Small ruminants are a major source of livelihood in many areas of Africa. Unlike
cattle, they are owned by even the poorer sectors of the community, and attempts
to increase the productivity of small ruminants are an important route to improving
the standard of living of the rural poor and the landless peasants. In addition,
small ruminants can be an important step in increasing the productivity of small-holder
agropastoralist systems and thus producing more grain in a continent desperately
short of food for human consumption: with increased livestock production the
small farmer has a surplus for sale, with livestock sales he has a cash income,
and with cash he buys the inputs needed to increase grain production.
The objectives of this seminar, held at the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Addis Ababa in October 1982, were to outline how research on small ruminants in the tropics and especially on breed productivity could contribute towards increased output.
The seminar was structured to cover aspects of four broad areas: basic considerations of production and market objectives, and breeding plans relevant to these; current research approaches in sub-Saharan Africa and relevant information from other tropical areas; requirements, collection, analysis and interpretation of production data; and indications of current research findings in Africa.
Eight speakers from Africa, Australia and the UK presented papers and 31 additional workers from 13 countries of Africa took part in the discussions. These discussions focussed finally on the possible contributions that ILCA might make towards increasing the impact of results from small ruminant research operations in Africa.
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the ILCA staff who assisted in the organisation and conduct of the seminar, in particular Dr. E. Mukasa-Mugerwa; and Mrs. G. Maloba who typed the report.
