Maricho November Edition

35
sales, a single bull can go for as much as US$20 000, which
is an abnormal price for ordinary farmers.
These are some of the critical issues to be considered
before rolling out large scale crossbreeding programmes.
Ideally, such programmes should creatively combine
environmental adaptation with productivity. Through their
own experiments, African pastoralists and livestock farmers
are always continuously doing field trial and error research
with remarkable results.
Farmer experiments and studies demonstrate that mixing of
breeds is not inherently detrimental. Crossbreeding certainly
has the potential to improve food security and livelihoods in
the African continent when applied in a strategic manner.
Breed complementarity versus breed purity
Knowledge about livestock breeds should be shared widely
so that more farmers can understand the art and benefits
of crossbreeding in ways that take advantage of breed
complementarity rather than being always obsessed with
maintaining breed purity.
In fact, the majority of livestock farmers, indigenous breeders
and pastoralists are less concerned with purity unlike ‘purist’
livestock scientists who unfortunately do not understand the
limited utility of ‘purity’. The livestock scientific community
sometimes forgets that investigating the history of livestock
development in Africa would not be possible if farmers and
pastoralists were not conserving their breeds for decades.
Sustainability is more important than yield
It is not just about pure breeds and hybrids. African
communities are tired of crop and livestock programmes
that promote hybrids with a narrow focus on increasing yield
and household income at the expense of the environment.
In a rapidly changing climate, farmers are incurring
downstream costs on the local ecosystem due to introduced
chemicals that erode topsoil, pollute groundwater, and
decrease biodiversity.
In turn, these environmental costs result in economic and
health costs for the larger population that far outweigh
measured benefits in targeted farmer households. In some
countries, this is in leading to resource-induced conflict
between people and wildlife.
Charles Dhewa is CEO of Knowledge Transfer Africa.
He can be reached on 0772 137 717, Email Charles@
knowledgetransafrica.com
MARICHO
A resource for Agribusiness