Livestock diversity needs genebanks too

Documenting and conserving this diversity — of cattle, goats, sheep, swine and poultry — is just as essential as the maintenance of crop diversity for ensuring future food supplies in the face of health and environmental threats. Just as we should know which crop varieties are most tolerant to flood...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSciDev.net - Environment
Main Author Seré, Carlos
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford 21.05.2010
Subjects
African trypanosomiasis
Cattle
Crop diseases
Crop diversification
Developing countries
Drought
Environmental impact
Flooding
Food supply
Genetic diversity
Goats
Health risks
LDCs
Livestock
Milking
Sheep
Vector-borne diseases
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Summary:Documenting and conserving this diversity — of cattle, goats, sheep, swine and poultry — is just as essential as the maintenance of crop diversity for ensuring future food supplies in the face of health and environmental threats. Just as we should know which crop varieties are most tolerant to flooding or disease, we should know which kinds of milking goat can bounce back quickly from a drought, which breeds of cow resist infection from sleeping sickness and which types of chicken can survive avian flu. A 2007 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization showed that over-reliance on a small number of livestock breeds is resulting in the loss of around one breed every month.