Rapid Losses Of Africa's Native Livestock Threaten Continent's Food Supply

Rapid Losses Of Africa's Native Livestock Threaten Continent's Food Supply

The breeds include humpless shorthorn and longhorn cattle of West and Central Africa that have evolved in this region along with its parasites for thousands of years and therefore have evolved ways to survive many diseases, including trypanosomosis, which is spread by tsetse flies, and also tick-borne diseases.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (SPX) Jul 26, 2010 Urgent action is needed to stop the rapid and alarming loss of genetic diversity of African livestock that provide food and income to 70 percent of rural Africans and include a treasure-trove of drought- and disease-resistant animals, according to a new analysis presented at a major gathering of African scientists and development experts. Experts from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) told researchers at the 5th African Agriculture Science Week, hosted by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), that investments are needed now to expand efforts to identify and preserve the unique traits, particularly in West Africa, of the continent's rich array of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs developed over several millennia but now under siege.