Performance of Malawi-Zebu Cattle on-station in Malawi

The cattle population of Malawi comprises of about 800 000 animals of which Malawi Zebu type cattle is predominant. Malawi's livestock breeding policy has almost exclusively focused on the dissemination of breeding animals from Government farms. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Malawi Zebu cattle based on data from 1099 male calves and 523 female calves kept on four governmental breeding stations. Effects of station, sex, season of calving and year were significant in the model. Mean birth weights ranged from 15.4kg (SE 0.5) to 22.5kg (SE 0.2) in the four herds. Male calves tended to be heavier than female calves by 1.2kg body weight (18.9 vs. 17.7kg; P<0.01). Calves were weaned at an average age of 223 days (SD 30 days) on the four stations. Average weaning weight was 83.9kg (SE 1.1) for male calves and 90.2kg (SE 1.2) for female calves. Male calves were younger at weaning than females. The highest average live body weights at three years of age were observed on one of the stations with 229kg (SD 51kg) and 217kg (SD 27kg) for intact males and females, respectively. Calving interval between first and second parity averaged 15.6 months (SD 4.3) and 23.3 months (SD 0.7) on two stations, respectively. In conclusion the growth potential of the Malawi Zebu was not exploited. It is recommended to review the breeding policy and strategy with a view to establish an open nucleus breeding system enabling farmer participation and to introduce a suitable recording system

Sustainable animal agriculture and crisis mitigation in livestock-dependent systems in southern Africa

These proceedings contain papers, abstracts and posters of the Regional Conference on Sustainable Animal Agriculture and Crisis Mitigation in Livestock-dependent Systems in Southern Africa that took place at Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) in Lilongwe, Malawi, from 30th October to 1st November 2000. A keynote paper opens each theme and is followed by scientific contributions, short communications, and abstracts. Posters are published as short communications and/or abstracts. These proceedings are organised as follows: Session 1 Livestock Management and Improvement (16 papers) Session 2 Policy Analysis, Socio-economics and Sustainable Integrated Animal Health (4 papers) Session 3 Crisis Mitigation in Livestock-dependent Systems - Held as a mini workshop within the conference (2 papers) Session 4 Product Enhancement and Human Resources Development (4 papers) Session 5 Short Communications (4 papers) Session 6 Abstracts (10 abstracts

The politics of agricultural policy and nutrition: A case study of Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP)

The concept of food and nutrition policy has broadened from simply being an aspect of health policy, to policy interventions from across a wide range of sectors, but still with potentially important impact on nutritional outcomes. This wider and more complex conceptualisation involves policy with multiple objectives and stakeholder influences. Thus, it becomes particularly important to understand the dynamics of these policy processes, including policy design and implementation. To add to this literature, we apply the Kaleidoscope Model for understanding policy change in developing country contexts to the case-study of an agricultural input subsidy (AIS) programme in Malawi, the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP), exploring the dynamics of the FISP policy process including nutritional impact. Over a three-month period between 2017 and 2019 we conducted in-depth interviews with key stakeholders at national and district levels, and focus groups with people from rural districts in Malawi. We also undertook a review of literature relating to the political economy of the FISP. We analysed the data thematically, as per the domains of the Kaleidoscope Model. The analysis across the FISP policy process including policy design and implementation highlights how stakeholders’ ideas, interests and influence have shaped the evolution of FISP policy including constraints to policy improvement–and the nutritional impacts of this. This approach extends the literature on the tensions, contradictions and challenges in food and nutrition policy by examining the reasons that these occur in Malawi with the FISP. We also add to the political science and policy analysis literature on policy implementation, extending the concept of veto players to include those targeted by the policy. The findings are important for consideration by policymakers and other stakeholders seeking to address malnutrition in rural, food-insecure populations in Malawi and other low-income settings

Food choice responses to changes in the price of a staple crop: a discrete choice experiment of maize in rural Malawi

Price and affordability are important drivers of food choice, particularly for rural smallholder farming households in Malawi, experiencing extreme poverty, food insecurity, and lack of dietary diversity. Lowering the cost of staple crops such as maize targeted by agricultural input subsidy programmes (AISPs) may potentially increase consumption of the staple crop, but it might also lead to consumption of a more diverse range of foods. Using a discrete choice experiment, this study investigated food choice responses to changes in maize price in rural Malawi. Study participants (n = 400) were given a series of choice tasks for which they were asked to choose between food baskets with varying cost, reflecting local prices and with maize at both high and low price. Baskets contained different types of foods including maize, rice, cabbage, small-dried fish, and/or a soft drink. The data were analysed using mixed logit models including investigation of heterogenous effects based on socio-demographic characteristics, food security and actual market purchases. Individuals revealed a preference, as expected, for lower cost food baskets. Small-dried fish and cabbage were the highest valued food products. At a low cost of maize, the expected utility from a basket with maize was greater than a basket with other items, particularly among households with high- and low-food purchases, low socioeconomic status, living in Phalombe District, and experiencing food insecurity, indicating that among such populations a low price of maize will not necessarily lead to increases in dietary diversity. In contrast, among households living in Lilongwe District, with high SES and food secure, a lower maize price will not lead to a loss in dietary diversity as they prefer a basket containing non-maize products over maize. The findings suggest that achieving food security and dietary diversity may require a range of policy approaches addressing different pathways of impact as opposed to relying on subsidizing inputs for staple crop production

How selection for reproduction or foundation for longevity could have affected blood lymphocyte populations of rabbit does under conventional and heat stress conditions

[EN] The present work characterises how selection for reproduction (by comparing two generations - 16th and 36th - of the V line selected for litter size at weaning) or foundation for reproductive longevity (the LP line) can affect the blood lymphocytes populations of reproductive rabbit does under normal [conventional housing, average daily minimum and maximum temperatures of 14 degrees C and 20 degrees C, respectively] and heat stress conditions [climatic chamber, 25 degrees C and 36 degrees C] from the first to the second parturition. Housing under heat stress conditions significantly reduced the B lymphocytes counts in female rabbits (-34 x 10(6)/L; P < 0.05). The highest lymphocytes population value in blood (total, T CD5(+), CD4(+) and CD8(+)) was noted at the first parturition, while the B lymphocytes count was significantly lower at the second parturition (-61 x 10(6)/L; P < 0.05). Selection for litter size at weaning (V females) reduced the average counts of total and B lymphocytes in blood (-502 and -60 x 10(6)/L, respectively; P < 0.01), mainly because these populations in V36 females continuously lowered from the first to the second parturition under normal housing conditions. Thus, more selected females (V36) at the second parturition showed significantly lower counts in blood for total, T CD5(+) and CD25(+) lymphocytes (-1303, -446 and -33 x 10(6)/L, respectively; P < 0.05). The main differences in blood counts between V36 and V16 females disappeared when housed under heat stress conditions, except for T CD5(+) and CD25(+), which significantly increased (T CD5(+): +428 x 10(6)/L; CD25(+): +41 x 10(6)/L; P < 0.01) in the V16 vs. V36 females on day 10 post-partum. Under normal conditions, no differences between LP and V36 females were found for most lymphocyte populations; only higher counts were noted in CD25(+) (+20 x 10(6)/L; P < 0.05) for LP females. However, the lymphocytes counts [especially total (+1327 x 10(6)/L; P < 0.01) and T CD5(+) (+376 x 10(6)/L; P < 0.10)] of LP females increased under heat vs. normal conditions when lymphocytes populations presented the lowest values (second parturition), while V36 females' counts remained invariable. Positive correlations were found between feed intake (r = +0.51; P < 0.001) and females' perirenal fat thickness (r = +0.40; P < 0.001) with B lymphocytes counts in the blood of primiparous rabbit females in the week 2 of lactation. These results indicate that selection for litter size at weaning might diminish their immune system's response and adaptation capacity, while the foundation for reproductive longevity criteria leads to more robust rabbit females as they present greater modulation under heat stress conditions when the immune system is affected. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This study has been supported by grants from the CEU-Cardenal Herrera University (Banco Santander/CEU-UCH: Copernicus Program), Generalitat Valenciana (ACOMP/2009/207 and ACOMP/2010/062) and the Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia (AGL2008-00273/GAN, AGL2008-03274/GAN and AGL2011-30170-CO2-02). Grants for Selena Ferrian and Irene Guerrero from Generalitat Valenciana (the Santiago Grisolia programme) and from the Universidad CEU-Cardenal Herrera, respectively, are also gratefully acknowledged.Ferrian, S.; Guerrero, I.; Blas Ferrer, E.; García Diego, FJ.; Viana, D.; Pascual Amorós, JJ.; Corpa, JM. (2012). How selection for reproduction or foundation for longevity could have affected blood lymphocyte populations of rabbit does under conventional and heat stress conditions. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 150(1-2):53-60. doi:10.1016/j.vetimm.2012.08.007S53601501-

Characterization and Comparison of the Leukocyte Transcriptomes of Three Cattle Breeds

In this study, mRNA-Seq was used to characterize and compare the leukocyte transcriptomes from two taurine breeds (Holstein and Jersey), and one indicine breed (Cholistani). At the genomic level, we identified breed-specific base changes in protein coding regions. Among 7,793,425 coding bases, only 165 differed between Holstein and Jersey, and 3,383 (0.04%) differed between Holstein and Cholistani, 817 (25%) of which resulted in amino acid changes in 627 genes. At the transcriptional level, we assembled transcripts and estimated their abundances including those from more than 3,000 unannotated intergeneic regions. Differential gene expression analysis showed a high similarity between Holstein and Jersey, and a much greater difference between the taurine breeds and the indicine breed. We identified gene ontology pathways that were systematically altered, including the electron transport chain and immune response pathways that may contribute to different levels of heat tolerance and disease resistance in taurine and indicine breeds. At the post-transcriptional level, sequencing mRNA allowed us to identify a number of genes undergoing differential alternative splicing among different breeds. This study provided a high-resolution survey of the variation between bovine transcriptomes at different levels and may provide important biological insights into the phenotypic differentiation among cattle breeds

Reproductive parameters of Malawi Zebu cattle

Describes part of a series of studies aimed at characterizing the pre-pubertal reproductive performance of the Malawi Zebu cattle, monitoring 10 Malawi Zebu heifers over a 15-month period starting when the animals attained 15 months of age and ending when they were 30 months old; and 10 multiparous Malawi Zebu X Brahman cows were monitored for estrus immediately post partum until they were bred; w. partic. ref. to uterine involution, calving to first estrus, calving to first ovulation, calving to conception, calving interval, first estrus-conception, and to days to first rise in progesterone

Parametres de reproduction des bovins zebu du Malawi

Describes part of a series of studies aimed at characterizing the pre-pubertal reproductive performance of the Malawi Zebu cattle, monitoring 10 Malawi Zebu heifers over a 15-month period starting when the animals attained 15 months of age and ending when they were 30 months old; and 10 multiparous Malawi Zebu X Brahman cows were monitored for estrus immediately post partum until they were bred; w. partic. ref. to uterine involution, calving to first estrus, calving to first ovulation, calving to conception, calving interval, first estrus-conception, and to days to first rise in progesterone