The implications of herd entrustment practice for the sustainable use of cattle genetic resources in the (agro)-pastoral systems of West Africa: A case study from Benin

Abstract

West African (agro)-pastoralists have been increasingly using extra-household labour for the management of their cattle herds. This paper seeks to identify the factors influencing cattle owners’ decision to entrust their animals and to analyse the effects of the entrustment practice on the management and sustainable use of the animal genetic diversity within herds. Two hundred and eleven cattle farmers, including absentee-owners (n = 90) who entrusted their animals to professional herders, and owner-managers (n = 121) who look themselves after their cattle, were randomly selected and surveyed in Boukombe district in northwest Benin, the origin of the West African shorthorn Somba cattle breed. Households' socio-economic data and information on herds’ characteristics and management practices were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. The binary logistic regression technique was used to predict the adoption of entrustment by a given farmer in function of his herd’s and household's socio-economic characteristics. Effective population sizes and inbreeding rates for the communal non-entrusted and entrusted Somba populations were estimated and compared. The results revealed that the mode of acquisition of the initial stock, the total livestock units owned and the farmer’s ethnicity were the most important determinants of entrustment. The Somba indigenous cattle breed was threatened in entrusted herds by indiscriminate cross-breeding with Zebus. However, the non-entrusted population appeared to be more exposed to high inbreeding risks. While entrustment represents a good alternative for the efficient use of family labour, adequate strategies are needed to support this practice and encourage herd managers to adopt improved husbandry practices and sound breeding strategies.