African Sheep Genetic Resources, Diversity and Unique Features

Abstract

Abstract Africa is host to over 363 breeds of sheep, the majority of which have not been characterised. The total sheep population is 27.1% of the global sheep genetic resources, placing Africa in the second position worldwide. This Chapter introduces indigenous African sheep breeds, their origins, their history of domestication, dispersion in Africa and their role on the continent (Sects. 6.3 and 6.4), thus providing a broad coverage of African sheep, using a framework that could trace the roots of current breed groups. Section 6.5 is devoted to a discussion on different sheep breeds of Africa, which are classified into two major classes based on tail morphology (thin-tailed and fat-tailed or fat-rumped) and further subdivided into seven subtypes (thin-tailed hair sheep, thin-tailed coarse wool sheep, fat-tailed hair sheep, fat-tailed coarse wool sheep, fat-rumped hair sheep, introduced breeds and developed or composite sheep breeds). For each breed, the chapter summarises the origin, distribution and classification, physical characteristics, including some breed photos, adaptive and special genetic characteristics, typical production systems and production characteristics. The depth of discussion is different between breeds due to the differential availability of data or information. Sections 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9 and 6.10 further appraised the current status of sheep diversity in Africa, conservation of sheep genetic resources, sheep breeding goals and strategies for sustainable sheep genetic improvement, responses of existing sheep to selection, structure and organisation of the sheep sector in Africa and sheep production capacity in terms of meat, milk, wool and skin. In Sects. 6.11 and 6.12, the chapter concludes with an overview of challenges to sustainable genetic improvement in the sheep industry and future prospects.