Reproductive Performance and Breeding Strategies for Genetic Improvement of Goat in Ethiopia: A Review

Abstract

Economic opportunities exist for small ruminant producers to supply animals to both the export and domestic markets. The growing demands of meat products at the domestic as well as international markets also increase the importance of goat in the national economy of the country. Despite the large size of the country's goat population, the productivity per unit of animal and the contribution of this sector to the national economy is relatively low. The phenotypes of the goats have important influence socio-cultural and economic values to the Ethiopian communities; as a result, most farmers have specific consideration and choices for goat coat colors followed by body sizes. Nowadays, there is a great interest worldwide in conservation and utilization of genetic resources aiming for a more efficient use of present genetic resources of the goat species. In Ethiopia, a number of organizations attempted to evaluate performances of farm animal genetic resources at different times predominantly under on-station management in ranches and research farms. Although, performance levels, genetic parameter estimates and breeding program practices are available for limited number of breeds, indigenous goat populations have developed certain valuable genetic traits such as ability to improve the performance under low input condition and climatic stress, tolerance to infectious diseases and parasites. These genotypes can help in meeting future challenges resulting from possible changes in production systems and consumer requirements. Hence, to efficiently utilize these special features of indigenous breeds, there is a need of planning and implementing viable breeding programs that fit to the existing low input production systems.