Livestock endangered by industrial agriculture too

Its not just wild flora and fauna that are endangered by the human footprint, cattle breeds and other domesticated animals are having their genetic diversity whittled away exposing them to disease. (Note the rapid spread of BSE, foot and mouth, bird flu etc.)

At a recent UN summit on animal genetic resources, researchers from the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute have warned that the global market is dominated by a few breeds, selected for their high-yield characteristics, while many of the world’s rare species of livestock face extinction unless conservation measures are taken now. A report published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization notes that 90% of cattle in industrialised nations came from only “six tightly defined breeds”. Modern agricultural methods have overlooked the benefits of genetic traits that have evolved in breeds found in developing countries. Drought or disease tolerant attributes are becoming increasingly important to farmers, but industrial agriculture and a mentality of convenience is assuming laboratory solutions will outwit nature.

For example, Uganda’s indigenous ankole cattle could become extinct within 20 years because it is being displaced by the holstein-friesian, which produces more milk. However, some farmers lost their entire herds during a recent drought because the friesians were unable to walk long distances to reach the nearest water supply.

The ILRI researchers made four recommendations to ensure the long-term survival of livestock diversity:

  • establish genebanks in Africa to store semen, eggs and embryos
  • allow great mobility of breeds across national borders
  • encourage farmers to maintain a variety of indigenous livestock
  • use advanced genomic and geographical mapping to match breeds to suitable environments

Recent outbreaks of Foot and Mouth in the UK illustrate the difficulty of controlling disease in industrial agriculture systems where there is reduced genetic diversity.  At the end of September, Bluetongue, a viral disease of ruminants, displayed its first sign in the UK.  It has now spread from Africa through northern Europe since 1998, some say because of warmer weather (climate change) which enables it to survive over winter.

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