West African shorthorn breeders association in the Saboba-Chereponi District of Ghana: formation, expectations and perceptions of members in participatory breed Development

Abstract

The data presented in this paper are from surveys carried out in five communities namely Chegbani, Konkonzoli, Kuntuli, Nasom and Sambuli to assess aspects of the expectations and perceptions of West African Shorthorn Breeders Association (WASHBA) members in the Saboba-Chereponi District in the Northern Region of Ghana. The West African Shorthorn (WASH) is the dominant cattle breed in Ghana but the biggest threat to the WASH is from the numerically strong but ill - adapted Zebu, which is used for crossbreeding and is eroding the WASH genes. The WASH now constitutes only about 46% of the national herd. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Animal Research Institute (ARI) adopted the Open Nucleus Breeding Scheme for animal breeding. This decision was based on the fact that cattle herds in Ghana are generally small and basic infrastructure for recording of performance and pedigree are non-existent. The adopted nationally accepted ONBS and the formation of WASHBA, thus involving community members in the development process, provides opportunities to halt the observed genetic erosion of the WASH. This is perceived in its conservation and improvement for integration in the farming systems and reduces rural poverty. In a decade five WASHBA groups emerged and are functional with similar formative experiences. Expectations from some WASHBA members were quite high and missed the principle of endogenous development. However, thus far many of the groups perceive having gained some benefits developing around the WASH cattle. The role of community based groups as partners in Research and Development to move rural agriculture forward is established in this study. Ghana Journal of Development Studies Vol.1(2) 2004: 50-69