Traditional livestock breeding practices of men and women Somali pastoralists: trait preferences and selection of breeding animals

Abstract

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. SummarySomalia, one of the world's poorest countries, has livestock as the mainstay of the economy, with an estimated 65% of the population engaged in the livestock sector. This paper presents a gendered study on the traditional livestock breeding practices of Somali pastoralists for camels, cattle, sheep and goats, with a focus on documenting livestock traits of importance, the criteria used to select male breeding animals and the criteria used to cull female breeding animals. Data for the study were obtained by performing participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) with separate male and female pastoral groups from 20 settlements of the Tog-Dheer region of Somaliland (in north-western Somalia). In total, more than 500 pastoralists were involved. In terms of livestock ownership, goats were the most common species kept (97% of all households), followed by sheep (64%), camels (37%) and cattle (9%), with considerable herd size variation across households. Traits of key importance to the pastoralists varied by species and gender of the PRA group, but included adaptedness to harsh environmental conditions, high market value/high meat production and high milk production. The pastoralists practised sensible criteria for the selection of male breeding animals for all species, capturing aspects of productivity (milk yield, reproduction), adaptedness (good hardiness) and marketability (body size and conformation). Similarly, they practised sensible criteria for culling of female breeding animals, with females removed from the herd primarily for poor performance, but also to meet the livelihood needs of the family. Differences in the selection and culling criteria were noted by species, as well as gender of the pastoralists. On the whole, there was strong alignment between the livestock selection criteria used by the Somali pastoralists, their reasons for keeping livestock and the market requirements. This is not surprising given the intimate and long-standing relationship between Somali pastoralists and their livestock.

Farmers’ choice of genotypes and trait preferences in tropically adapted chickens in five agro-ecological zones in Nigeria

“…This present information may inform breeding management decisions along gender mainstreaming in the study localities. In a related study in other species, Marshall et al (2016) reported that gender differences may result from production objectives and the specific roles and responsibilities of males and females in traditional livestock rearing. This is linked to the constant state of change, evolution and development of traditional gender roles (Paudel et al 2009;Karmebäck et al, 2015).…”

Genome-wide analysis of goat genetic diversity and production systems in Uganda

“…The current study underscores the importance of adaptation traits like disease resistance and recognises that these traits are equally or more important than production traits. The findings from this study are in line with those of previous studies in Ethiopia by and recently in Somalia by Marshall et al (2016). It is therefore important to note that a critical understanding of the adaptation traits and including them in the breeding goal is vital for developing sustainable improvement programs.…”

The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues

“…The most important of these included domestic milk consumption, income from the sale of milk, slaughter animals and breeding animals, savings and insurance, domestic meat consumption, transport and load carrying, drawing water from wells, ceremony and dowry and hide use (Marshall et al 2014). The livestock trait preferences of, and selection criteria used by, the pastoralists also varied by pastoralist gender and livestock species, but aligned well with the harsh environment under which the animals perform, the pastoral livestock-keeping objectives and the market requirements (Marshall et al 2016).…”

“…Although strengthening the livestock sector is considered to be the key to poverty reduction and increased food security in Somalia (FAO 2010), few studies have reported the livestock management practices of Somali livestock keepers, including on breeding issues. So as to help address this knowledge gap, we have recently documented the livestock-keeping objectives, trait preferences of, and selection criteria used by, women and men pastoralists in Somaliland (located in north-western Somalia), for goats, sheep, cattle and camel (Marshall et al 2014(Marshall et al , 2016. The livestock-keeping objectives varied by gender of the pastoralist as well as livestock species; however, all species were kept for multiple objectives.…”