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The role of cross-border transhumance in influencing resident herders’ cattle husbandry practices and use of genetic resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2020

S. O. Houessou ,
L. H. Dossa Open the ORCID record for L. H. Dossa [Opens in a new window] ,
C. A. Assogba ,
R. V. C. Diogo ,
S. F. U. Vanvanhossou  and
E. Schlecht
S. O. Houessou
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin
L. H. Dossa*
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, Witzenhausen37213, Germany Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Göttingen, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, Göttingen37075, Germany
C. A. Assogba
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin
R. V. C. Diogo
Affiliation:
Département des Sciences et Techniques de Productions Animale et Halieutique, Université de Parakou, Faculté d’Agronomie, Campus Universitaire de Parakou, ParakouBP 123, Benin
S. F. U. Vanvanhossou
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin
E. Schlecht
Affiliation:
Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, Witzenhausen37213, Germany Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Göttingen, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, Göttingen37075, Germany
*
†E-mail hippolyte.dossa@fsa.uac.bj
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Abstract

For centuries, the humid West African coastal country of Benin attracts cattle herders from neighboring Sahelian countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Each year, several thousands of cattle are trekked over hundreds of kilometers to Benin following established and non-established transhumance corridors. This cross-border mobility has been shown to play an important role in ensuring the productivity of the transhumant herds through adequate late dry season access to pastoral resources. Yet, its effects on the traditional agro-pastoral production systems that are encountered along the routes in Benin have never been explicitly investigated. Therefore, we collected socio-economic household data, herd characteristics and management data from 104 resident herders and 38 transhumant herders in 2 vegetation zones of Benin. To determine whether or not the proximity to transhumance corridors affects sedentary production systems, characteristics of cattle herds and farmers’ management practices were compared between villages close to (within a 25 km buffer) and far from (outside a 25 km buffer) transhumance corridors within and between vegetation zones using non-parametric statistical tests. Existing relationships between resident and transhumant herders were also identified and characterized. Subsequently, herd characteristics and management practices were compared between resident herders having relationships with transhumant herders and those without. Herd sizes of resident herders living close to transhumance corridors were larger (P < 0.01) than those of their counterparts living far away. Also, proximity to transhumance corridors had positive effects on herd management practices. The relationships between resident and transhumant herders were governed by a variety of interests including encampment/manuring contracts, exploitation of grazing lands and watering points, trading and bartering of cattle. This exchange of cattle is an important driver of change in the breed composition of local herds and represents an opportunity for resident herders to enhance their herds’ productivity through crossbreeding. However, the mere replacement or indiscriminate crossbreeding of local cattle breeds with those kept by transhumant herders threatens the sustainability of the traditional resident herding systems by increasing the risk of genetic erosion and loss of valuable adaptive traits in indigenous animal genetic resources.

Keywords

cattle breedspastoralismsedentary systemsocial networkstransboundary animal mobility
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 14 , Issue 11 , November 2020 , pp. 2378 - 2386
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Animal Consortium

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