Survey: Local Livestock Breeds at Risk

Even as many small farmers in North America, Europe and elsewhere are taking an interest in raising traditional and rare livestock breeds (see sidebar “Rare-Breed Renaissance”), many of the developing world’s indigenous livestock breeds are in danger of dying out.

The cause: Commercially marketed animals bred for their high yields and short-term profitability are taking over.

According to the results of a survey spearheaded by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and other research groups, the loss of the animals could mean a loss of genetic resources that help animals overcome disease and drought, particularly in the developing world.

Local breeds–nearly 70 percent of which are found in the developing world–are often better suited to their environments than commercially bred animals.

Survey Results
The survey, which includes mention of about 7,600 breeds of cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and other animals in 169 countries, reports that:

• 11% of the investigated breeds are now extinct (some having disappeared many decades ago),
• 16% are currently at risk,
• 38% are unthreatened, and
• the security of the remaining 35% is unknown.

The Response
In response, policy-makers, breeders and livestock scientists representing 108 eight countries have agreed on an action plan to save endangered livestock breeds. In part, the plan aims to:

• Create a global database of livestock breeds and their population levels.
• Encourage countries to find ways of maintaining endangered stocks through sustainable use
• Set up gene banks “as a backup system” in case breeds disappear, Beate Scherf of FAO’s Animal Genetic Resources Group, one of the main group involved.