article · African Journal of Agricultural Research
Crossbreeding indigenous sheep with exotic sires, such as Awassi, has shown that crossbred animals frequently outperform local breeds in growth rate and body size under both experimental and farm conditions in Ethiopia. Farmers favour these crosses because their larger size secures higher market prices. However, animal performance varies depending on location, management standards, and the level of exotic inheritance. Many breeding initiatives lack thorough data regarding herd productivity, economic returns, and long-term viability. Furthermore, state-run ram multiplication and distribution systems remain inefficient, and selling breeding rams directly to individual farmers dilutes genetic improvement efforts. Uncontrolled crossbreeding also threatens the survival of well-adapted native sheep populations. Effective implementation requires structured breeding programmes, clearer objectives, and sustained support from public institutions and non-governmental organisations tailored to specific local production environments.
Improving livestock productivity is vital for smallholder farmers who depend on sheep for household income. While crossbreeding can yield faster-growing animals with higher market value, poor distribution strategies and uncontrolled breeding risk eroding resilient indigenous genetics. Understanding these trade-offs helps policymakers and development agencies design better-managed programmes that balance immediate productivity gains with environmental suitability and long-term herd survival.
This work identifies operational improvements for livestock development programmes run by agricultural agencies, non-governmental organisations, and smallholder farming groups. Rather than early-stage biology, this represents tested livestock breeding practices that require structured institutional management and selective breeding protocols to succeed. Commercial value is realised through higher sale prices for larger sheep, though reaching sustainable, widespread adoption depends on reforming public ram multiplication systems and targeting specific production environments.
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The objective of this review paper is to examine whether or not sheep crossbreeding is a feasible option to improve indigenous sheep breeds in developing countries using Ethiopian case as example. The paper reviewed and discussed the history of exotic breed introduction, research, and development efforts in crossbreeding and performance of crossbreds under on-station and on-farm management. Earlier, the choice of breed for crossbreeding overlooked interests and preferences of farmers mainly for physical appearance. More recently the introduction of Awassi sheep considered their preference. Performance evaluation results from the on-station and on-farm (mainly based on Awassi pilot crossbreeding villages) showed that crossbreds often outperformed their local contemporaries. Thus comparisons of pure local sheep and crossbreds among those breeds produced in some areas indicated a good outcome of this type of crossbreeding. However, the performance of crossbred sheep varied by location and depended on management and exotic inheritance levels. For most programs, no comprehensive data were available to do on-farm comparisons of herd productivity and cost-benefits or to evaluate the sustainability of the programs. Regardless of location, farmers participating in crossbreeding often showed keen interest in crossbreeding, mainly due to the fast growth, larger body size of crossbreds resulting in higher market prices as compared to their local sheep breeds. Ram multiplication and dissemination from the government farms were found inefficient. The predominant practice of a ubiquitous dissemination and selling of breeding rams to individual farmer dilute the efforts of crossbreeding and prevents generating the benefits expected from crossbreeding programs. Furthermore, indiscriminate crossbreeding without prior analysis of suitability of crossbreds for a given production environment and without clear breeding objectives presents a potential threat to better adapted indigenous breeds. Crossbreeding programs require strong research and development support from public service and non-governmental institutions for sustainable design, optimization, and implementation in clearly defined production environments. Key words: Awassi, developing countries, Dorper, on-farm performance, smallholder farmer.
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DOI: 10.5897/ajar2013.10626
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