Participatory characterization of the Short-eared Somali goat and its production environment around Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

G Gebreyesus, A Haile* and T Dessie**

Jigjiga University, PO Box 1020, Jigjiga, Ethiopia
grum.gebre@gmail.com
* ICARDA, PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria;
** ILRI, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Characterization of the Short-eared Somali goat population around Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, was undertaken in a community-based and participatory approach. Range of participatory tools, including Focal Group Discussions, participatory mappings and transect walks, were employed to study the local community’s Indigenous knowledge and practices in animal breeding. The breeding objective was defined in a participatory manner through own-flock ranking experiments. Physical description of the goat population was made based on the “key characteristics” concept used by the community to distinguish their goat type among other breeds within their migratory reach. The Issa community maintains a perception of special association towards the Short-eared Somali goat type, claiming a historic role in its development and adaptation. Local myths persistent in the community associate the origin of the Short-eared Somali goat breed with the communal ethno-history. The community generally practices selective pure breeding employing rather complex indigenous knowledge and traditional practices aimed at polishing the gene pool towards the dictates of the environment.

Patchy color patterns were generally dominant (59.8%) in the goat population, while 34% of the patched goats had a unique pattern of black spots on the center core of the face and a black stripe across the spine. Goats were kept for multifaceted purposes ranging from products like milk and meat to functions in socio-cultural and financial state of affairs. The production system was characterized with lack of feed supplementation and rangelands provide the only source of feed throughout the year. Although the production environment was characterized with recurrent droughts and high prevalence of goat diseases, goats were found to have significant contributions to the livelihood of the Issa pastoralists in the study area.

Keywords: breeding objectives, community-based breeding, indigenous knowledge

Introduction

Identification, characterization and understanding of local breeds, as well as associated contexts of their development and utilization, is the first step in making well informed decisions pertaining to genetic/breed improvement interventions. Attempts were so far made to document indigenous Goat breeds in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the tropics following the conventional methodological approaches of phenotypic characterization (Farm Africa 1996; Workneh et al 2004) using global list of descriptors published by FAO (FAO 1986a, 1986b, 1986c). Despite empirical data on description of the so called “economically important” traits of the breeds, conventional approaches have so far felt short of capturing wholistic picture of breeding in the context of traditional systems.

A “people-centered” breed characterization method has recently emerged with a more participatory approach to identify and understand the indigenous animal genetic resources. It recognizes indigenous animal genetic resources as results of both deliberate and non-deliberate manipulation of the gene pool by local communities for ecologically and socio-culturally determined preferences (Koehler 2005).

Documentations of important productive, reproductive and adaptation traits pertaining to the Short–eared Somali (locally known as Issa) goat breed are scanty. Essential inputs for designing breeding strategy in the context of community-based management, such as, local trait preferences, traditional systems in managing the gene pool, socio-cultural portfolio of the breeding community, remain untapped. The basic objective of this study was to characterize the Short-eared Somali goat based on the knowledge, concepts and priorities of the Issa Somali community breeding it and its production environment.

Materials and methods

The study area

Dire Dawa administrative council is a special city administration which consists of the city of Dire Dawa and the surrounding rural areas. It is located between 9^o27’-9^o49’ north latitude and 41^o38’- 42^o19’ east longitude in the Eastern part of Ethiopia (DDAC 2002). Dire Dawa is grouped in the arid and semi-arid climatic zones. The elevation ranges between 950 - 2450 m.a.s.l. The average annual rainfall amounts to 604 mm (DDAC 2002).

The total livestock population in Dire Dawa Administrative council is estimated to be about 300 thousand; including 95 thousand goats, 77 thousand sheep, 63 thousand cattle, 20 thousand equine, 19 thousand camel and 17 thousand poultry (DDAC 2004). The administrative council is composed of 9 urban and 32 rural kebele administrations. The study focused on the rural kebeles found in the lower lying north-eastern and north western parts of the escarpment.

Site Selection and Sampling Techniques

Purposive sampling was applied to select the study rural kebeles. Presence and distribution of the Short-eared Somali goat as well as contribution of goats to the livelihood of the inhabiting community were the primary criteria considered in selecting 3 kebeles out of the 32 rural kebele administrations around Dire Dawa. Sample goats for measurements were taken from randomly selected whole flocks including kids, within villages at each study kebele, until a total of 723 female and 168 male goats were sampled.  A total of 126 owners of Short-eared Somali goats were randomly selected from the three study kebeles for administration of the open-ended questionnaires.

Data collection

Range of PRA tools and an open-ended questionnaire were employed to collect the data. The PRA tools include discussions with a focal-group established at each kebele whose members included individuals communally known to have high quality breeding animals, people believed to be knowledgeable about past and present social and economic status of the area, community elders and story tellers. Own-flock ranking experiment was used to define the breeding objective and trait preferences. Matrix ranking was employed to define grazing and browse species prefer by the Short-eared Somali goat. Open-ended questionnaires were administered to a total of 126 respondents on socio-economic characteristics, routine husbandry practices, production constraints and breeding management.

Data Analysis

Indexes were calculated for all ranking data according to a formula:  Index = sum of (3 for rank 1 + 2 for rank 2 + 1 for rank 3) given for an individual reason (attribute) divided by the sum of (3 for rank 1 + 2 for rank 2 + 1 for rank 3) for overall reasons. Statistical Procedure for Social Sciences (SPSS for window, release 15.0 2006) was used to analyze the qualitative data from the questionnaire and physical description of the sample goats. F test was carried out as appropriate, following analysis of variance (ANOVA), to assess statistical significances.

Results and discussion

Production system

Pastoral production system is prevalent in the study area with recurrent movement and reliance on natural pasture, shrub and woodlands. According to the views of the goat owners, the short-eared Somali goat withstands the harsh environmental conditions marked with shortage of water and feed and contributes significantly to their livelihood.

Livestock holding and flock structure

The major livestock species in the study area were goats, sheep, cattle, camels and donkeys. An overall minimum number of 8 and maximum of 160 goats were reported per household giving an overall mean of 32.8. The figure is higher than the case reported by Farm Africa (1996) which suggested a mean flock size of 23 for the Small-eared goat population in general in Ogaden and around Dire Dawa. This may be explained by a suspicion that pooling the data from the two regions, by the former study, may have lowered the overall mean vis-à-vis the actual mean for Dire Dawa or it could just be a matter of time gap. On the other hand, the mean flock size reported in this study was lower compared to the figure reported by Workneh (1992) for the goat dominated pastoral systems in southern Ethiopia. 

Females more than one year old constituted 42.4% of the whole population while males of the same age made up only 8.9% of the population (Table 2). The ratio between male of more than one year of age and their female counterparts was accordingly 1:5. This is close to the inference of Wilson and Murayi (1988) who reported that for small ruminants in traditional livestock production systems of Africa ratios of between1:4 and 1:6 have been widely observed. However, this finding sharply contrast with to the study of Nigatu (1994) which reported buck to doe ratios of 1:19 for Ethiopian and Eritrean goats in pastoral flocks.

Feeding management

The major feed sources for goats in the study area were communal natural pasture, shrub and woodlands. Practice of supplementation was not reported at all PAs. Generally, the locals have identified 18 different types of important browsing species in the area. The results of matrix rankings have also revealed a set of seasonal patterns of availability of feeds and a rank of preferred grazing species by the Short-eared Somali goat according to these seasonal patterns. According to the locals, the Ficus glumusa (Torey), Grewia villosa (Mureyo) and Acalypha psilostachya (dhikri) species were reported as first, second and third preferred species, respectively. These species were reported to be highly palatable and preferentially browsed by goats.

Watering management

Boreholes, hand-dug wells and springs were the major sources of water both for human and livestock in the area. Natural depressions were also reported important during the wet season in harvesting and retaining water from the light rains.

According to respondents, watering frequency was controlled based on availability of water across the seasons and some other reasons, especially, perception of majority of the owners on “alleged” association between level of hydration of the animals and incidence of tick infestation. The locals follow a deliberate reduction of watering frequency during the wet season as a “preventive” measure against tick infestation. They maintain that if the animals are consistently “optimally” hydrated they would be suitable hosts for ticks to multiply and infestation to exacerbate.

Production constraints

Feed and water shortages were the most frequently mentioned production constraints in the study area. Disease and predators were also mentioned as important constraints threatening goat production in all the three kebeles. Reported responses to feed shortage at times of drought include migration, cutting and providing leafs and branches from trees and sale of livestock. Routs of migration were determined based on pastoralists’ spatial information with regard to availability of pasture and water.  

Purposes of keeping goats

Results of the rankings have shown that goats are expected to provide multifaceted benefits apart from the quantifiable products. Milk, income, meat, skin and manure were the reported tangible benefits from goat farming. Meanwhile, tradition, social status, saving, social payments and medium of ritual performances were among the intangible benefits respondents keep their goat flock for and reasons for their wish to expand it.  

Local concepts about key characteristics of the Short-eared Somali goat population

The local “key characteristics” employed by the local pastoralist community to distinguish their goat type among other breeds within their migratory reach concept included physical features like Back profile, Coat color type and pattern, Horn orientation, Horn spacing. Nevertheless, the locals’ concept of key characteristics also extends to perceptions about special attributes of the population. According to the focal group discussion members and individual interviewees, ability to walk long distances, drought and heat stress tolerance were mentioned as special attributes of the Short-eared Somali goats.

Participatory description of physical features of the goat type

Out of the sampled 723 female goats, 31.1% had plain coat color pattern while 61% and 7.9% of them had patchy and spotted patterns, respectively. Among the plain coat color patterned female goats, 63% were white, 10.9% creamy white, 17.4% light to dark brown and 6% black. Out of the patchy patterned females, 72.7% had a white dominated coat color while 18.9% and 8.4% of them had light to dark brown and black dominated coat color, respectively. A uniform pattern of black spot on the center of the face and on lower parts of the legs with a black strip across the spine was prevalent on 43.7% of the patched females.  Out of the total sampled 167 male goats, 33.1% had plain coat color pattern while 59.8% and 7.1% had patchy and spotted coat color patterns, respectively. Among the plain male goats, 55.6% were white, 9.7% creamy white, 16.7% light to dark brown and 15.3% black. The uniform pattern of black spot on the center of the face with a black strip across the spine was also prevalently observed in the patched male goats.

Participatory definition of local trait preferences

Out of the overall participants of the flock ranking experiment, the higher proportion (29.2%) mentioned mothering ability as reason for their choice of first preferred female goats (Table 5). Mothering ability was followed by milk yield (27.7%) as reason for first choice, but the overall index was slightly higher for milk (0.26) than mothering ability (0.2).  Adaptation traits, including grazing ability, ability to stay in good body condition (fat deposition) at dry season, disease resistance and ability to walk long distances were also mentioned as important preference reasons.

Traits related to reproduction were also frequently mentioned by the participants of the own-flock ranking experiments as reasons for their choice of preferred female goats. These included, predominantly giving female births, the same to male birth in other cases, as well as kidding predominantly during the main rainy season. Solkner et al 1998 have reported that similar criteria such as predominance of female offspring were also used by nomads in northern Somalia to select breeding buck.

Body size and mother history were mentioned with relatively higher proportion of participants as reasons for ranking first preferred male goats (Table 6). However, with regard to overall index, mother history and color were the leading reasons mentioned by the participants of the own-flock ranking experiment for their choice of preferred male goats. Polledness, body condition and body size follow as important preference reasons.

These preference patterns appear to be in line with the breeding objective. Adult male are usually kept for sale, if not selected for breeding. Price is determined by body condition of the animal, color, sex and other attributes as horn both at the central market in Dire Dawa as well as local villages markets. Use of body weight for price determination was not even observed and effect of body size on the price of the animal was not as critical as body condition, horn and color. Polled male goats were more preferred in the market than their horned counterparts for alleged association between the trait and meat quality in terms of flavor (tenderness) and also dressing percentage. Plain black colored goats were least preferred on the market among the other coat color groups while castrates were reported to fetch the highest price as compared to intact male goats.