Genetic Traits of Relevance to Sustainability of Smallholder Sheep Farming Systems in South Africa

Annelin Molotsi, Bekezela Dube, Simon Oosting, Tawanda Marandure, Cletos Mapiye, Schalk Cloete and Kennedy Dzama
Additional contact information
Annelin Molotsi: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Private bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7606, South Africa
Simon Oosting: Animal Sciences Group, Animal Production Systems, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
Tawanda Marandure: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Private bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7606, South Africa
Cletos Mapiye: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Private bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7606, South Africa
Schalk Cloete: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Private bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7606, South Africa
Kennedy Dzama: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Private bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7606, South Africa

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Sustainable livestock production is important to ensure continuous availability of resources for future generations. Most smallholder livestock farming systems in developing countries have been perceived to be environmentally, socially and economically unsustainable. Farming with livestock that is robust and adaptable to harsh environments is important in developing countries especially in semi-arid and arid environments. This review discusses the different sheep farming systems employed by smallholder farmers and associated sustainability problems facing them. The review also gives an overview of sustainability indicators and limitations to the sustainability for the different smallholder sheep production systems in South Africa. It is argued that genetic diversity is important for sustainability and needs to be maintained in sheep for sustainable production and reproduction performance. The application of traditional breeding and genomics to ensure sustainable production is explored. Animal breeding approaches, specifically genomics can be applied to improve areas of environmental sustainability of smallholder sheep farming systems but must be targeted to the specific production environments, challenges, and opportunities of smallholder production. The genetic traits important for sustainability, the role of genomics in improving these traits and linking these genetic traits to different farming systems in South Africa are discussed.

Keywords: social indicators; economic indicators; environmental indicators; robustness; animal breeding; genetic diversity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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