The origin and characteristics of African livestock, and of West African cattle in particular, have long been a subject of study and speculation. The first account of West African livestock was published by Pierre in 1906. The title L'elevage dans l'Afrique Occidentale Francaise clearly restricts it to only half the territories in the region. However, it is important to note that Pierre was one of the first to record the ability of certain cattle to survive in tsetse-infested areas. This ability was later described as trypanotolerance and applied to all livestock species. Curson and Thornton (1936) attempted to classify cattle types for the whole continent, but their personal experience was limited to the southern region. These two works still remain the basis of current nomenclature and classification, the first brought up-to-date by Doutressoulle (1947) using the same title as Pierre, and the second by Epstein (1971) in his monumental The Origin of the Domestic Animals of Africa.
In the meantime, Stewart (1937, 1938) in his papers on the cattle of the Gold Coast emphasized the importance of the trypanotolerance which they exhibited and coined the term ' West African Shorthorn' to describe them. Reports continued to appear from francophone and anglophone countries, but Mason (1951) was the first who tried to bring together an account of all the livestock of both groups of territories (including Cameroon). The language subdivision continued with Faulkner and Epstein's The Indigenous Cattle of the British Dependent Territories in Africa (1957), but Pagot et al (1972) and Pagot (1974) went some way to bridge the gap.
By the 1970s, the emphasis was changing, from the view of humpless cattle in West Africa as a historic relic and their trypanotolerance as a biological oddity to a consideration of their economic possibilities in tsetse-infested environments where other breeds can only be maintained under high levels of management based on chemoprophylaxis and therapy. In such areas, the trypanotolerant breeds may represent the only practicable approach to the introduction or significant expansion of livestock production. Interest in these breeds gained momentum when they were introduced into parts of Central Africa where tsetse had prevented the introduction of Zebu or Sanga cattle from surrounding areas. Trypanotolerant cattle from West Africa were first imported into Zaire in 1904 and much more recently into the Central African Republic, Gabon and Congo. In all these countries they have flourished and have opened the possibility not only for commercial beef production in tsetse areas, but for a transformation of the life of the local farmers.
At the same time, research on trypanosomiasis and tsetse control and its practical application was so successful that FAO, with the support of the World Food Conference, launched a Programme for the Control of African Animal Trypanosomiasis in 1974. Since 'effective techniques for tsetse control in the moist savanna and forest gallery areas are not yet readily available' this programme envisaged the rearing of trypanotolerant cattle as the best approach for these zones. The same emphasis was placed on trypanotolerant cattle at several other international meetings on trypanosomiasis in the 1970s, such as:
Interregional FAO/WHO Seminar on African Trypanosomiasis, Kinshasa, 1972 (see Pagot et al, 1972);Specialist Discussion on Trypanosomiasis and Tsetse Control, Hamburg, 1973 (see Huhn, 1973);
OIE/IEMVT Discussion: Control Programmes for Trypanosomes and Their Vectors, Paris, 1974 (see Pagot, 1974);
Programme for the Control of African Animal Trypanosomiasis Rome, 1974 (FAO, 1974a);
Consultation on the FAO Programme for the Control of African Animal Trypanosomiasis, Accra, 1975 (FAO, 1975);
First FAO Expert Consultation on Research on Trypanotolerance and Breeding of Trypanotolerant Animals, Rome, 1976 (FAO, 1976).
In spite of these meetings, first-hand accounts of the status and records of the productivity (especially comparative productivity) of trypanotolerant livestock have been rare. ILCA (1977a) and IEMVT (1977) undertook literature reviews which included descriptions of the productivity traits of trypanotolerant livestock, but only isolated pieces of information were available. Most of the reports presented at the meetings listed here referred back to authorities whose work was carried out in the past. They indicated that, notwithstanding the successful introduction of trypanotolerant cattle in Central Africa, the Shorthorns in West Africa were under pressure from the N'Dama and these in turn were under pressure from the Zebu, through selection and cross breeding. As a result, the Dwarf West African Shorthorn appeared to he nearly extinct in several countries and rapidly declining in others. This situation dictated the need for positive efforts to conserve the genetic characteristics of these breeds. Because of this conservation aspect and the interest in a non-chemical (and therefore non-polluting) approach to Trypanosomiasis control, UNEP became interested in trypanotolerant livestock and decided in 1973 to launch a Pilot Project on Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources in cooperation with FAO. The report from this project (FAO/UNEP, 1974) included a list of livestock breeds in danger of extinction and one of its recommendations for follow-up action was a study of the trypanotolerant cattle of West and Central Africa, with particular attention to the Dwarf Shorthorn, as part of a series of surveys of selected breeds. A study of trypanotolerant cattle was also recommended by the FAO Adhoc Consultation on Breed Evaluation and Crossbreeding (EAAP, 1975). As a result, the FAO/UNEP Project on Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources, initiated in 1976, included such a study.
Also in 1976, ILCA decided to incorporate research on trypanotolerant cattle into its programme. At the beginning of 1977, both FAO and ILCA were looking for a consultant to undertake an on-the-spot study of the trypanotolerant livestock of West Africa. Sheep and goats were to be included as well as cattle because, apart from some isolated research in Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon, very little was known about small ruminants in the region. The two organizations decided to work together: the scope of the enquiry was extended in response to ILCA's interests in sheep and goats and in the countries of Central Africa (i.e. West Equatorial Africa), and the joint programme was named the FAO/ILCA/UNEP Study on Trypanotolerant Livestock. The terms of reference included ' surveying the present status of the trypanotolerant livestock of West and Central Africa and appraising existing data and information on productivity of trypanotolerant livestock especially when these are maintained under conditions allowing 'Legitimate comparisons'.
The study was coordinated by ILCA, with close ties maintained throughout between ILCA and FAO and contacts made at regular intervals with UNEP and several interested multilateral and bilateral agencies. This study involved preparatory cataloguing of information on trypanotolerant livestock (ILCA, 1977a), visits to the 18 countries involved, regular evaluation meetings, assessment of data and information obtained and production of a comprehensive report.
The preparation of a catalogue of information on trypanotolerant livestock for each country to be visited was based on a literature review (ILCA, 1977a) carried out by a consultant and ILCA staff. This catalogue entailed visits by an ILCA scientist to the documentation sections of institutes such as the Commonwealth Bureau of Animal Breeding and Genetics, the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine at Edinburgh, the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, IEMVT in Maisons Alfort and FAO in Rome. Each country catalogue covered an outline of available information, a checklist of gaps in the information to assist during the country visit, recommendations on places and people to visit and a bibliography. Questionnaires in French and English were prepared to facilitate the collection of information on breeding and multiplication activities, research work and development programmes.
In preparation for the country visits, FAO headquarters staff prepared letters to the FAO Country Representative or the UNDP Resident Representative in each of the 18 countries involved, asking that the necessary arrangements be made with the authorities concerned. In certain cases, assistance with transport was also provided. All countries were visited between September 1977 and June 1978, with an average of 17 days, including travel time, spent in each.
Major evaluation meetings were held in Bouaké, Ivory Coast in November 1977 and Nairobi, Kenya in February and August 1978. In February 1978, in order to obtain recommendations for possible future technical studies, ILCA brought together three consultants who worked closely for one week with the scientists who had carried out the missions to the first seven countries. Based on these sessions, the consultants produced a report and recommendations for further work on the use and potential of trypanotolerant livestock (ILCA, 1978a). This report forms the basis of section 5.4.1 of the present document. Representatives of FAO, ILRAD, UNEP, IBAR and GTZ were then brought together in Nairobi for two days to review the suggested programme and its relation to their own operations (ILCA, 1978b).
The analysis of the information obtained during the country visits and the production of the report were carried out at the ILCA office in Nairobi between August 1978 and March 1979. In Volume 1 of this report, the available information is integrated for the entire study area. In Chapter 2, the environment of the region is described, the human and livestock populations indicated, the trypanotolerant cattle, sheep and goats classified into their various groups, and research and development activities listed. In Chapter 3, the different groups of trypanotolerant cattle, sheep and goats are described in more detail. In Chapter 4, the productivity of trypanotolerant livestock is assessed and compared with that of non-trypanotolerant livestock or crosses found in the study area. In Chapter 5, the productivity of trypanotolerant livestock is examined relative to that of other groups in Africa using all currently available information. This chapter also suggests how productivity levels and the trypanosomiasis situation can best be evaluated together, and the requirements and possible locations of conservation measures and evaluation of potential utilization are discussed. Detailed studies of each of the 18 countries are presented in Volume 2.
