COMMENT
Why is animal production often treated as inferior to the production of other essential food and agricultural goods? And why are domestic animals often overlooked it best and at worst treated with contempt even by some technicians involved in other agricultural sectors? How did these attitudes develop and how do we quickly and effectively overcome Franc
Sustainable agriculture involves a balanced perspective that recognizes the many contributions made by the wide range of plant and animal species and, in particular, acknowledges the importance of interactions between plant and animal enterprises in maintaining food and agriculture production and in hedging against risk. The very diverse range of types and qualities of products required to meet people's needs must also be recognized, as well as the wide spectrum of production environments that must be used to sustain humankind now and in the future.
We are only now beginning to accept the importance of this great range of environments in the global production of food and agriculture, of the many different contributions made by our domestic species and of the vast range of product qualities required.
This diversity, needed to respond best to different environments and feeds and to requirements for different qualities of the same product, is genetic in nature. For domestic animals, research results to elate suggest that the absolute amount of diversity in roost species is considerably less than that which exists in plant species used for food and agriculture. Furthermore, the latest results of a global survey just released by FAO in the first edition of World watch list for domestic animal diversity show that approximately 30 percent of all animal genetic resources are currently tit risk of extinction.
As yet, the world does not even have a complete inventory of these breed resources nor do we possess a basic description of many, let alone current, population size data. We certainly have not yet established how important each of the tired 000 livestock breeds is in terms of the uniqueness of its genetic contribution to the gene pool for the species.
Research evidence suggests that between 20 and 70 percent, averaging about 50 percent, of the genetic diversity within each species is distributed at the breed level, the result of 10 000 years of domestication. During this time, natural and human directed selection changed populations of each species as the species spread throughout the world.
Extrapolated from the new results of annual genetic resources at risk to the anticipated total of 4 000 breeds of livestock, it is estimated that the world is currently losing about one domestic animal breed per week. Are these breed gene pools being lost useless both now and in the future? Or do they contain significant unique diversity that could be utilized in current or future food and agriculture production? One thing is certain, once lost, genetic material is irreplaceable. No laboratory molecular procedures could possibly be devised to recreate these gene sets de novo within realistic time and cost frames.
The good news! The issues have now been recognized. Movements are under way to overcome the problem as a matter of urgency, by rapidly implementing a global operation to manage domestic animal genetic resources on in ongoing basis.
At the request of its 160 Member Governments, FAO initiated a Special Action Programme on Global Animal Genetic Resources in 1993. Briefly, the mandate for this programme is to design and implement the global management operation as well as a portfolio of activities to overcome the erosion and to better utilize the available diversity. The programme will initially implement major project identification missions and establish an umbrella project for each region of the world to facilitate and coordinate regional and national activities. This structure will be united by a global information system that can be used on a day-to-day basis via Internet at the central, regional and national levels by Member Governments, non-governmental organizations, research institutions and commercial organizations such as breeding organizations and farmer cooperatives. Other components of the Special Action Programme involve introducing a global research effort to establish the amount of diversity in each domestic animal species as well as each breed's contribution to this diversity. Hence, in the future, for those livestock breeds that are not particularly Popular in the current farming community, priorities tot their long-term conservation can be allocated, at least partly based on their contribution to the gene pool of the species.
Of course, some countries already recognize the importance of maintaining all breeds until their relative uniqueness is better understood. These countries are making special efforts to maintain the breeds by forming breeding nucleus Imputations and associating a research project with each or by providing sonic farmers with incentives to compensate for loss of product in keeping these breeds versus others that are more profitable under current production and market conditions. At the same time other countries ale ensuring that good samples of those breeds at risk are preserved by freezing semen and embryos, where possible. Of course, by retaining the genetic material in animal form, the qualities of the gene pool may continue to be characterized and also the breed will be more readily available when needed.
Some non-governmental organizations are actively helping to conserve genetic diversity. Undoubtedly, these grassroots operations will become even more important in the future and will benefit from regular communication through FAO's planned Global Information System for Domestic Animal Diversity. Scientific associations are also directly contributing. For example, the European Association of Animal Production (EAAP) has had a working party on genetic resources for many years, and it has been cooperating closely with FAO to develop a complete inventory and to characterize and monitor the 1000 or so livestock breeds throughout Europe. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has recently increased the priority for genetic resources research, and it is beginning to recognize the very serious situation that exists with animal genetic resources. CGIAR's animal research effort is being led jointly by the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) and the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD) in Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively.
This issue of World Animal Review reports on the very basic but extremely important and often difficult work needed to obtain an inventory of domestic animal genetic resources for a country and to characterize these resources at the phenotypic and genetic levels Such valuable contributions are required for all countries and indigenous breeds. Currently available procedures are described and all available published information on some West African Shorthorn cattle breeds is reviewed. There are many opportunities to improve today's procedures for the characterization and conservation of animal genetic diversity, and a component of a balanced national research portfolio will include such work.
There are two main challenges then for world agriculture:
· recognize and have accepted universally the important and integral role played by domestic animal species in the production of food and agriculture;· overcome the current losses and better understand and utilize the unique qualities of those animal genetic resources that still exist.
These challenges are obviously connected and the communication imperative to meeting both is a universal responsibility.
K. Hammond
The author is Senior Officer, Animal Breeding and Genetic Resources,
Animal Production Service, FAO, Rome, Italy
