454 Characterization of Small Ruminant Breeds in North Africa Chapter Two Small Ruminant Breeds of Morocco Ismail Boujenane Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco Introduction Agriculture plays an important role in Morocco. According to official statistics, there are 8.7 million hectares of agricultural land of which 14.4% are irrigated, 5 million are forest, and 23 million are pasture (Ministere de l’Agriculture 1998). Depending on climatic conditions, agriculture, including forestry and deep-sea fishing, annually contributes between 12% and 24% to the national GDP. In 1998, the country’s GDP was US$35,546 million and the agricultural GDP was around US$5,688 million (Secrétariat d’Etat à la Population 1999). Agriculture also employs 3.4 million people, which represents 40% of the total active population, and 76% of the rural active population (Ministere des Plans 1994). Livestock is one of the most important components of agriculture. Its contribu- tion to the agricultural GDP ranges from 20% to 25%. It employs 20% of the active rural population and secures the industry and artisanal sectors with products such as milk, meat, wool, and skins. Moreover, animal products represent 35% of total food consumption. Livestock production is practiced on 1,100,123 farms, representing 74% of the total number of agricultural farms (1,496,349 farms) (Ministere de l’Agriculture 1998). Small ruminants have an important economic and social role. Their estimated contribution to the country’s GDP varies from 1.5% to 2%. There are 781,563 farms practicing sheep production, representing 52% of all agricultural farms and 71% of all livestock farms (all species). Farms practicing goat production number 301,897, representing 20% of total agricultural farms and 27% of livestock farms (Table 1) (Ministere de l’Agriculture 1998). Small ruminants are raised by both farmers who own land and those who are without land: • Landless farmers keep 7.9% of the total number of sheep and 12.7% of the total number of goats. • Farmers that have less than 1 ha of land keep 8.2% of sheep and 15.4% of goats. • Farmers that have 1-10 ha of land keep 47.8% of sheep and 55.2% of goats. • Farmers that have 10-100 ha of land keep 33.4% of sheep and 16.2% of goats. • Farmers that have more than 100 ha of land keep 2.7% of sheep and 0.5% of goats. Moreover, 61% of farmers have less than 20 sheep, 34% own from 20 to 50 sheep and 5% have more than 50 sheep. Also, 78% of farmers have less than 20 454 455 Characterization of Small Ruminant Breeds in North Africa Table 1. Number of farms and sheep and goats per land area. Land area, h Sheep Goat Number of Number of % of Number of Number of % of farms Sheep sheep farms goats goats 0 43,169 1,324,573 7.92 22,213 723,079 12.68 Area < 1 140,435 1,377,739 8.24 56,603 880,028 15.43 1 ≤ Area < 3 205,623 2,632,203 15.74 85,477 1,379,242 24.18 3 ≤ Area < 5 124,448 2,080,318 12.44 45,732 827,030 14.50 5 ≤ Area < 10 144,834 3,288,286 19.66 48,702 943,351 16.54 10 ≤ Area < 20 81,739 2,895,678 17.31 27,617 564,994 9.91 20 ≤ Area < 50 33,823 2,056,609 12.30 12,694 290,897 5.10 50 ≤ Area < 100 5,511 623,981 3.73 2,178 67,490 1.18 Area ≥ 100 1,981 447,287 2.67 681 27,398 0.48 Total 781,563 16,726,674 100.00 301,897 5,703,509 100.00 Source: Ministere de l’Agriculture (1998). goats and 22% own from 20 to 40 goats. The overall national average flock size is 21sheep/farm and 19 goats/farm. However, these averages change with farm size. For example, average flock size is 31 sheep and 32 goats for farmers without land and 225 sheep and 40 goats for those having more than 100 ha (Table 1). In 1999, meat production from sheep and goats was 110,000 tons and 20,000 tons, respectively, representing 38.6% and 7.0%, respectively, of the total red meat produced. Annual human consumption of sheep meat and goat meat was 4.64 kg and 1.07 kg, respectively. Goat milk production was estimated at 30 mil- lion liters in 1994. This is 4% of all milk production with most used for domestic consumption (Ministere de l’Agriculture 2000). In 1994, wool production from sheep was 36,000 tons and hair production from goats was 2 tons (FAO 1994). The number of skins produced from sheep and goats was approximately 5 million and 1.5 million, respectively. Sheep and Goat Population Statistics Sheep and goat populations were estimated at 16,576,400 and 5,114,400 head, respectively in 1999 (Table 2). In comparing the change in sheep and goat num- bers over the last three decades, sheep stabilized at approximately 16 million Table 2. Number of sheep and goats per head while the goat population never year. reached more than 8 million head with Year Sheep, head Goat, head a three decade average of under 5.5 1970 16,843,000 8,000,000 million head. 1975 14,271,000 5,736,406 The decrease in goat numbers is 1980 16,509,800 6,153,000 attributed to drought, reduction of 1985 12,862,000 4,662,155 range area to the advantage of agricul- 1990 16,627,000 5,673,000 ture, pasture degradation, and change 1995 16,586,000 4,423,000 to sheep production and trade because 1999 16,576,400 5,114,400 of the latter being more profitable. Source: Ministere de l'Agriculture (2000) Small Ruminant Breeds of Morocco 456 Small Ruminant Distribution In general, sheep and goats are found in all regions of the country, but with different frequencies (Table 3). The four administrative regions of Marrakech-Tensift-Haouz, Région orientale, Meknès-Tafilalet, and Chaouia-Ouardigha have 49.4% of the sheep population; the five administrative regions of Souss-Massa-Draâ, Marrakech- Tensift-Haouz, Meknès-Tafilalet, Tanger-Tetouan, and Tadla-Azilalhave have over 66% of the goat population (Ministere de l’Agriculture 2000). Table 3. Distribution of sheep and goats per administrative region. Administrative region Sheep Goats Number % Number % Guelmim-Smara 103,600 0.62 142,100 2.78 Souss-Massa-Draâ 1,394,100 8.41 1,181,200 23.10 Gharb-Cherarda-Beni Ahsen 937,200 5.65 20,700 0.40 Chaoui-Ouardigha 1,891,600 11.40 93,400 1.83 Marrakech-Tensift-Haouz 2,294,500 13.80 800,900 15.70 Région orientale 2,055,100 12.40 378,300 7.40 Casablanca 100,800 0.60 1,300 0.02 Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer 750,800 4.53 141,300 2.76 Doukkala-Abda 1,547,700 9.34 42,900 0.84 Tadla-Azilal 993,600 5.99 435,000 8.50 Meknès-Tafilalet 1,949,300 11.80 657,900 12.90 Fès-Boulmane 839,600 5.06 233,300 4.56 Taza-Hoceima-Taounate 1,198,600 7.23 400,500 7.83 Tanger-Tetouan 519,900 3.14 585,600 11.40 Total 16,576,400 100.00 5,114,400 100.00 Source: Ministere de l'Agriculture (2000). Sheep and Goat Breeds There is a great diversity of sheep breeds that are well adapted to the local environ- ment. The well-regarded breeds are Timahdite, Beni Guil, Sardi, D’man, Beni Ahsen, and Boujaâd. Lesser known breeds are grouped under the name of Atlas Mountain or Berber breeds. This group includes breeds that were mentioned by French researchers during colonization. They have not yet been characterized and defined and are almost ignored. Among these breeds, are the Aknoul, Ait Barka, Marmoucha, Tounfite, Ait Mohad, Ait Haddidou, Rahhali, and Siroua. In addition to these native breeds some exogenous breeds are also found in Morocco, the most important being the Algerian Ouled Jellal introduced at the end of the 1970s. The others are French meat breeds used for terminal crossbreeding: Ile de France, Mérinos Précoce, and Lacaune. Goat breeds have not been officially identified. The native animals, also referred to as the Atlas Mountain breed, constitute the majority of the goat popula- tion. However, in 1982, the D’man goat was identified in the Ouarzazate region 457 Characterization of Small Ruminant Breeds in North Africa (Ezzahiri and Ben Lakhal 1989). Also, as for sheep, some exogenous Alpine, Saanen, Murcia, Malagueña, and Andalouse breeds are present in small numbers, as well as crosses resulting from uncontrolled mating in the north of the country. The only official census that included the number of each particular breed of sheep was conducted in 1996-97 (Ministere de l’Agriculture 1998). Before that, only approximate numbers were available. Thus, Fournier (1977) reported an esti- mated 0.7 million head of Timahdite sheep, 1.5 million Beni Guil, and Sardi adult females tallied 0.5 million head. However, Marie and Lahlou-Kassi (1977) reported Timahdite sheep at 2.6 million head, representing 15% of the total Moroccan sheep population. Aldebert (1957) reported that Atlas Mountain sheep represented 60% to 70% of Morocco’s total sheep population. However, the 1998 general agricultural census found that the Atlas Mountain breeds comprised only 12.1% of the total sheep population (n = 16,726,675 animals). The Timahdite, Beni Guil, Sardi, D’man, Beni Ahsen, and Boujaâd, represented 11.4%, 8.97%, 12.9%, 3.69%, 2.30%, and 1.42%, respectively.