Elsevier

Livestock Science

Volume 136, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 38-44
Livestock Science

Practical crossbreeding for improved livelihoods in developing countries: The FARM Africa goat project

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2010.09.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Successful livestock improvement programmes focusing on low-input smallholder production systems though rare, are possible using community-based approaches. This paper outlines important design and implementation components of a goat improvement programme undertaken by FARM Africa in the eastern highlands of Kenya. Through strong capacity building initiatives at grass-roots level, producers were empowered to undertake a goat genetic improvement programme that benefitted them in several ways. This resulted in the farmers forming their own umbrella organizations to cater for their interests as producers in accessing animal health and breeding services, production inputs, and marketing goats and goat products. In seven years, the population of improved goats in one of the project areas increased from 2100 to 5500, and the livelihoods of the participating farmers improved. Income from sales of milk and improved breeding and slaughter stock increased, while food security improved as a result of daily milk consumption and improved crop yields resulting from use of the rich goat manure. The project has, however, faced challenges arising mainly from the popularity of the improved goats within the Eastern Africa region, which has resulted in sale of a large number of the young animals, leaving few replacements within the project area. Uptake of goat breeding by private commercial farmers to provide breeding stock and replacement animals is currently lacking. Further research and evaluation is required on how to strengthen collective-action based institutions to improve services within smallholder farmer communities.

Introduction

Increasing pressure on land and water resources, poverty, hunger, changing climatic conditions, and pricing of livestock products driven by both domestic and international consumer demand present unprecedented development challenges for developing countries. Within these countries, intensification of livestock production using more productive livestock genotypes has been advocated as a means of improving the livelihoods of some of the poorest farmers (Freeman et al., 2007, Seré et al., 2007). However, given that examples of successful pro-poor livestock improvement programmes focusing on breed improvement for low-input smallholder production systems are rare (Philipsson et al., 2006, Nimbkar et al., 2007), appropriate genotypes for intensive smallholder production systems need to be identified and promoted. This paper presents an example of a livestock improvement programme for smallholder production systems that was implemented in the eastern highlands of Kenya by FARM Africa (an international NGO, http://www.farmafrica.org.uk) using a community-based and -managed approach. Emphasis is given to the design and implementation components that led to its success.

Section snippets

Breed improvement in developing countries

Within-breed selection and crossbreeding are the common genetic improvement methods applied to livestock in developing countries. However, past attempts at breed improvement in sheep and goats in the East African region, mainly carried out through joint government and donor-supported projects, and based on government stations have shown little success (Okeyo, 1997, Ahuya et al., 2005, Kosgey and Okeyo, 2007). In contrast, in cattle production systems where the need for higher productivity,

The FARM Africa Goat Improvement Project

FARM-Africa, which specializes in rural and agricultural development activities, implemented the FARM-Africa Goat Improvement Project (FA-GP) in east and southern Africa aimed at improving the livelihood of poor smallholder farmers. The FA-GP is a community-based development package centered on genetic improvement of dairy goats through crossbreeding, while strategically enhancing the related institutional and technical support services. The goat genetic improvement model adopted for the FA-GP

Observed performance of goats in the project area

The average flock size kept by the farmers is four goats of mixed genotypes, although some kept up to 22 animals. A sub-population of 435 flocks was monitored over two years for growth to weaning, milk production and survival to weaning. The level of performance of the purebred Toggenburg and its crosses with indigenous types for traits related to milk production and growth are presented in Table 1. It should be noted that, in this assessment, performance of the indigenous goat types was not

At the household level

The short-term impacts of the project were both at the individual household and group levels. Households were able to own the asset (dairy goats) and obtain milk for home consumption which resulted in improved nutrition and well being of the participating family members, especially children and women (Peacock, 2008). In addition, income was earned through sales of both milk and animals, while goat manure was available and used to improve crop production. Through the goat genetic improvement

What made the FA-GP successful?

The programme adopted in the FA-GP addressed real needs by supporting the poor smallholder farmers to organize themselves and obtain services through a genetic improvement programme for a species that suited their conditions.

Challenges

Despite the reasonable level of success achieved through the FA-GP, several challenges emerged that, if not addressed, could jeopardize the long-term project outcomes. The main challenges are:

  • The success of the “dairy goat” genetic improvement programme in producing breeding animals has resulted in a high demand for breeding stock within East Africa. Highly lucrative prices are offered for breeding animals, resulting in the sale of a large number of young animals leaving few or no replacements

Concluding remarks

Reports from dairy goat projects indicate that dairy goats could be financially profitable depending on how well they are managed, the farm characteristics and prevailing market systems. For the very poor, who own little land that can't support a dairy cow, the dairy goat is an ideal animal for providing milk and for income generation. The FA-GP demonstrates that incomes and livelihoods of smallholder farmers could be improved through community-based livestock improvement programmes. Through

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    This paper is part of the special issue entitled "Animal Breeding for Poverty Alleviation: Harnessing Science for Greater Impact" guest edited by Dr. William Thorpe and Dr. James Dargie.

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