Typology and sustainability assessment of rabbit farms in the urban and peri-urban areas of Southern Benin (West Africa)

[EN] Analysis of production systems allows scientists to identify their weaknesses, particularly concerning production practices which require improvements at economic, social, and environmental levels. The present study aimed to characterise rabbit farms in the urban and peri-urban areas of South Benin and assess their sustainability using the DIAMOND method, a multicriteria sustainability assessment tool. Ninety-eight farmers were surveyed and individually interviewed. Categorical principal component and twostep cluster analyses were performed on information collected for a typology of farms. Sustainability scores were generated using the scoring scale of the DIAMOND tool. Five types of rabbit farms were identified as follows: modern extensive polyculture, traditional extensive monoculture, modern extensive monoculture, semi-intensive polyculture, and traditional extensive polyculture. Overall, all the rabbit farms had good scores for the economic sustainability pillar but were socially limited. They were all similar in their economic and environmental performances. In particular, semi-intensive farms were the most socially sustainable, whereas traditional farms (either in polyculture or monoculture) showed the lowest social performances. Furthermore, there were significant differences between farms for criteria relating to consumers’ demands and resource use. Semi-intensive farms responded best to consumers’ demands, whereas the traditional polyculture farm type was the most resource use efficient. Overall, in the urban and peri-urban areas of South Benin, the most sustainable rabbit farms were semi-intensive. Irrespective of farm type, positive coefficients of correlations were recorded among the three pillars of sustainability, being significant between the social and economic pillars on one hand, and between the social and environmental pillars on the other hand. These results suggest that efforts to improve farm social performance would also positively affect their economic and environmental performances and improve overall farm sustainability.We would like to thank the rabbit farmers that participated in this study. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and revisions. Additionally, we are grateful to all the people who were involved in this study for their support and willingness.Medenou, EH.; Koura, BI.; Dossa, LH. (2020). Typology and sustainability assessment of rabbit farms in the urban and peri-urban areas of Southern Benin (West Africa). World Rabbit Science. 28(4):207-219. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2020.13368OJS20721928

Production and milk marketing strategies of small-scale dairy farmers in the South of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Milk production is a socio-economically relevant activity for many small-scale family farms in southern Brazil. The objective of this study was to analyse their production and marketing strategies. A questionnaire was administered to 199 farm households in Rio Grande do Sul State to collect information on farm assets and activities, and particularly on the contribution of milk sale to farm income. Through categorical principal component analysis and two-step clustering, farmers were classified into three types: farmers selling only milk (M); farmers selling cash crops and milk (CM); farmers selling cash crops and surplus milk (Cm). Cattle herd (heads) and size of pasture land were larger on M farms (114 ±71.9; 51 ±49.4 ha) than on CM (31 ±13.4; 9 ±8.9 ha) and Cm (12 ±7.5; 5 ±8.1 ha) farms. Livestock husbandry contributed 71, 59 and 16 % to family income on M, CM and Cm farms, respectively. Daily milk production of the individual cow depended on the area cultivated with fodder maize (ha per cow; p ≤ 0.001), on sale of milk to cooperatives or to private companies (p ≤ 0.01), on summer pasture area (ha per cow; p = 0.001) and on daily amount of concentrates offered (kg per cow; p ≤ 0.01). These results indicate that the area available for fodder cultivation is a key factor for milk production on small-scale dairy farms in southern Brazil, while concentrate feeding plays a less important role even for highly market-oriented farms. This must be accounted for when exploring options for strengthening the regional small-scale milk production, in which dairy cooperatives do play an important role

Effets De L’incorporation Du Son De Maïs A Différents Doses Sur Les Performances De Croissance Des Lapereaux Et La Rentabilité De L’élevage

This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of rabbits fed with rations containing corn bran at different levels of incorporation. Three rations, R5, R11 and R16, were formulated with incorporation rates of corn bran of 5.5%, 11% and 16.5%, respectively. Ninety young rabbits of 5 weeks of age were used for the experiments. The fattening study lasted 8 weeks and that of digestibility lasted for 1 week. The findings showed that the ration with 5.5% maize bran showed the best growth performances (18 g/d) with the highest digestibility values of dry matter (67%) and cellulose (97%). The ration with 16.5% corn bran yields 17 g / d with a better digestibility of the crude protein (97%) and the highest efficiency index (2.40). The ration with 11% maize bran is the most expensive (1395 Fcfa/kg) and has intermediate characteristics to that of the other two. The ration R could be used by rabbit farmers in urban and peri-urban areas to improve animal zootechnical performances. Future studies should be focused on the digestive use of different nutrients in rabbits through an in vivo study

Cross-Location Analysis of the Impact of Household Socioeconomic Status on Participation in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in West Africa

This study explores the relation between household socioeconomic status (SES) and participation in urban and periurban agriculture (UPA) in three West African cities. We used a structured questionnaire to survey 700 randomly selected households: 250 in Kano, Nigeria, 250 in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, and 200 in Sikasso, Mali. Multiple correspondence analysis was applied on household asset variables to create an index of assets which was used as a proxy for household SES. The results showed no significant differences in households’ rate of participation in UPA across socioeconomic groups. Participation in UPA was rather significantly (P < 0.001) and positively related to household size. Interestingly, the analysis revealed that field crop cultivation and gardening were more common among households in the low and medium SES groups while those in the high SES group were more likely to keep livestock

Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin

PRIFPRI3; ISIDSG

Current Knowledge on the Lagune Cattle Breed in Benin: A State of the Art Review

This paper summarizes the information on the Lagune cattle breed and its production systems in Benin available in peer-reviewed journals, conference papers and research reports covering the period from 1970 to 2020. Lagune cattle are kept in two production systems in Benin: the improved ranching system established at the Governmental farm of Samiondji, where most of the published studies on this breed have been achieved, and the village traditional production system. This breed has a small size with short horns. Reported adult weight varied from 140 to 180 kg for male and from 100 to 140 kg for female. Lagune cows are bad dairy. The breed plays an important role in the livelihoods of the rural people and has many functions, including cultural, ecological, socio-economic, savings and income provision roles. Most of the reports emphasizes its low productivity, which might rather be more related to its poor management conditions than to its genetic potential. The Lagune breed is reported to have adaptive traits such as tolerance to drought and heat, and resistance to ticks and diseases. In 1975, the Government of Benin, having realized the risk of the disappearance of this breed, devoted the Samiondji Farm to its ex situ conservation and set up a purebred multiplication herd. Since then, there have been very few efforts to comprehensively characterize this breed and its productivity under smallholder production systems. Consequently, the opportunities for its in situ conservation, management and sustainable use by the rural communities are not sufficiently explored

Determinants of Crossbreeding Practices by Cattle Farmers in South Benin, West Africa: Implications for the Sustainable Use of the Indigenous Lagune Cattle Population

While it is widely acknowledged that the small-sized West African Shorthorn taurine Lagune cattle is being increasingly crossbred with and replaced by large-sized zebus, little is known about the factors that influence farmers’ crossbreeding decisions and selection practices. But this information is necessary for the development of strategies towards a rationale use and conservation of this unique African genetic resource. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted, between September and November 2016, a questionnaire survey in the belt of this breed in South Benin. One hundred seventy-three cattle farms were surveyed. The binomial logistic regression approach was used to predict the likelihood of a Lagune cattle farmer to be willing to introduce zebus in his herd. The herds were composed of either Lagune only (82.1%), zebu only (4.0%), crossbred Lagune x zebu (1.2%), Lagune and zebu (9.2%) or Lagune and crossbred Lagune x zebu (3.5%). The low productivity of the Lagune cattle and the market demand for large-sized animals were the main farmers’ motivations for crossbreeding. Farmers raising large herds of Lagune cattle under control mating system were more likely to adopt crossbreeding. The risk of dilution of the Lagune breed could be reduced by increasing awareness among farmers, improving their technical skills in herd management and empowering them to develop legal institutions, by-laws and collective actions for sustainable breed management. Farmers who have already adopted crossbreeding should be provided with appropriate services and technical assistance, whereas breed conservation initiatives should mainly focus on small purebred herds kept under control mating

The implications of herd entrustment practice for the sustainable use of cattle genetic resources in the (agro)-pastoral systems of West Africa: A case study from Benin

Abstract West African (agro)-pastoralists have been increasingly using extra-household labour for the management of their cattle herds. This paper seeks to identify the factors influencing cattle owners’ decision to entrust their animals and to analyse the effects of the entrustment practice on the management and sustainable use of the animal genetic diversity within herds. Two hundred and eleven cattle farmers, including absentee-owners (n = 90) who entrusted their animals to professional herders, and owner-managers (n = 121) who look themselves after their cattle, were randomly selected and surveyed in Boukombe district in northwest Benin, the origin of the West African shorthorn Somba cattle breed. Households' socio-economic data and information on herds’ characteristics and management practices were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. The binary logistic regression technique was used to predict the adoption of entrustment by a given farmer in function of his herd’s and household's socio-economic characteristics. Effective population sizes and inbreeding rates for the communal non-entrusted and entrusted Somba populations were estimated and compared. The results revealed that the mode of acquisition of the initial stock, the total livestock units owned and the farmer’s ethnicity were the most important determinants of entrustment. The Somba indigenous cattle breed was threatened in entrusted herds by indiscriminate cross-breeding with Zebus. However, the non-entrusted population appeared to be more exposed to high inbreeding risks. While entrustment represents a good alternative for the efficient use of family labour, adequate strategies are needed to support this practice and encourage herd managers to adopt improved husbandry practices and sound breeding strategies

Estimation of live bodyweight from linear body measurements and body condition score in the West African Savannah Shorthorn cattle in North-West Benin

This study was undertaken to provide easy and optimal live bodyweight (LW) estimate models for the West African Shorthorn Somba cattle breed under field conditions using morphometric traits. Based on data from 289 animals of different age categories (calves: suckling 3 years) kept under smallholder management conditions, simple (linear, quadratic, allometric) and multiple (linear, quadratic) regression models were used to explore the relationships between LW, body condition score (BCS) and six linear body measurements, while taking animal’s age and sex into consideration. On the contrary to the BCS, all morphometric measurements were positively and highly correlated with Somba cattle LW (r = 0.90–0.97; p < 0.001). Of all linear body measurements, the chest girth (CG) gave the highest correlation coefficient with LW and fitted best Somba cattle LW predicting model in allometric regression (LW = 1.33 × 10−4 × CG2.89; R2 = 0.97) irrespective of age and sex categories. Age and sex influenced the relationships between morphometric measurements and LW. However, their inclusion in the regression equations did not improve the predictive power of the models. The measurement of CG only proved sufficient for the estimation of LW in allometric regression model. Furthermore, it could be easily and accurately measured by everyone. Hence, this model could be used by farmers and researchers to efficiently predict and monitor LW, and optimize productivity of the West African Shorthorn Somba cattle herds in smallholder farming systems