The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues
In Somalia, located in the horn of Africa and one of the world’s poorest countries, livestock are the mainstay of the economy. While strengthening the livestock sector is considered key to reduced poverty and increased food security, few studies have reported the livestock management practices of So...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
2019
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129404 |
| _version_ | 1855523069873881088 |
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| author | Marshall, Karen Mtimet, Nadhem Wanyoike, Francis N. Ndiwa, Nicholas Ghebremariam, Haileselassie Mugunieri, Lawrence Costagli, Riccardo |
| author_browse | Costagli, Riccardo Ghebremariam, Haileselassie Marshall, Karen Mtimet, Nadhem Mugunieri, Lawrence Ndiwa, Nicholas Wanyoike, Francis N. |
| author_facet | Marshall, Karen Mtimet, Nadhem Wanyoike, Francis N. Ndiwa, Nicholas Ghebremariam, Haileselassie Mugunieri, Lawrence Costagli, Riccardo |
| author_sort | Marshall, Karen |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | In Somalia, located in the horn of Africa and one of the world’s poorest countries, livestock are the mainstay of the economy. While strengthening the livestock sector is considered key to reduced poverty and increased food security, few studies have reported the livestock management practices of Somali pastoralists, including on breeding issues. Here, we present the final of a series of papers documenting the breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists for goat, sheep, camel and cattle. Data for the study were obtained by surveying 200 livestock-keeping households located within the Tog-Dheer region of Somaliland. The most important livestock species kept, in terms of contribution to household livelihood, were goats and sheep, followed by camel, then cattle. Migration with livestock was practiced by two-thirds of the households for some or all of the year, whereas other households were settled with their livestock. On breeding practices, the main means of acquiring breeding animals was by the animal being born into the herd, and varied means were used to control mating, including castration, culling, separation of male and female animals, purposeful mating of best males to best females, and controlling the size of mating groups. On beliefs on breeding issues, the pastoralists had a varied understanding of whether specific livestock traits were influenced by genetics, environment, or a combination of both, and most could not articulate the basis of inheritance. Knowledge of inbreeding was poor, with almost all respondents indicating they did not consider the mating of related animals to be problematic. Additionally, some pastoralists tried to influence the sex of the livestock progeny born through various practices. Overall, the finding presented here and in the companion studies (Marshall et al. 2014, 2016) indicated that the women and men Somali pastoralists generally employ sound breeding practices, although there is room for capacity building such as on inbreeding. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace129404 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |
| publisherStr | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1294042025-12-08T10:29:22Z The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues Marshall, Karen Mtimet, Nadhem Wanyoike, Francis N. Ndiwa, Nicholas Ghebremariam, Haileselassie Mugunieri, Lawrence Costagli, Riccardo livestock women breeding management pastoralists men In Somalia, located in the horn of Africa and one of the world’s poorest countries, livestock are the mainstay of the economy. While strengthening the livestock sector is considered key to reduced poverty and increased food security, few studies have reported the livestock management practices of Somali pastoralists, including on breeding issues. Here, we present the final of a series of papers documenting the breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists for goat, sheep, camel and cattle. Data for the study were obtained by surveying 200 livestock-keeping households located within the Tog-Dheer region of Somaliland. The most important livestock species kept, in terms of contribution to household livelihood, were goats and sheep, followed by camel, then cattle. Migration with livestock was practiced by two-thirds of the households for some or all of the year, whereas other households were settled with their livestock. On breeding practices, the main means of acquiring breeding animals was by the animal being born into the herd, and varied means were used to control mating, including castration, culling, separation of male and female animals, purposeful mating of best males to best females, and controlling the size of mating groups. On beliefs on breeding issues, the pastoralists had a varied understanding of whether specific livestock traits were influenced by genetics, environment, or a combination of both, and most could not articulate the basis of inheritance. Knowledge of inbreeding was poor, with almost all respondents indicating they did not consider the mating of related animals to be problematic. Additionally, some pastoralists tried to influence the sex of the livestock progeny born through various practices. Overall, the finding presented here and in the companion studies (Marshall et al. 2014, 2016) indicated that the women and men Somali pastoralists generally employ sound breeding practices, although there is room for capacity building such as on inbreeding. 2019 2023-03-10T14:34:33Z 2023-03-10T14:34:33Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129404 en Open Access Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Marshall, Karen; Mtimet, Nadhem; Wanyoike, Francis; Ndiwa, Nicholas; Ghebremariam, Haileselassie; Mugunieri, Lawrence; Costagli, Riccardo. 2019. The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues. Animal Production Science 59: 1568 |
| spellingShingle | livestock women breeding management pastoralists men Marshall, Karen Mtimet, Nadhem Wanyoike, Francis N. Ndiwa, Nicholas Ghebremariam, Haileselassie Mugunieri, Lawrence Costagli, Riccardo The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues |
| title | The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues |
| title_full | The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues |
| title_fullStr | The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues |
| title_full_unstemmed | The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues |
| title_short | The traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists: breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues |
| title_sort | traditional livestock breeding practices of women and men somali pastoralists breeding management and beliefs on breeding issues |
| topic | livestock women breeding management pastoralists men |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129404 |
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