The majority of livestock in the rural areas of Africa are indigenous types that are not well defined as breeds as perceived by the developed world. The animals in this important sector have remained largely uncharact...The majority of livestock in the rural areas of Africa are indigenous types that are not well defined as breeds as perceived by the developed world. The animals in this important sector have remained largely uncharacterised and face the risk of genetic dilution due to indiscriminate crossbreeding, breed replacement and neglect. This article uses two examples to describe a system that has been implemented in South Africa that allows indigenous livestock from rural keepers to enter the seed stock industry as recognized breeds. The first example is the indigenous Nguni breed of cattle that has been successfully developed into a seed stock breed, with a society celebrating its 25th anniversary in November 2011. The second example involves the challenges of developing a seed stock industry for some of the unimproved indigenous goat breeds of South Africa. Climate change is expected to have a more extreme effect on southern hemisphere continents than on other continents. Such negative effects will include high ambient temperatures, nutritional stress and altered patterns of animal diseases. With the likelihood of global warming, these adapted genotypes can play a very important role in sustainable livestock production.展开更多
文摘The majority of livestock in the rural areas of Africa are indigenous types that are not well defined as breeds as perceived by the developed world. The animals in this important sector have remained largely uncharacterised and face the risk of genetic dilution due to indiscriminate crossbreeding, breed replacement and neglect. This article uses two examples to describe a system that has been implemented in South Africa that allows indigenous livestock from rural keepers to enter the seed stock industry as recognized breeds. The first example is the indigenous Nguni breed of cattle that has been successfully developed into a seed stock breed, with a society celebrating its 25th anniversary in November 2011. The second example involves the challenges of developing a seed stock industry for some of the unimproved indigenous goat breeds of South Africa. Climate change is expected to have a more extreme effect on southern hemisphere continents than on other continents. Such negative effects will include high ambient temperatures, nutritional stress and altered patterns of animal diseases. With the likelihood of global warming, these adapted genotypes can play a very important role in sustainable livestock production.
