Use of Trypanotolerant Breeds: The Case of the Orma Boran

Overview Of African Indigenous Cattle Breeds

The contribution of indigenous cattle genetic resources to food production in Africa cannot be overemphasized. With the demand for animal foods projected to triple in Africa by the year 2050 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011), and the predicted negative effects of climate change impacts in the tropics, cattle breed like Ankole, Fulani, Orma Boran, Nguni, Mashona, Tswana and Tuli that are less demanding in terms of feeds, while able to cope with higher temperatures and humidity are vital for ensuring future food and nutrition security for African people. These unique African indigenous cattle breeds provide milk, meat, insurance against economic bottlenecks, and social capital products. Their origin, characteristics and distribution are well documented in literature (DAD-IS, 2020; DAGRIS, 2020; Mwai et al., 2015; Rege et al., 2001; Rege & Tawah, 1999).

Africa is uniquely rich in cattle diversity with approximately 152 African cattle breeds or populations recognized. The two main morphological classes of African cattle genotypes are humped Bos indicus, commonly referred to as Zebu, and humpless Bos taurus cattle. Additionally, there are two other defined breed combinations; (i) Sanga (stable crosses of B. indicus × B. taurus) and Zenga (stable crosses of Sanga × Zebu) (Hanotte, 2002). The Zebu cattle include the N'Dama from West Africa, Orma Boran (eastern Africa), Kuri (western/central Africa), Borana (eastern/central Africa), Fulani (west Africa), Ankole (Great Lakes Region), and Maure (Mali). Others include the Nguni (southern Africa), Tonga (Zambia), Tuli (Zimbabwe) and Afrikaner (South Africa) (Rege & Tawah, 1999). Rege et al. (2001) has described the East African Zebu (EAZ) as either “Small” or “Large” type based on their body sizes. The taurine breeds are geographically distributed in the sub-humid and humid regions of West Africa, which are largely infested with the tsetse fly (Kim et al., 2017). Zenga are found in eastern Africa while Sanga cattle are predominantly found in central Africa around the Great Lakes region and on the southern Africa region.

Today, Zebu cattle have wide geographical spread in Africa and adapted to dry climatic conditions such as high temperature and humidity. They are more tolerant to tropical cattle diseases like East Coast Fever compared to their exotic counterparts. However, majority of Zebu cattle are usually more susceptible to trypanosomosis except N'Dama, several West African taurine breeds, Orma Boran which have comparative considerable levels of trypanotolerance traits (Kim et al., 2017). Although the productivity of these indigenous genotypes is lower compared to the exotic cattle, they offer critical livelihood options to millions of farmers and livestock keepers domiciled in low input production systems, where exotic breed struggle to perform under the prevailing traditional management circumstances. Therefore, a wide portfolio of indigenous cattle is crucial to adapting and developing our livestock production systems. Climate change underlines the need to retain this adaptive capacity. Studies to unravel their admixtures may provide critical information into the genetic mechanisms underlying their adaptation to various agro-ecosystems and tolerance to various tropical diseases in Africa.