Loss of Agricultural Diversity:
Pressure State Response Indicators

Pressure Genetic diversity of livestock is being lost. The number of breeds has markedly declined over the past half century. Up to 30% of global mammalian and avian livestock breeds (i.e., 1,200 to 1,500 breeds) are currently at risk of being lost and cannot be replaced. Breeds become rare, either because their characteristics do not suit contemporary demand or because their qualities have not been recognised. When a breed population falls to about 1,000 animals, it is considered rare and endangered. | Pressure State Response Further Reading FAO Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources

Examples given in Thrupp, L.A. (1998) serve to emphasise the extent of the problem. "FAO estimates that somewhere in the world at least one breed of traditional livestock dies out every week. Many traditional breeds have disappeared as farmers focus on new breeds of cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. Of the 3,831 breeds of cattle, water buffalo, goats, pigs, sheep, horses, and donkeys believed to have existed in this century, 16 percent have become extinct, and a further 15 percent are rare. Some 474 of extant livestock breeds can be regarded as rare. A further 617 have become extinct since 1892. Over 80 breeds of cattle are found in Africa, and some are being replaced by exotic breeds. These losses weaken the potential of breeding programs that could improve hardiness of livestock." Three factors are considered as being largely responsible for the declining genetic diversity of livestock:

- Destruction of the native habitats of livestock breeds;
- The development of genetically uniform livestock breeds;
- Farmer and / or consumer preferences for certain varieties and breeds (and changes in these consumner preferences over time).

Of these, commercial interests are considered as the most important pressure on livestock diversity. Important factors in determining the direction and nature of change include: growth performance (productivity), pest and disease resistance, ease of handling, adaptation to current levels of technology, and to a relatively minor extent consumer choice.

Local breeds are better adapted to their environment

Causes of genetic erosion in domestic animals

Cause | Description
Inappropriate Aid | Lack of appreciation of the value of indigenous breeds and their importance in niche adaptation. Incentives to introduce exotic and more uniform breeds from industrialised countries
Product-focused selection | Undue emphasis placed on a specific product or trait, leading to the rapid dissemination of one breed of animal at the expense of others
Changes in land use | Conversion of rangelands and mixed farming systems for agriculture, game parks, and industrial use
Changes in knowledge | The idea that "modern/imported is best" has led to the loss of knowledge about traditional livestock husbandry practices and to the erosion of domestic animal diversity
Change in Technology | Replacement of animal draught and transport by machinery, leading to permanent change of farming system, artificial insemination and embryo transfer leading to rapid replacement of indigenous breeds
Change in Economy | Decline in economic viability of traditional livestock production systems
Intensification | Livestock populations that rely on veterinary services and on improved feeding conditions. Heavy investment in preventative and curative veterinary measures, and in feeding, housing and management. Multipurpose local species and breeds replaced by those with higher milk, meat, egg production (including cross-breeds and pure-bred exotics)
Cross-breeding | Predominance of sires from a few selected breeds in widespread cross-breeding programmes can lead to loss of features expressed by specialised breeds
Storage | Failure of cryopreservation equipment (used to freeze semen, ova and embryos) or lack of refrigerant, inadequate maintenance of frozen semen from breeds that are not in demand
Conflict | Wars and other forms of socio-political instability can lead to livestock owners moving their stock out of their usual area, thus increasing the possibility of mixing with other breeds thereby potentially losing a location-specific breed
Disaster | Natural disasters such as floods, drought or famine can result in whole breeds dying out

Source: Adapted from Intermediate Technology (1996).

These trends are supported by:

- Policies that support high performance varieties, uniformity of product, and use of chemical controls (e.g. subsidies, credit, market standards);
- The focus of producers on short-term returns at the expense of longer-term social and ecological / environmental factors;
- Disparities in resource distribution and disrespect for local knowledge and livestock management practices.

This results in the loss of local breeds and a decrease in levels of agricultural species diversity. Important consequences are a loss of disease resistance and loss of tolerance to different environmental conditions. In addition, local knowledge about diversity is lost as uniform industrial agricultural technologies predominate.

Ironically, the loss of indigenous breeds that are able to exploit vegetation in the more extreme environments also seriously affects the capacity of human society to live in large areas of the world in a sustainable manner.

State

Declining livestock diversity has serious consequences for current livestock production and future capacity to meet unforeseen challenges and opportunities. Livestock diversity is being lost partly because of commercial production.

For instance, commercial production of egg chickens, meat chickens, and turkeys is dominated by fewer than 10 multinational breeding companies. Breed-level diversity within egg and meat-producing types is low because common breed origins and intense selection for similar production goals have promoted genetic uniformity. Similarly, China possesses at least 50, and perhaps over 100, unique pig breeds, but many of these are becoming endangered as they are replaced with western breeds.

Examples given in Thrupp (1998) also serve to emphasise the current status of livestock diversity. "FAO estimates that somewhere in the world at least one breed of traditional livestock dies out every week. Many traditional breeds have disappeared as farmers focus on new breeds of cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. Of the 3,831 breeds of cattle, water buffalo, goats, pigs, sheep, horses, and donkeys believed to have existed in this century, 16 percent have become extinct, and a further 15 percent are rare. Some 474 of extant livestock breeds can be regarded as rare. A further 617 have become extinct since 1892. Over 80 breeds of cattle are found in Africa, and some are being replaced by exotic breeds."

Traditional pastoralists have often tended to foster biodiversity, in both plants and animals. Many pastoral societies have developed elaborate systems that result in the preservation of genetic resources. Pastoralists have deliberately developed livestock to meet different needs and conditions. For example, a least 12 breeds of camel are known from southern Sudan alone. However, wealthier sectors of society are now accumulating large livestock holdings through purchase of animals from different areas and tribal groups - with the resulting cross-breeding making camels of one generic type.

It is clear that livestock breeds are not biological taxa but rather represent the outcome of social processes. They are therefore unlikely to survive outside the social contexts and production systems that formed them. However, these losses weaken the potential of breeding programs that could improve hardiness of livestock.

Commercial breeds of livestock possess greater genetic variability than most crop varieties do. This diversity allows intensification of selection within breeds to be a fruitful approach for improving livestock productivity. However, if continued emphasis on breed replacement and increasing selection intensity (e.g. for greater productivity) take place at the expense of maintenance of genetic diversity, including the advantages of disease resistance and environmental adaptation, there may be significant long-term costs. As an example, Holstein cattle have become the pre-eminent dairy breed world-wide and have enjoyed sustained improvements in milk production potential, but only at the cost of declining genetic diversity within the breed.

Despite significant advances in the preservation of genetic diversity of crop varieties, for example through ex-situ preservation of germplasm and seed banks, little attention has been paid to conserving the genetic diversity of livestock species. The current dependence on in situ conservation by hobbyists is inadequate. Moreover, this form of breed preservation is currently largely limited to Europe and America. The significant livestock diversity in Africa, Asia and South America is largely unprotected.

State is therefore characterised by:

- Change in the number of individual livestock breeds that are routinely used by grazing, mixed and industrial livestock production systems;
- Increased uniformity of livestock products
- Increased genetic uniformity within individual livestock breeds
- Increasing sedentarisation of livestock production
- Declining economic viability of traditional livestock production systems

Response

It is important that the genetic diversity of rare and endangered livestock breeds and their wild relatives and ancestral lines be preserved as insurance for future needs.

Formal government-sponsored international programs for in-situ and ex-situ preservation of livestock genetic diversity need to be established. In addition, the native habitats of the wild relatives of livestock species must be preserved.

Investments in preserving this natural capital could yield net payoffs in both agricultural productivity and profitability. Such investments should be considered in any economic cost-benefit analyses of alternative production regimes.

A move towards sustainable agriculture requires changes in production methods, concepts, and policies, as well as the participation of local people. Scientific advancements in genetics and "improved" varieties can have important roles. However, these need to be reoriented towards conserving and using diversity in farming systems - rather than replacing diversity with uniformity. The following principles are important:

- It is possible, with appropriate agricultural practices, for significant genetic diversity to be maintained within agricultural production systems, both within individual farms and among farms across a region.
- Participation and empowerment of farmers and indigenous peoples, and protection of their rights, are important means of conserving agrobiodiversity in research and development.
- Creating a supportive policy environment, including the elimination of incentives for uniform varieties, and implementing policies for local rights to genetic resources are important for agricultural biodiversity enhancement and food security.
- Application of agroecological principles helps conserve and enhance diversity on farms and can increase sustainable productivity.
- Adaptation of methods to local agroecological and socio-economic conditions, building upon existing successful methods and local knowledge, is essential to link biodiversity and agriculture and to meet livelihood needs.
- Conservation of plant and animal genetic resources, including in-situ methods, protects biodiversity to enhance current livelihood security as well as future needs.
- Reforming genetic research and breeding programs for enhancement of agricultural diversity is essential and can also have production benefits.

Response must therefore be characterised by:

- Development and transfer of technologies relevant to the sustainable use of biological diversity, including agricultural diversity;
- Development of policies and programmes targeted at the maintenance of local breeds of livestock;
- Creation of an enabling environment for economically viable production systems utilising local breeds. Provision of incentives for the maintenance of local breeds;
- Monitoring numbers and population sizes of local breeds;
- Research targeted towards the identification and utilisation of important characteristics inherent in local breeds of livestock;
- A reassessment of the value of products and services from local breeds in comparison with alternatives by fully taking into account the environmental costs and the real costs of veterinary services, disease control and other services.

See Loss of Biodiversity in Livestock – Policy Options

References and Further Reading:

CAST. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. (1999). Benefits of Biodiversity. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, 4420 West Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014-3447, USA. http://www.cast-science.org/biod/biod.htm

Cattle Diversity Database. http://www.ri.bbsrc.ac.uk/cdiv_www/accessdb.htm

Collins, W.W. & Qualset, C.O. (1999). Biodiversity in agroecosystems. CRC Press. (CRC Press LLC, 2000 Corporate Blvd., N.W. Boca Raton, Florida 33431, USA).

Convention on Biological Diversity. Click to view document

Department of Animal Science - Oklahoma State University. Breeds of Livestock. http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/

Intermediate Technology (1996). Dynamic Diversity: Livestock keepers safeguarding domestic animal diversity through their animal husbandry. Intermediate Technology Development Group, Myson house, Railway Terrace, Rugby, CV21 3HT, UK. (Email: enquiries@itdg.org.uk)

Mason, I.L. 1996. A World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties. Fourth Edition. C.A.B International. 273 pp.

McNeely, J.A., Gadgil, M., Leveque, C., Padoch, C. & Redford, K. (1995). Human Influences on Biodiversity. Pp 711-821 in. Heywood, V.H. & Watson, R.T. Global Biodiversity Assessment. UNEP. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56481-6.

Rare Breeds Canada. c/o Trent University Environmental & Resource Studies Program Peterborough, ON, Canada, K9J 7B8. Email: RAREBREEDSCANADA@TRENTU.CA. Web Site: http://www.trentu.ca/rarebreedscanada/

Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit Plan of Action. World Food Summit, Rome 13-17 November 1996.

The Australian Rare and Minority Breeds Association. http://people.enternet.com.au./~cherylh/index.htm

The Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Cattle to Preserve Future Breeding Options. http://www.ri.bbsrc.ac.uk/cdiv_www/homepage.htm

Thrupp, L.A. (1998). Linking Biodiversity and Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Food Security. World Resources Institute. http://www.wri.org/wri/sustag/lba-home.html

Wageningen Agricultural University. Use of Genetic Resources for Sustainable Livestock Development. http://www.zod.wau.nl/~www-vh/felius/index.html

FAO Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources

FAO. The FAO Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources. Domestic Animal Database. http://dad.fao.org(opens in a new browser window) and also the following related documents.

(click on the icon to view these documents. Requires Adobe Acrobat):

| Brochure: The Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources.
| Some detail on the Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources
| Primary Guidelines for Development of National Farm Animal Genetic Resources Management Plans
| Secondary Guidelines for Development of National Farm Animal Genetic Resources Management Plans. Animal Recording for Medium Input Production Environment
| Secondary Guidelines for Development of National Farm Animal Genetic Resources Management Plans. Executive Brief
| Secondary Guidelines for Development of National Farm Animal Genetic Resources Management Plans. Management of Small Populations at Risk
| World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity, 2nd Edition

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