This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for the utilisation and conservation of indigenous chickens (IC) (Gallus domesticus) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), drawing lessons from selected low-income countries. Small-scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households' nutritional needs, incomes, and social-cultural and religious uses. The commitment exhibited by SSF to keeping IC has made them the significant custodians of essential animal genetic resources for food and agriculture (AnGR) in most low-income countries. Between 1991 and 2012, Zambia's private breeders invested over US$95 million in the commercial poultry sector, resulting in over a 100% increase in the annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production costs and low market access hindered rural farmers' full participation, hence their continued dependence on IC breeds. The erosion of AnGR poses the biggest threat to livelihoods in SSA. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, an international body of the United Nations, highlighted that over 3.5% (60) of chicken breeds were extinct, 21.3% (368) were at risk of extinction, and nearly 63% (1089) were under unknown risk status. The report stated that 12.3% of the known chicken breeds were not at risk. Poultry diseases, lack of sustainable conservation strategies, and poor use have significantly contributed to these losses. In 2012, 60% of IC were reportedly diseased in parts of SSA. The continued loss of IC-AnGR may negatively impact rural livelihoods, and future research and breeding programs in poultry may suffer. This paper reviews the IC sector in parts of SSA, the socioeconomic, cultural and religious roles of IC, and lessons on researcher community-stakeholder strategies from selected low-income countries. The paper concludes and outlines some recommendations for future research.
This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for the utilization and conservation of indigenous chickens (IC) (Gallus domesticus) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), drawing lessons from selected low-income countries. Small-scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households' nutritional needs, incomes, and social-cultural and religious uses. The commitment exhibited by SSF to keeping IC has made them the significant custodians of essential animal genetic resources AnGR in most low-income countries. Between 1991 and 2012, Zambia's private breeders invested over US$95 million in the commercial poultry sector, resulting in over a 100% increase in the annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production costs and low market access hindered rural farmers' full participation, hence their continued dependence on IC breeds. The erosion of AnGR poses the biggest threat to IC in SSA. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, an international body of the United Nations, highlighted that over 3.5% of chicken breeds were extinct, 33% were at risk, and nearly 67% were of unknown status. Poultry diseases, lack of sustainable conservation strategies and poor use have significantly contributed to these losses. In 2012, 60% of IC were reportedly diseased in parts of SSA. The continued loss of IC-AnGR may negatively impact rural livelihoods, and future research and breeding programs in poultry may suffer. This paper reviews IC sector in parts of SSA, the socioeconomic, cultural and religious roles of IC and lessons on researcher-community-stakeholder strategies from selected low-income countries. The paper draws a conclusion and outlines some recommendations for future research.
This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for the utilisation and conservation of indigenous chickens (IC) (Gallus domesticus) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), drawing lessons from selected low-income countries. Small-scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households' nutritional needs, incomes, and social-cultural and religious uses. The commitment exhibited by SSF to keeping IC has made them the significant custodians of essential animal genetic resources for food and agriculture (AnGR) in most low-income countries. Between 1991 and 2012, Zambia's private breeders invested over US$95 million in the commercial poultry sector, resulting in over a 100% increase in the annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production costs and low market access hindered rural farmers' full participation, hence their continued dependence on IC breeds. The erosion of AnGR poses the biggest threat to livelihoods in SSA. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, an international body of the United Nations, highlighted that over 3.5% (60) of chicken breeds were extinct, 21.3% (368) were at risk of extinction, and nearly 63% (1089) were under unknown risk status. The report stated that 12.3% of the known chicken breeds were not at risk. Poultry diseases, lack of sustainable conservation strategies and poor use have significantly contributed to these losses. In 2012, 60% of IC were reportedly diseased in parts of SSA. The continued loss of IC-AnGR may negatively impact rural livelihoods, and future research and breeding programs in poultry may suffer. This paper reviews the IC sector in parts of SSA, the socioeconomic, cultural and religious roles of IC and lessons on researcher community-stakeholder strategies from selected low-income countries. The paper concludes and outlines some recommendations for future research.
This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for conservation and use of village or indigenous chickens (IC) ( Gallus domesticus) in Zambia with lessons in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Small scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households’ nutritional needs, incomes, social-cultural and religious uses. The commitment exhibited by SSF to keeping indigenous animals has made them the major custodians of essential animal genetic resources in most low-income regions. Between 1991 and 2012, private breeders invested over US$95 million in Zambia’s commercial poultry sector resulting in over 100% increase in the annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production costs and low market access hindered the participation of rural farmers hence their continued dependence on IC breeds. The future of IC genetic resources is threatened due to their rapid erosion. In the 2015 biodiversity status report, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, an international body of the United Nations highlighted that over 3.5% of chicken breeds were extinct, nearly 33% were at high risk, and over 67% were of unknown status. Poultry diseases, lack of sustainable conservation strategies and poor use have significantly contributed to these losses. For example, in 2012, 60% of village chickens were reportedly diseased in parts of SSA. If these challenges are not mitigated, the loss of IC genetic resources and the adverse impact on rural communities is inevitable. Further, future research and breeding programs on commercial chickens may be limited due to the erosion of IC genetic resources. This paper reviews lessons and contributes to previous studies that demonstrated how community-based breeding programs and researcher-community-stakeholder engagements potentially enhanced sustainability, adoption of innovative ideas and conservation of local animal genetic resources in selected low-income countries. Further, suggest strategies to promote judicious use and conservation of IC breeds in Zambia.
This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for conservation and use of village or indigenous chickens (IC) (Gallus domesticus) in Zambia and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Small scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households’ nutritional needs, incomes, social-cultural and religious uses among others. The commitment exhibited by SSF in keeping IC has made them the major custodians of essential animal genetic resources in low-income regions. Between 1991 and 2012, private breeders invested over US$95 million in Zambia’s commercial poultry sector resulting in over 100% increase in annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production cost and low market access hindered the participation of SSF hence their continued dependence on IC. Unfortunately, the future of IC genetic resources is threatened due to the rapid loss and erosion of IC breeds. In the 2015 biodiversity status report, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, an international body of the United Nation highlighted that over 3.5% of IC breeds were extinct, nearly 33% were at high risk and over 67% were of unknown status. Poultry diseases, lack of sustainable conservation strategies and poor use among others have significantly contributed to these losses. For example, in 2012, 60% of IC were diseased in parts of SSA including Zambia. If these challenges are not mitigated, the loss of IC genetic resources and the adverse impact on rural communities are inevitable. Further, future research and breeding programs on commercial chickens may also be limited as a result of erosion of IC genetic resources. Therefore, this paper reviews and contributes to previous studies that demonstrated how researcher-community-stakeholder engagements potentially enhanced sustainability and the adoption of innovative ideas including the potential to increase conservation and sustainable use of local chicken biodiversity in Zambia and parts of SSA.
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