ILCA SYSTEMS STUDY
PUBLISHED BY
INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK CENTRE FOR AFRICA 1979
PO BOX 5689 ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA
ILCA PUBLICATIONS
The International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) is an autonomous research and information centre, whose activities and publications are funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR members which have funded ILCA to date are the International Development Research Centre, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and the governments of Australia, Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Iran, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Responsibility for ILCA publications, however, rests solely with the centre and such other parties as may be cited as joint authors.
ILCA Monographs and Systems Studies are currently ILCA's two series of scientific publications. Both present information concerned with livestock production systems of tropical Africa, though Systems Studies deal with systems as a whole, while Monographs deal with aspects of systems and range widely in subject matter, comprising several subseries.
ABSTRACT
Research is reviewed on sheep and goat production in the humid zone of West Africa, including production parameters of the West African Dwarf breeds, feeding strategies based on natural and improved pastures and locally available agro-industrial byproducts, and the incidence of disease, particularly peste de petits ruminants and helminthiasis. The economics of small-farm and large-scale commercial production are discussed.
KEY WORDS
Sheep, goats. West Africa, humid tropics, production parameters, animal nutrition, forage production, peste de petits ruminants, helminthiasis.
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Climate and ecology
Population and livestock numbers
Crop and livestock production
Birth Weight
Growth Rates
Lactation Rates and Milk Composition
Weaning Weights
Carcass Quality
Fibre Production
Oestrus
Age at first conception and parturition
Parturition interval
Fertility, prolificacy and fecundity
Reproductivity wastage
Male-female ratios
4. Animal nutrition and tropical forages
Nutritional requirements and forage quality
Digestibility and feed intake
Potential livestock production based on tropical pastures
Fodder species
Pasture establishment
Herbage productivity
Fertilization
Grazing or cutting strategies
Offer-residue rate
Conclusions
6. Supplementary feeding based on agro-industrial byproducts
Sugar cane
Cocoa
Oil seeds
Coffee
Mortality rates
Morbidity and disease prevalence
Viral and bacterial diseases
Peste des petits ruminants
Goat and Sheep Pox
Foot and Mouth Disease
Bluetongue
Contagious Pustular Dermatitis
Other Viral Diseases
Mycoplasma and Pasteurella
Other Bacterial Diseases
Investment costs
Annual recurrent costs
Labour requirements
Returns
Marketing and prices
The role of livestock production in the humid zone
10. Summary of proposals for further research
Traditional production systems
More intensive production systems
Specific research needs
Preface
Background information
Reproduction
Animal nutrition and tropical forages
Forage production
Supplementary feeding with agro-industrial byproducts
Animal health
Economic factors