Abstract
Identification of breeding practices and trait preferences by livestock keepers for the selection of breeding animals to be parents of the next generations is the crucial step to the successful implementation of community-based breeding program (CBBPs). The study aimed to detect breeding practices and trait preferences by farmers at Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality, South Africa to determine their relevance in establishing a CBBP. A well-structured questionnaire was designed and administered to 183 randomly selected goat keepers from four villages. Chi-square statistics were used to compare categorical variables among villages. Socio-economic factors and reasons for keeping goats were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the four villages. Methods of controlling mating, reasons for not controlling mating, keeping breeding bucks, source of breeding bucks, reasons for culling, and culling methods were significantly different (P < 0.05) among villages. The most common trait preferences of goat keepers among the surveyed villages were twinning ability, mothering ability, and body size in breeding does, while in breeding bucks were mating ability, growth rate, and body size. The results from this study are useful for designing CBBPs for goat production in the communal areas of Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality.
Highlights
South Africa is a comparatively small-scale goat producing country whereby it holds about 1% in the world’s listings of the goat numbers in Africa, it is only 3%, while Eastern Cape has more goats, accounting for 38%, followed by Limpopo with 17%, KwaZulu Natal with 13%, and North West 12% (DAFF 2019)
Over six million goats are raised by communal farmers in South Africa (Chokoe et al 2020a, b)
The index was used for computing the importance of the traits
Summary
South Africa is a comparatively small-scale goat producing country whereby it holds about 1% in the world’s listings of the goat numbers in Africa, it is only 3%, while Eastern Cape has more goats, accounting for 38%, followed by Limpopo with 17%, KwaZulu Natal with 13%, and North West 12% (DAFF 2019). In South Africa, goats are kept by commercial and communal farmers (Slayi et al 2014; Mdladla et al.2017). Communal farmers keep goats to fulfill multiple roles that include manure, traditional ceremonies, skin, milk, meat, and bush encroachment control (Saico and Abul 2007; Gwaze et al 2010; Chokoe et al 2020a, b). Over six million goats are raised by communal farmers in South Africa (Chokoe et al 2020a, b). Communal goat keepers have low production resulting from limited knowledge in livestock genetic improvements (Yakubu et al 2019). CBBP is a process of breeding that requires a bottom-up approach where livestock specialists assist farmers to identify and understand their production challenges before designing an improvement program (Nandolo et al 2016).
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