Population and production parameters of sheep under traditional management in semi-arid areas of Africa.

Abstract

This paper summarises and compares data on the sheep of 4 societies, the Baqqara of western Sudan, the Afar of Ethiopia, the Bambara of Mali and the Masai of Kenya. The parameters considered are demographic structure of the population by sex and age, population morphology, growth from birth to maturity and a comparison of output at the level of both the breeding ewe and of the flock. In both individual and flock output the Baqqara sheep were superior, the Afar achieving second place in flock output due to a relatively high percentage of breeding females.