Contribution of Cattle Breeds to Household Livelihoods and Food Security in Southern Mali
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Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics Contribution of cattle breeds to household livelihoods and food security in southern Mali Sékou Amadou Traoré University of Hohenheim Faculty of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute) Department of Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics Prof. Dr. Anne Valle Zárate Contribution of cattle breeds to household livelihoods and food security in southern Mali Dissertation Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of “Doktor der Agrarwissenschaften” (Dr.sc.agr.) to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Hohenheim Presented by: Sékou Amadou Traoré Born in Niono, Mali Stuttgart-Hohenheim, 2017 This thesis was accepted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree “Doktor der Agrarwissenschaften, Dr.sc.agr.” by the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Hohenheim on 30th May 2017 Date of oral examination: 4th August 2017 Examination Committee Supervisor and Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Anne Valle Zárate Co-reviewer: Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Piepho Additional Examiner: Prof. Dr. Regina Birner Chairman of the examination committee Prof. Dr. Markus Rodehutscord DECLARATION I hereby declare that this doctoral thesis is a result of my personal work and that no other than the indicated aids have been used for its completion. All quotations and statements that have been inferred literally or in a general manner from published or unpublished sources are marked as such. Furthermore, I assure that the work has not been used, neither completely nor in part, for achieving any other academic degree. Sékou Amadou Traoré, Stuttgart-Hohenheim ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my supervisor, Professor Dr. Anne Valle Zárate, for offering me the opportunity to work on this interesting topic, and for her great support throughout my whole study period. Her advice and constructive criticism have been of great value in shaping this thesis. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Christoph Reiber, for the time he dedicated to this work, and for giving me constant advice and critical comments. His door has been always open to answer my many questions. I sincerely thank Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Piepho, for his willingness to be a co-reviewer, and Prof. Dr. Regina Birner, for her readiness to be an additional examiner. I am very grateful to Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Piepho for his suggestions for the statistical analysis and his almost instant feedback to my questions. I thank Prof. Dr. Regina Birner and Prof. Dr. Manfred Zeller for being co-supervisors within the framework of the International PhD Programme of the University of Hohenheim and for providing me with advice and suggestions at various stages of my research. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Foundation Fiat Panis. I would also like to thank Dr. Abdou Fall, from the International Livestock Research Institute, for his advice at the early stages of my research, and Dr. Ousmane Traoré, co-ordinator of the Regional Project for Sustainable Management of Endemic Ruminant Livestock in West Africa, for providing me with the technical assistance required for my fieldwork. I would additionally like to thank Dr. Philipp Muth, Dr. Bekele Mergessa and Dr. André Markemann, for their constructive discussions and advise for statistical analysis. I also give many thanks to Katharine Cresswell Riol for her help in proofreading this thesis and manuscript. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my fellow students and colleagues within the department of Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics for their encouragement, assistance and friendship. Finally, I want to thank my family for their encouragement and support throughout the whole process of my thesis, especially my father, Dr. Adama Traoré. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ i TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................ viii 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background and research objectives ........................................................................... 1 1.2 Study area and methodology ....................................................................................... 5 1.3 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................. 8 1.4 References .................................................................................................................... 9 2 PRODUCTION OBJECTIVES, TRAIT AND BREED PREFERENCES OF FARMERS KEEPING N’DAMA, FULANI ZEBU AND CROSSBRED CATTLE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR BREEDING PROGRAMS ......................................................... 13 2.1 Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 15 2.3 Materials and methods ............................................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Study area ........................................................................................................... 16 2.3.2 Sampling ............................................................................................................. 17 2.3.3 Data collection .................................................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Data analysis ....................................................................................................... 18 2.4 Results........................................................................................................................ 19 2.4.1 Household characteristics ................................................................................... 19 2.4.2 Production objectives ......................................................................................... 20 2.4.3 Trait preferences ................................................................................................. 21 2.4.4 Breed preferences, aptitude and trends ............................................................... 22 2.5 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 25 2.5.1 Farmers’ production objectives and trait preferences ........................................ 25 2.5.2 Farmers’ breed preferences ................................................................................ 26 2.5.3 Implications for breeding strategies ................................................................... 27 2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 29 2.7 Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... 29 ii 2.8 References .................................................................................................................. 30 3 PRODUCTIVE AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF ENDEMIC N’DAMA CATTLE IN SOUTHERN MALI COMPARED TO FULANI ZEBU AND THEIR CROSSBREDS ................................................................................................................. 34 3.1 Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 35 3.2 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 36 3.3 Materials and methods ............................................................................................... 37 3.3.1 Study area and sampling ..................................................................................... 37 3.3.2 Household survey ............................................................................................... 38 3.3.3 Individual cow performances ............................................................................. 38 3.3.4 Economic performances ..................................................................................... 38 3.3.5 Data analyses ...................................................................................................... 40 3.4 Results........................................................................................................................ 42 3.4.1 Household characteristics ................................................................................... 42 3.4.2 Cattle management ............................................................................................. 43 3.4.3 Productive performance ..................................................................................... 44 3.4.3.1 Individual cow performance ..........................................................................