[en] As in the entire livestock sector in developing countries, sheep farming in Burkina Faso has been facing an increasing demand in a context of constraining socioeconomic and environmental production. This has resulted in poorly con- trolled crossbreeding in suburban Ouagadougou, the capital. In order to identify ways to manage these practices so as to make sheep systems sustainable, a sur- vey was conducted with 63 livestock farmers in the Central Plateau region. The main objective was to assess the possibilities of integrated management between rural and suburban breeders, particularly by means of exchange of females. The data were collected through direct interviews using a questionnaire with open and closed questions. The results showed that all farmers had breeding strategies through the selection of breeding males. This selection mainly occurred within their own herd (98% of the interviewees) and sometimes in markets (22%). The main improvement objectives were adult weight and lamb growth, or mainte- nance of hardiness. The Djallonke ewe of the Mossi variety was the most com- mon breed in the area (present in 97% of herds). Implementing their objectives, the breeders crossed their Mossi ewes with Fulani rams, larger in size, but pro- visionally to limit the loss of resistance of their flock. The potential link with suburban breeders’ production via the sale of females appeared to face cultural constraints. The production system described by the breeders had sustainabil- ity constraints and did not allow for real integration with the suburban system. Participatory approaches should be implemented locally to develop appropriate solutions to increase production and sustainable management of animal genetic resources.
Disciplines :
Animal production & animal husbandry
Author, co-author :
Tindano, Kisito
Moula, Nassim ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Scientifiques attachés au Doyen (F MV)
