Tracing the Domestic Pigs in Africa

Abstract

Pigs are vital to the economy and critical in meeting the ever increasing demand for livestock and livestock products in most parts of the world. Pig is one of the oldest domesticated animals, though their ancestory is still shrouded in controversy due to lack of sufficient archaeological and genetic information. However, most of the breeds are thought to have descended from the Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa). This chapter will therefore look at the African pig under the following headings: Introduction, origin of pigs – genetic and historical/archaeological evidences, pig breeds in Africa, economic importance of pig production in Africa, marketing of pigs in Africa, herd health management of pigs in Africa, and challenges affecting pig production in Africa.

Live pig markets are hotspots for spread of African swine fever virus in Nigeria

“…Demand for live pigs is high in pigproducing areas of Nigeria, because these animals play a vital role in the culture and tradition of the people as they are used for celebrations and festivities (Fasina et al, 2010). Pig marketing in Nigeria consists largely of live animal sales which are acquired from multiple sources either directly from farmers at farm gates or fellow traders at live pig markets (LPMs) (Ajala & Adesehinwa, 2008;Weka et al, 2021). Hence, LPMs are hubs for the congregation of animals from a wide range of locations some of which are reporting outbreak diseases.…”

Hepatitis E Seroprevalence and Detection of Genotype 3 Strains in Domestic Pigs from Sierra Leone Collected in 2016 and 2017

“…It also serves as a source of income and thus helps to reduce poverty. By addressing these factors, pig production has the potential to boost the real per capita income of sub-Saharan African countries [ 29 ]. However, with the intensification of global animal production, the interfaces for transmission between species and the reservoir population for zoonotic viruses have increased [ 30 ].…”

Distribution and relative abundance of pig breeds in South-Western Agro-ecological Zone, Uganda: Status of locally adapted pigs

“…Local breed populations have been reported as largely (if not completely) replaced by exotic breeds and crossbred animals in some areas (Leroy et al, 2015). For example, the Nigerian local pig breeds have been replaced by exotic breeds because of their advantageous characteristics, the Eastern African commercial pig industry including Uganda has also been replaced with exotic pig breeds such as Camborough, Landrace and Large White along with their crosses (Walugembe et al, 2014;Weka et al, 2021). This is worrying given that some farmers who still keep the locally adapted pigs do so because of economic constraints and have plans to change to keeping exotic breeds or crossbreds if their economic situation improved; very few farmers, however, would prefer to continue with the local breed (Ouma et al, 2015).…”

“…Unfortunately, funding tends to be readily available to support short-term crossbreeding and introduction of exotic breeds without due consideration of the negative outcomes (AU-IBAR, 2019b). It is therefore imperative to draw attention to the disappearance of the indigenous African pig breeds (Weka, et al, 2021) whose other advantages are not normally considered while evaluating them. The on-going and random distribution of exotic pig breeds in Uganda (Mulindwa, 2016) will continue to dilute the locally adapted pigs' genetic stock; characterisation and evaluation of the genetic uniqueness and diversity of locally adapted pig populations is therefore necessary (Animal Genetic Resources, 2012) before they are lost.…”