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. via terradaily.comOuagadougou, 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. They said the loss of livestock diversity in Africa is part of a global “livestock meltdown.” According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, some 20 percent of the world’s 7616 livestock breeds are now viewed as at risk. “Africa’s livestock are among the most resilient in the world yet we are seeing the genetic diversity of many breeds being either diluted or lost entirely,” said Abdou Fall, leader of ILRI’s livestock diversity project for West Africa. “But today we have the tools available to identify valuable traits in indigenous African livestock, information that can be crucial to maintaining and increasing productivity on African farms.” … LRI’s push to preserve Africa’s indigenous livestock is part of a broader effort to improve productivity on African farms through what is known as “landscape genomics.” Landscape genomics involves, among other things, sequencing the genomes of different livestock varieties from many regions and looking for the genetic signatures associated with their suitability to a particular environment. ILRI experts see landscape genomics as particularly important as climate change accelerates, requiring animal breeders to respond every more quickly and expertly to shifting conditions on the ground. But they caution that in Africa in particular the ability of farmers and herders to adapt to new climates depends directly on the continent’s wealth of native livestock diversity. …

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