Abstract
Cattle are critical to most smallholder agricultural livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa. A study was carried out to assess breed and trait preferences, breeding practices, application and potential adoption of novel reproductive technologies by smallholder cattle farmers in four districts of Zimbabwe. The study revealed that famers are subsistence oriented and follow a resource driven production system. Herd size averaged 7.5±6.42, with dominance of indigenous breeds and their crosses, open communal breeding and non-existence of reproductive technology application. The major challenges faced include reproductive and tick-borne diseases, dry season feed shortage, and poor access to affordable good quality bulls. Brahman, Mashona, Afrikaner and Tuli were the most preferred breeds for their hardiness, fertility, reproductive efficiency and draught performance attributes. Low reproductive efficiency was revealed by long bull retention periods (>5 years), long calving intervals (>18 months), low pregnancy rates (41% of cows) and high ages at first calving (34 months). Farmers indicated moderate knowledge of artificial insemination and keen interest in using this technology with semen frozen from locally bred, indigenous sires to improve their herds. There is therefore both need and potential for the application of assisted reproduction techniques for improved genetic gain, performance and reduced inbreeding in smallholder cattle herds. Key words: Smallholder, cattle breeds, assisted reproductive technologies, Zimbabwe.
Highlights
Agriculture is central to Sub-Saharan Africa’s development process and is dominated by smallholder family farms, producing over 70 % of all food
Only 27% of respondent household heads were 40 years and less. These results show that the older generation dominate decision making systems on smallholder farms in the country
This study revealed a convergence of indigenous experiential knowledge of the farmers and technical results obtained in breed evaluation on research stations, leading to a preference for local breeds adapted to their multiple needs, production environment and local circumstances (Moyo, 1997; Wilson, 2009)
Summary
Agriculture is central to Sub-Saharan Africa’s development process and is dominated by smallholder family farms, producing over 70 % of all food. Sanga and Zebu breeds and their crosses form the bulk of the nation’s cattle genetic resources (Hirwa et al, 2017; Rowlands et al, 2003) These breeds have demonstrated superior performance in fertility, reproduction, hardiness, survivability and climatic stress resistance traits over their exotic counterparts under prevailing environmental and management conditions (d’Hotman and Hatendi, 1998; Moyo, 1997). The peculiarity of these local breeds is perceptible in higher heat tolerance, resistance to local disease epidemics, ticks and tick borne diseases, as well as improved and diversified production ability, making them better adapted to survive and tolerate harsh environments (Nyamushamba et al, 2017; Hirwa et al, 2017). They are potentially valuable resources for use in regions facing similar biological stresses, climate change resilience and response to the future needs of livestock production (FAO, 2015; van Arendonk, 2011)
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