Identification of smallholder farmers and pastoralists’ preferences for sheep breeding traits: choice model approach

Abstract

Identification of breeding objective traits pertinent to specific production environments with the involvement of target beneficiaries is crucial to the success of a breed improvement program. A choice experiment was conducted in four locations representing different production systems and agro-ecologies that are habitat to four indigenous sheep breeds (Afar, Bonga, Horro and Menz) of Ethiopia with the objective of identifying farmers'/pastoralists' preferences for sheep breeding traits. Following a synthesis of secondary information and diagnostic surveys, two communities per location consisting of 60 households each having at least four breeding ewes were identified. Producers' priority attributes used in the choice sets were identified through in-depth production system studies conducted from December 2007 to March 2008. On the basis of prior information, four to seven attributes were used to design choice sets with different profiles in order to capture results that mimic real life of the different communities. The attributes and levels chosen for the sheep profile were as follows: body size (large/small), coat color (brown/white/black), tail type (good/bad) for both rams and ewes; horn (polled/horned) and libido (active/poor) for rams; and lambing interval (three lambings in 2 years/two lambings in 2 years time), mothering ability (good mother/bad mother), twinning rate (twin bearer/single bearer) and milk yield (two cups per milking/one cup per milking) for ewes. A fractional factorial design was implemented to construct the alternatives included in the choice sets. The design resulted in a randomized selection of 48 sheep profiles (24 sets) for both sexes, which were grouped into four blocks with six choice sets each. An individual respondent was presented with one of the four blocks to make his/her choices. Results indicate that producers' trait preferences were heterogeneous except for body size in rams and mothering ability in ewes where nearly homogeneous preferences were investigated. In the pastoral production system, attention was given to coat color of both breeding rams and ewes, favoring brown and white colors over black. Ram libido influenced producers' decisions in Bonga, Horro and Menz areas. The influence of milk yield and twinning on respondents' decision making was high in Afar and Horro, respectively. Breeders in all areas attempt to combine production and reproduction traits as well as they can in order to maximize benefits from their sheep. The elicited measurable objective traits were used to design alternative community-based sheep breeding plans for the four indigenous sheep breeds in their production environments that have been implemented since.

Efficiency of selection for body weight in a cooperative village breeding program of Menz sheep under smallholder farming system

“…The Menz farmers also have a clear breeding objective of increasing the market value of their sheep through selection for both appearance (color, horn) and body size/weight traits (Duguma et al, 2011). However, analysis of farmers' traditional breeding practices in the current study showed that there is stagnating or declining trends in body weights.…”

Epidemiology and Economic Importance of Sheep and Goat Pox: A Review on Past and Current Aspects

“…In Ethiopia, sheep are the second most important livestock species next to cattle [4]. Sheep and goat play an important economic role and make a significant contribution to both domestic and export markets through provision of food (meat and milk) and non-food (manure, skin and wool) products [5,6]. Although sheep and goat plays a significant role in national economy of the country to date the benefit obtained from these livestock are hampered by different constrains.…”

Analyzing the heterogeneity of farmers’ preferences for improvements in dairy cow traits using farmer typologies

“…Low uptake of genetic selection tools among livestock farmers is one of the reasons for the lack of realization of potential genetic gain in breeding programs (Duguma et al, 2011;Nielsen et al, 2013). It has been argued that if the uptake of genetic selection tools is to be maximized, breeding objectives have to take into account farmers' preferences for improvements in animal traits (Sy et al, 1997;Nielsen and Amer, 2007).…”

“…Broadly, 3 methodological approaches have been used to analyze stated farmers' preferences: choice experiments (Bett et al, 2011;Duguma et al, 2011), pairwise comparisons (Byrne et al, 2012), and simpler methods such as ranking traits (Dana et al, 2010;Gizaw et al, 2010). Choice experiments have been widely used to analyze farmers' preferences for animal traits.…”