288
tion with 1000 does. It has been calculated that with records from 6 daughters per
30 young test bucks per year and selecting 3 best bucks as future elite bucks, a
considerable genetic gain could be achieved. African environment conditions ensure
genetically adapted future generations. For now, genetic improvement and
community- based breeding program with buck rotation is suggested. Furthermore,
needs for selection of replacement stock, animal identification, and performance
records have been highlighted.
The demand of dairy goats is increasing each year in many African countries
including Tanzania and Malawi. Their introduction has mainly been through importing exotic bucks and does, and through semen, which led to crossbreeding with
local breeds. However, due to lack of support structures and capacity, breeding of
these animals has not been appropriate; and for this reason, the performance has not
been as expected. Breeding programs and protocols for dairy goats in both countries
are lacking as most farmers breed goats based on their own knowledge. Scientific
and farmer-based recording are lacking, and this makes it difficult to track the
genetic composition of over 90% of the animals, which would have provided information about the breeding value (BV) of the dairy goats and enabled the institution
of in-country programs to sustain imported and improved genotypes. Modern breeding practices are difficult for farmers to carry out themselves, without technical
back-up from the government or research institutions. In this chapter, we review and
discuss the dairy goat breeding options for developing countries using the cases of
Tanzania and Malawi. We have considered the methods which can be adopted by the
farmers with less financial investments.
1 Introduction
Goats are important animals in developing countries in Africa and Asia and provide
a great potential for increased benefits with respect to food, nutrition, and financial
security. In Tanzania, these animals are ranked second in terms of importance after
cattle, and the total number in 2018 was estimated to be 18.8 million (MLFD 2018).
From the Malawi census reports, there are more goats (8.4 million) compared to
cattle which were about 1.7 million in 2017 (DAHLD 2018). Goats have fast-generation rate, are cheap to keep, and are popular and sometimes the only form of
economic activity in most rural poor communities of African countries where they
are nicknamed the “poor man’s cows” (Devendra 2013). However, goats in both
countries are mainly indigenous, with low productivity due to poor genetic potential
and low-input management (Chenyambuga et al. 2004; Nandolo et al. 2015;
DAHLD 2018). For example, over 98% of the goats in Tanzania belong to the Small
East African (SEA) breed, which has been shown to have a maximum growth rate
of 5–7 g/day, mature size of 20–25 kg, low carcass weights between 6 and 13 kg
(Chenyambuga et al. 2004), and milk production of less than 0.7 L/day, with very
short lactation periods (Ryoba and Hansen 1988). Similar values were reported in
Malawi from a previous study (Banda et al. 1993). Low productivity of the majority
G. Msalya et al.
tion with 1000 does. It has been calculated that with records from 6 daughters per
30 young test bucks per year and selecting 3 best bucks as future elite bucks, a
considerable genetic gain could be achieved. African environment conditions ensure
genetically adapted future generations. For now, genetic improvement and
community- based breeding program with buck rotation is suggested. Furthermore,
needs for selection of replacement stock, animal identification, and performance
records have been highlighted.
The demand of dairy goats is increasing each year in many African countries
including Tanzania and Malawi. Their introduction has mainly been through importing exotic bucks and does, and through semen, which led to crossbreeding with
local breeds. However, due to lack of support structures and capacity, breeding of
these animals has not been appropriate; and for this reason, the performance has not
been as expected. Breeding programs and protocols for dairy goats in both countries
are lacking as most farmers breed goats based on their own knowledge. Scientific
and farmer-based recording are lacking, and this makes it difficult to track the
genetic composition of over 90% of the animals, which would have provided information about the breeding value (BV) of the dairy goats and enabled the institution
of in-country programs to sustain imported and improved genotypes. Modern breeding practices are difficult for farmers to carry out themselves, without technical
back-up from the government or research institutions. In this chapter, we review and
discuss the dairy goat breeding options for developing countries using the cases of
Tanzania and Malawi. We have considered the methods which can be adopted by the
farmers with less financial investments.
1 Introduction
Goats are important animals in developing countries in Africa and Asia and provide
a great potential for increased benefits with respect to food, nutrition, and financial
security. In Tanzania, these animals are ranked second in terms of importance after
cattle, and the total number in 2018 was estimated to be 18.8 million (MLFD 2018).
From the Malawi census reports, there are more goats (8.4 million) compared to
cattle which were about 1.7 million in 2017 (DAHLD 2018). Goats have fast-generation rate, are cheap to keep, and are popular and sometimes the only form of
economic activity in most rural poor communities of African countries where they
are nicknamed the “poor man’s cows” (Devendra 2013). However, goats in both
countries are mainly indigenous, with low productivity due to poor genetic potential
and low-input management (Chenyambuga et al. 2004; Nandolo et al. 2015;
DAHLD 2018). For example, over 98% of the goats in Tanzania belong to the Small
East African (SEA) breed, which has been shown to have a maximum growth rate
of 5–7 g/day, mature size of 20–25 kg, low carcass weights between 6 and 13 kg
(Chenyambuga et al. 2004), and milk production of less than 0.7 L/day, with very
short lactation periods (Ryoba and Hansen 1988). Similar values were reported in
Malawi from a previous study (Banda et al. 1993). Low productivity of the majority
G. Msalya et al.