Community‐based livestock breeding programmes: essentials and examples

TLDR

Community‑based livestock breeding programmes target low‑input systems where farmers share genetic resources, are most common among small ruminant keepers, and face organizational and technical constraints that limit conventional breeding technology adoption. The study aims to implement and document formal socio‑economic evaluations of CBBPs to give governments and development agencies the information needed to scale sustainable programmes. Analysis of eight community‑based breeding programmes in Latin America, Africa, and Asia shows that bottom‑up approaches and local institutional involvement are essential, yet programmes heavily depend on external support and achieving self‑sustainability is difficult.

Abstract

Breeding programmes described as community-based (CBBP) typically relate to low-input systems with farmers having a common interest to improve and share their genetic resources. CBBPs are more frequent with keepers of small ruminants, in particular smallholders of local breeds, than with cattle, pigs or chickens with which farmers may have easier access to alternative programmes. Constraints that limit the adoption of conventional breeding technologies in low-input systems cover a range of organizational and technical aspects. The analysis of 8 CBBPs located in countries of Latin-America, Africa and Asia highlights the importance of bottom-up approaches and involvement of local institutions in the planning and implementation stages. The analysis also reveals a high dependence of these programmes on organizational, technical and financial support. Completely self-sustained CBBPs seem to be difficult to realize. There is a need to implement and document formal socio-economic evaluations of CBBPs to provide governments and other development agencies with the information necessary for creating sustainable CBBPs at larger scales.