Domestic Animal Genetic Resources of Ethiopia

For thousands of years, farmers and pastoralists of the world have been active livestock managers, and in the process they have created more than 7000 locally adapted breeds that have allowed humanity to exploit a wide range of ecological niches. This diversity has been and will remain crucial to cope up with ever changing environments, and thus new stresses and production challenges. Until now; indigenous societies, whose livelihoods in many instances still depend on these animals, continue to act as custodians of breeds with important genetic traits, often in the face of considerable odds.

Ethiopia is a country of great geographic diversity. Her altitudinal variation ranges from 110 meters below sea level to the highest peak of 4,620 meters above sea level. The same is the variability in macro- and micro-climatic conditions. The mean annual rainfall ranges from 500 mm to 2800 mm. Temperatures variation range from above 350C to below 00C that occur at certain season in one place or another. Regimes of relative humidity, influenced by the rainfall patterns and temperature levels, are also highly variable. The physico-geographic features are composed of high and rugged mountains, flat-topped plateaux, deep gorges, incised river valleys and rolling plains. Ethiopia has also served as a gateway to domestic animals from Asia to Africa. Effected by the combinations of the above factors on the one hand and effects of pressure of selection imposed by climate, soil type, altitude, feed supply, endemic diseases and parasites, interbreeding and other management techniques the country has encountered over the past centuries on the other, Ethiopia is inhabited with highly diverse domestic animal genetic resources and genotypes that are adapted to their own specific niches and exhibiting specific, but not so far well quantified, attributes.

Ethiopia stands first, second and third in estimated numbers of cattle, sheep, goats and equines populations in Africa, harbouring about 17%, 12%, 11% and 49%, respectively of the continent. Similarly, about 32.4% of the donkeys, 41.6% of the horses and 65.0% of the mules of Africa are found in Ethiopia. Given the country's diverse topographic and climatic conditions, a huge livestock population, different breeds of animals evolved over time and adapted to the ecological conditions of their respective habitats; and to some extent been influenced by production systems, therefore, Ethiopia could be considered as a centre of diversity of domestic animal genetic resources.

Agriculture is the main economic activity of Ethiopia employing about 85% of the population, and farm animals are its integral parts. They are sources of food, traction, manure, raw materials, investment, cash, security, foreign exchange earnings, and social and cultural identity. Livestock account for about 40.0% of the agricultural GDP, 18.0% of the total GDP and 19.0% of the export earnings. Similarly, contributions of livestock to cash income of the smallholders accounts for up to 87% and, subsistence of some pastoral communities is entirely based on livestock and livestock products. Despite these roles, the attention given to use, develop and conserve the livestock resources of the country has been minimal. The fate of production and productivity of indigenous farm animal genetic resources has mainly been left to depend on the scarce and ever-declining marginal and communally used lands. Provisions of health facilities and services are far below the required minimum. They are left to undergo untraceable levels of in- and crossbreeding. And yet, depicted as "low performers", indigenous farm animal genetic resources of Ethiopia have been pushed to gradually give way to other "best performing" genotypes. Replacements of indigenous breeds of farm animals, mainly of dairy cattle and their crosses have been pursued in the name of commercial dairying, using progressively increasing numbers of fewer exotic breeds and their crosses since 1940s. The same is the case with other species, particularly chicken.

Because of the above replacements, not only the indigenous farm animal genetic resources but also indigenous knowledge and skills of the local communities that have for centuries been sustaining healthy production systems as well as the cultures are being threatened severely. If the indiscriminate distribution of the "best performing genotypes" into different parts of the country were to continue unabated at the current pace, the gene pools of indigenous farm animal genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge would then be lost in the near future before they are even fully understood and described. Other factors that contribute to such threats are human population growth, lack of appropriate policies, conflicts, natural calamities, privatization, commercialization and market liberalization that are being introduced without concurrent adjustment in policy, institutions and legal frameworks.

Farm animal species that contribute most to food and agriculture in Ethiopia are cattle, sheep, goat, camel, donkey, horse, mule and chicken, with 25, 13, 15, 4, 4, 2, 2 breeds and 9 eco-types, respectively that have been identified so far. Moreover, there are 3 dairy cattle, 5 sheep, 7 chickens and 2 goat exotic breeds that have been introduced at various times. Recent reports showed are that the number of indigenous breeds of farm animals existing in the country could be much more than what was known earlier. Honeybees are often considered as farm animals as well.

Cattle
Major indigenous cattle breeds of Ethiopia thus far identified are Sheko, Begayit, Boran, Abigar, Afar, Horro, Fogera, Arado, Jidu, Arsi and Red Bororo. In addition, very heterogeneous mixtures of Zebu sub-types (Black Zebu or Jem-Jem, Short horn zebu and small zebu) have been described under the name Abyssinian Zebu. Furthermore, report by FAO (1999) indicates the presence of zebu-sub-classes (Adwa, Ambo, Bale, Goffa, Gurage, Harar, Smada, Mursi and Hammer) cattle types at different parts of the country. The study conducted by the Tigray Regional Agriculture Development Bureau (1999), reported the presence of two breeds, namely, Medence and Abergelle in that part of the country. There are also some exotic cattle breeds and their crosses. The purpose of importation of exotics was to improve milk production. The breeds so imported are Holstein Friesian, Jersey and Simmental. They are used in medium input production systems, but the lion's share is occupied by the Holstein Friesians and their crosses.

Sheep
Major sheep breeds/types found in Ethiopia are Begait, Horro, Menz, Arsi, Tukur, Afar, Black Head Ogaden, Bonga, Dangila, Keffa, Farta, Abergelle, and Ille. Exotic sheep were introduced for wool and mutton production and some of the breeds so introduced and still in use are Awassi and Dorper, and some remnants of Hampshire, Blue-de-main, could also be found in areas where crosses of these breeds were distributed.

Goats
Major goat breeds/types of Ethiopia are Begait, Afar, Arsi-Bale, Woyto-Guji. Other breeds/types of goats of the country are simply named after the areas in which they are found as central highlands, western highlands, western lowlands, Keffa, Hararghe highlands, short-eared Somali and long-eared Somalis. Recently some regions also reported the presences of some other goat types. These are Abergelle, Widar and Maefur in northern Ethiopia and Isaa in north and north-eastern lowlands. There exist exotic goats and their crosses in Ethiopia. The purpose of the introduction has been improving milk production of local goat breeds. Anglo-Nubian and Toggenberg are the recently introduced exotic goat breeds by Farm Africa and different other exotics are being introduced currently.

Equines
One of the most important equines are donkeys and those that are found in Ethiopia are of four types. These are the Jimma, Abyssinian, Ogaden and Sennar donkey types. Horses are important equines that contribute to food and agriculture in the country through their contribution to the draught power. The practice of crossing horses among various horse breeds for a long time has led to the appearance of horse types difficult to categorize in any defined group. However, two major horse types have so far been well recognized. These are the Oromo and Dongola horse types.

Although, the practices of crossing some male donkey with mares to produce mules dates back to many centuries, no well-defined hybrid has so far been emerged. But, there are two well-known mule types in Ethiopia known as the Sennar Mule and Wollo Mule. There exists no exotic equine species in the country.

Camels
There are four major camel breeds/types in Ethiopia, namely: the Afar, Borana, Anfi and the Somali/Ogaden types, and all are indigenous to the country.

Poultry
Studies on diversity revealed that classification into breeds/types of Ethiopian indigenous chicken is very limited. Such studies that have been conducted thus far have classified few of them into ecotypes. These are Tikur (black), Kei (red), Gebsema (greyish mixture), Netch (white), Melata (necked neck), Horro, Jarso, Tililli and Cheffe eco-types. Several layers, broilers and dual-purpose exotic chicken breeds have been introduced into the country at different times and are in wider use. Rhode Island Red, White-leghorn, Lawman brown, Cobb and Arab Acre exotic chicken breeds and their crosses are used by small and large-scale commercial producers in urban and peri-urban areas.

Honeybees
According to recent reports, there are about 10 million stinging honey bee colonies in Ethiopia that are categorized into six species. These are Apis melifera adansol, A. melifera jementica (Yellow bee), A. melifera monticola, A. melifera Litorea, A. melifera abyssinica and A. melifera dansol.

Responsible for this page: Animal Genetic Resources Department, 2007

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