293
3.2 Dairy Goat Crossbreeding Programs in Tanzania
and Malawi
The main breeding practice in both Tanzania and Malawi has been crossbreeding to
upgrade the low-producing indigenous goats into high-yielding animals (50–75%
exotic blood). In Tanzania, various goat breeds were imported into the country for
this purpose since early 1960s, and they mostly included Saanen, Toggenburg,
Anglo-Nubian, and Alpine (Mtenga and Kifaro 1993). Since that time, research on
dairy goats in the country has tended to concentrate on breeding for improved reproductive performance and milk yield after crossbreeding with the indigenous goats
(Mtenga and Kifaro 1993). Preliminary performance for these programs was
reported by these authors (Table 2).
In Malawi, both dairy and meat breeds of goats have mainly been obtained from
South Africa, Tanzania, and other neighboring countries, and the approach was also
crossbreeding. The main breed used in dairy crossbreeding with the local goats was
Saanen; an earlier report on the performance was produced by Karua and Banda
(1990), and it mainly concentrated on growth traits (Table 3). The results reported
by these authors clearly showed that the crossbred goats were higher in performance
compared to the local goats.
Recently, end surveys were carried out in Malawi to evaluate performance of the
10-year crossbreeding program, and results are reported in Table 4. It was shown
that there was a declining trend on the number of crossbred goats in communities
and a reduced usage of bucks for crossbreeding. It was also observed that breeding
was difficult to control in the rural communities. For goats in the communities,
indiscriminate mating took place, leading to unwanted backcrossing toward local
breeds. These observations defeated the crossbreeding program in the communities.
Also, the number of bucks at BCA has declined. It was concluded that the
crossbreeding was not accompanied by a sustainable breeding program.
Table 2 Performance of crossbred dairy goats during the early years of introduction (early 1990s)
Measured trait
Anglo-Nubian
Toggenburg
Saanen
Blended
Kidding rate (%)
62
52
45
63
Twinning rate (%)
15
18
16
14
Preweaning mortality (%)
52
24
48
–
Birth weight (kg)
2.7
2.8
3.8
2.5
Birth to 16 weeks (kg)
83
84
77
62
Birth to 72 weeks (kg)
41
43
45
–
Lactation length (days)
154
143
129
268
Yield (total kg)
105
85
142
123
Yield (kg/day)
0 7
0.6
1.1
0.5
Source: Mtenga and Kifaro (1993); goats recorded were crosses of 50%
The Need for Farmer Support and Record Keeping to Enhance Sustainable Dairy Goat…
3.2 Dairy Goat Crossbreeding Programs in Tanzania
and Malawi
The main breeding practice in both Tanzania and Malawi has been crossbreeding to
upgrade the low-producing indigenous goats into high-yielding animals (50–75%
exotic blood). In Tanzania, various goat breeds were imported into the country for
this purpose since early 1960s, and they mostly included Saanen, Toggenburg,
Anglo-Nubian, and Alpine (Mtenga and Kifaro 1993). Since that time, research on
dairy goats in the country has tended to concentrate on breeding for improved reproductive performance and milk yield after crossbreeding with the indigenous goats
(Mtenga and Kifaro 1993). Preliminary performance for these programs was
reported by these authors (Table 2).
In Malawi, both dairy and meat breeds of goats have mainly been obtained from
South Africa, Tanzania, and other neighboring countries, and the approach was also
crossbreeding. The main breed used in dairy crossbreeding with the local goats was
Saanen; an earlier report on the performance was produced by Karua and Banda
(1990), and it mainly concentrated on growth traits (Table 3). The results reported
by these authors clearly showed that the crossbred goats were higher in performance
compared to the local goats.
Recently, end surveys were carried out in Malawi to evaluate performance of the
10-year crossbreeding program, and results are reported in Table 4. It was shown
that there was a declining trend on the number of crossbred goats in communities
and a reduced usage of bucks for crossbreeding. It was also observed that breeding
was difficult to control in the rural communities. For goats in the communities,
indiscriminate mating took place, leading to unwanted backcrossing toward local
breeds. These observations defeated the crossbreeding program in the communities.
Also, the number of bucks at BCA has declined. It was concluded that the
crossbreeding was not accompanied by a sustainable breeding program.
Table 2 Performance of crossbred dairy goats during the early years of introduction (early 1990s)
Measured trait
Anglo-Nubian
Toggenburg
Saanen
Blended
Kidding rate (%)
62
52
45
63
Twinning rate (%)
15
18
16
14
Preweaning mortality (%)
52
24
48
–
Birth weight (kg)
2.7
2.8
3.8
2.5
Birth to 16 weeks (kg)
83
84
77
62
Birth to 72 weeks (kg)
41
43
45
–
Lactation length (days)
154
143
129
268
Yield (total kg)
105
85
142
123
Yield (kg/day)
0 7
0.6
1.1
0.5
Source: Mtenga and Kifaro (1993); goats recorded were crosses of 50%
The Need for Farmer Support and Record Keeping to Enhance Sustainable Dairy Goat…