

Production systems of Creole goat and their implications for a breeding programme

Gunia¹,

Mandonnet²,

Arquet

et al. 2010

Animal

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The Creole goat is a local meat breed well adapted to the tropical environment of Guadeloupe, a French island in the Caribbean. A survey of 47 goat farmers was conducted in May 2008 to describe the Guadeloupean goat farming systems. It was the preliminary step for the implementation of a breeding programme for Creole goats. Farmers had 31 does on average. A small number (4%) kept only Creole goats. Most of them (62%) had a mixed herd of Creole and crossbreds. One-third of them (34%) reared only crossbred goats. Farmers appreciate the rusticity and resistance of the Creole goat but consider its growth as too slow. The most desired traits for goat selection were conformation and growth for males (77% of the answers). These traits were also important for females (30% of the answers). Maternal qualities were also frequently cited (maternal behaviour 23%, reproduction 20% and milk production 17%). Disease resistance was not seen as an important trait (10% and 7% of the answers for bucks and does, respectively). A typology constituted of five groups of farmers was also created. Farmers of three groups were retained to participate at a selection programme. They kept Creole goats and have expressed a strong willingness to join a selection programme. The results of the survey suggest that a breeding programme should mostly focus on the Creole goat as a maternal breed. Real consideration should be given to disease resistance. The Creole goat has indeed a key role to play in the sustainability of local farming systems.

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“…A study in the Taurus Mountain villages in Turkey found that most women farmers had little access to information about animal production through public extension services (Budaka et al, 2005). Similar findings have been documented in Cameroon, Ghana and Madagascar (Salman et al, 1999), in Pakistan (Teufel et al, 1998) and in The Gambia (Jaitner et al, 2001). The reasons given for this lack of access to extension services by women included women's long workdays, which precluded them from engaging with, or searching out, extension officers, a neglect of women's needs and circumstances when targeting extension work, and widespread female illiteracy.…”

Section: Importance Of Livestock For Womenmentioning

confidence: 66%

The roles of livestock in developing countries

Herrero

Grace

Njuki

et al. 2013

Animal

436

255

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Livestock play a significant role in rural livelihoods and the economies of developing countries. They are providers of income and employment for producers and others working in, sometimes complex, value chains. They are a crucial asset and safety net for the poor, especially for women and pastoralist groups, and they provide an important source of nourishment for billions of rural and urban households. These socio-economic roles and others are increasing in importance as the sector grows because of increasing human populations, incomes and urbanisation rates. To provide these benefits, the sector uses a significant amount of land, water, biomass and other resources and emits a considerable quantity of greenhouse gases. There is concern on how to manage the sector's growth, so that these benefits can be attained at a lower environmental cost. Livestock and environment interactions in developing countries can be both positive and negative. On the one hand, manures from ruminant systems can be a valuable source of nutrients for smallholder crops, whereas in more industrial systems, or where there are large concentrations of animals, they can pollute water sources. On the other hand, ruminant systems in developing countries can be considered relatively resource-use inefficient. Because of the high yield gaps in most of these production systems, increasing the efficiency of the livestock sector through sustainable intensification practices presents a real opportunity where research and development can contribute to provide more sustainable solutions. In order to achieve this, it is necessary that production systems become market-orientated, better regulated in cases, and socially acceptable so that the right mix of incentives exists for the systems to intensify. Managing the required intensification and the shifts to new value chains is also essential to avoid a potential increase in zoonotic, food-borne and other diseases. New diversification options and improved safety nets will also be essential when intensification is not the primary avenue for developing the livestock sector. These processes will need to be supported by agile and effective public and private institutions.

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Ownership pattern and management practices of small ruminants in The Gambia — implications for a breeding programme

Cited by 94 publications

References 4 publications

Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin

Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin

Production systems of Creole goat and their implications for a breeding programme

The roles of livestock in developing countries

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