Traditional breeding objectives and practices of goat, sheep and cattle smallholders in The Gambia and implications in relation to the design of breeding interventions

Abstract

This paper describes the traditional breeding objectives and practices of West African Dwarf goat, Djallonke sheep, and N'dama cattle keepers in The Gambia and discusses the implications of these on the design of breeding-related interventions to improve livestock productivity. Data were collected via surveys implemented within three study sites in The Gambia, where traditional mixed crop-livestock smallholder farming predominates. The surveys comprised a participatory rural appraisal conducted in nine communities and a household questionnaire targeting 238 households. Livestock-keeping households were classified as 'poorer' or 'wealthier' based on the number of cattle owned. The most important objectives for keeping all species of livestock for the poorer groups (0 to 10 cattle) was 'savings and insurance', followed by 'income' and 'ceremonial/dowry' for the small ruminants and 'manure' and 'draught' for both cows and bulls. In contrast, for the wealthier group (more than 10 cattle), savings and insurance was the fourth to seventh ranked production objective (depending on species), with the most important production objectives being ceremonial/dowry for goats, income for sheep and manure for cows and bulls. An analysis of breeding practices indicated that breeding animals are selected on criteria which partially align to the breeding objectives, animals are rarely purchased for the purpose of breed improvement, knowledge of the cause and consequence of inbreeding is low and breeding decision makers may not necessarily be the livestock owner, particularly if the livestock owner is a women. Given this, it is suggested that capacity building on breeding-related issues, particularly in relation to the selection of breeding animals and specifically targeted at the different socioeconomic groups of livestock keepers, may be an appropriate, effective and relatively low-cost breeding intervention.

Optimizing the use of breed types in developing country livestock production systems: a neglected research area

“…The second relates to the role of livestock to the livelihood of their keeper, which can be diverse (see Table 3) and also varies by system. In 'agro-pastoral and pastoral' and 'extensive mixed crop-livestock' systems, livelihood risk mitigation is of high importance, and the keeping of particular livestock species for savings and insurance purposes can be as, or more, important than the keep-ing of that species as a productive asset (see, for example, Ejlersten et al 2012). To this end, the more adapted, indigenous breed types are superior.…”

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

“…For smallholder farmers in mixed crop–livestock production systems, securing a supply of manure can be among the most important reasons for keeping animals. For example, a study conducted by [27] in the Gambia, indicated that among mixed farmers with fewer than ten cattle, manure supply ranked as the second most important reason for keeping cows and third for keeping bulls. Among farmers with larger herds, manure supply was reported to be the most important livestock function.…”

Production objectives, trait and breed preferences of farmers keeping N’Dama, Fulani Zebu and crossbred cattle and implications for breeding programs

“…Jabbar and Diedhiou (2003) examined breed preferences in Nigeria based on the rating of breed traits and market data using hedonic pricing. Ejlertsen et al (2013) and Benison et al (1997) assessed the production objectives and selection criteria of livestock owners in The Gambia, also using a rating matrix. Few studies have taken into account the heterogeneity of farmers and the factors that influence their production objectives and trait preferences for cattle (Benison et al, 1997;Tano et al, 2003;Ouma et al, 2007;Ndumu et al, 2008).…”