Confronting pastoralists’ knowledge of cattle breeds raised in the extensive production systems of Benin with multivariate analyses of morphological traits

Abstract

Cross-border seasonal livestock movements in West Africa bring into close contact several cattle breeds. In the coastal countries hosting migrating herders from the Sahel, it often affects the genetic variability and geographical distribution of traditional cattle breeds, through their indiscriminate but also intended crossbreeding with larger-framed Sahelian cattle breeds. The need to secure and effectively manage this genetic variability, in order to respond to changing production and market conditions, is widely recognized by the scientific community, livestock herders and policy-makers. This however requires a comprehensive knowledge of the breeds’ characteristics. The indigenous criteria used by pastoralists to characterize and distinguish cattle breeds remain unclear and further validation is required. This study was therefore designed to document and validate herders' knowledge on cattle breeds. From June 2015 to June 2016, 803 cattle herders participated in a phenotypic breed description in seven pastoral communities across the country. Each cattle herder was asked to name and describe morphologically the different cattle breeds in his herd. Subsequently, fifteen body measurements taken on a total of 1401 adult cattle (964 cows and 439 bulls) were submitted to multivariate analyses. Participants distinguished ten different cattle breeds kept in traditional herds according to six primary morphological traits and clearly separated zebuine from taurine breeds. These results were consistent with those of the multivariate analyses of the measured traits. However, herders’ classification approach proved to be more accurate in distinguishing breeds within the zebuine subspecies. Hence, while metric measurements and molecular genetic analyses are promising approaches to fill the knowledge gap on the diversity of local farm animal genetic resources, they should integrate livestock herders’ traditional knowledge for more precision.

Use of multivariate analysis as a tool in the morphological characterization of the main indigenous bovine ecotypes in northeastern Algeria

“…Multivariate discriminant analyses of morphological traits have been reported, in several previous morphometric studies, to be effective for a precise and objective discrimination of different population of cattle [22][23][24][25][26][27][28], goat [29][30][31][32][33][34], sheep [16,[35][36][37], horses [38] and camel [39].…”

Unraveling Admixture, Inbreeding, and Recent Selection Signatures in West African Indigenous Cattle Populations in Benin

“…In this context, locally adapted animals are required to cope with the various instabilities in production environments, but the indigenous Shorthorn cattle in Benin are increasingly threatened. The trypanotolerant taurine cattle (without any Zebu ancestry) reported in the region by MacHugh et al (1997) and Hanotte et al (2002) are progressively replaced by crossbreeds and trypanosusceptible Zebu cattle, including White Fulani, Sokoto Gudali, and Red Bororo ( Dossa and Vanvanhossou, 2016 ; Houessou et al, 2019b ; Ahozonlin and Dossa, 2020 ). In consequence, significant adoption of prophylactic measures is observed in Beninese herds dominated by crossbreed and Zebu cattle in comparison to other local herds ( Houessou et al, 2020 ).…”

The implications of herd entrustment practice for the sustainable use of cattle genetic resources in the (agro)-pastoral systems of West Africa: A case study from Benin

“…3a-c). Recently, Houessou et al (2019) confirmed the accuracy of farmers' knowledge in distinguishing cattle breeds in Benin based on morphologic traits. In addition, recent genomic analyses showed very low admixture in animals identified by farmers and sampled as Somba cattle (Scheper et al 2020).…”