A sizable cross-sectional studies demonstrated a low dietary diversity in Southern Ethiopia. However, its seasonal trend has not been well studied in areas where nutrient-poor enset (false banana (
...)) foods are major staple. Moreover, there is scarcity of information on seasonal nature of anthropometric status of mother-child pairs (MCP) from the same areas in Southern Ethiopia. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the dietary diversity and anthropometric status of MCP in postharvest dry and lean wet seasons and identify factors associated with anthropometric status.
The dietary intake and anthropometric data were collected from 578 households (578 mothers and 578 children) January-June 2017. The study compared data of the two seasons using McNemar's test for dichotomous, Wilcoxon signed-rank test for non-normally distributed, and paired samples
-test for normally distributed continuous data. Logistic regression was conducted to identify risk factors for malnutrition. In addition, Spearman's Rho test was used to determine correlations between maternal and child variables.
Over 94% of the mothers did not fulfil the minimum diet diversity score in both seasons. The meal frequency and pulses/legumes intake significantly declined in lean wet season; however, dark green leaves consumption increased. Meat, poultry, and fish consumption dropped to almost zero in the lean wet season. The dietary diversity and anthropometric status of the MCP were correlated. Weight-for-age (WAZ) and weight-for-height (WHZ) of children significantly declined in the lean wet season. In the same way, maternal mid upper arm circumference (MUAC), body weight, and body mass index (BMI) dropped (
< 0.001) in this season. Being pregnant and a lactating mother, poverty, and the ability to make decisions independently predicted maternal undernutrition (low MUAC). On the other hand, maternal undernutrition and education were associated with child underweight.
The results demonstrated that the dietary diversity of MCP is low in both postharvest dry and lean wet seasons. This suggests the need for continuous nutrition intervention to improve the dietary diversity. In addition, the anthropometric status of MCP declines in lean wet season. This may provide some clue for policy targeting on improving nutritional status of mothers and children in rural Southern Ethiopia.
The visual morphologies in animals are associated positively or negatively with production, adaptation, and behavioral characteristics. For rural farmers with limited records, these features are ...considered reliable phenotypic markers. Thus, this study was intended to explore the unique morphological features of indigenous chickens as a farmer's selection guide. A total of 1,060 adult chickens from four rural districts were investigated for nine morphological traits. The single-comb type, supposed to be of good fertility, was the most prevalent. Yellow and white shanks were predominant, followed by gray, greenish-yellow, green, and black pigmentations. Crested and silky chickens were more frequent in highland areas, whereas naked-neck chickens were observed in lowlands. Chickens of the lowlands have brighter, more uniform plumage colors and yellow shank, beak, and earlobe colors. On the other hand, the highland and mid-altitude chickens are characterized by dark, colorful combinations of various feather colors: laced plumage, white shank, rose, and deformed rose combs. Moreover, multiple correspondence analyses revealed that morphological features have special associations with districts. Thus, the observed morphological heterogeneity of the indigenous chickens can be used as a good indicator of selective breeding. Therefore, the associations of these characteristics with productivity qualities could be confirmed by quantitative and molecular tools.
The objectives of the current study were to estimate the genetic parameters and genetic trends for growth traits, and to assess inbreeding levels of Abera sheep under community-based breeding ...programs (CBBPs) in Ethiopia. General linear model consisting of the fixed effects of sex, breeder cooperative, season and birth type was used to analyze growth traits. Variance components and genetic parameters were estimated within each breeder cooperative following univariate animal model based on the restricted maximum likelihood method. All fixed effects influenced (P < 0.05) the growth traits. Multivariate analysis was also employed to compute correlation estimates among growth traits. Based on the best fitted models, the direct heritability for weaning weight (WWT) and six-month weight (SMWT) in the six breeder cooperatives were in the ranges of 0.12 ± 0.12-0.38 ± 0.17 and 0.20 ± 0.10-0.49 ± 0.01, respectively. Range of positive genetic progress in WWT (0.15-0.44 kg) and SMWT (0.21-0.57 kg) was achieved in Abera sheep breeder cooperatives during selection years.
This paper attempts to review the cattle genetic improvement approaches for sustainable utilization, adaptation, and conservation in the face of changing climatic conditions. Livestock production is ...affected by climate change, which poses a greater threat to populations that rely on them for their overall food security. Climate change negatively affects cattle production directly through its impact on animal physiology, behavior, and health and indirectly through its effect on feed and water availability, quality and quantity of pasture, forage crops, and rangeland due to increased temperature droughts. Improvement of cattle genetic resources that are efficient and well adapted to extreme temperatures, low-quality diets, and disease challenges is critical to effectively cope with climate change. Designing suitable breeding strategies will facilitate improving the performance of cattle breeds and enhance their tolerance to the dynamics of climate change. Replacement of local cattle breeds with exotic ones and unplanned crossbreeding with them without enough consideration of environmental conditions are among the major factors contributing to the loss of locally adapted breeds that possess certain adaptive traits. Maintenance of indigenous cattle’s genetic diversity, which underpins resistance to environmental stresses is a viable strategy to mitigate the possible effects of future climatic challenges. In contrast to the traditional selection, genomic selection increases the accuracy of selection with the largest genetic gain, for the low heritability traits such as adaptability and longevity. In conclusion, any breeding strategies should be relevant in terms of breed suitability, performance, and adaptability in the given production environment to sustain cattle production.
Maximizing the number of offspring born per female is a key functionality trait in commercial- and/or subsistence-oriented livestock enterprises. Although the number of offspring born is closely ...associated with female fertility and reproductive success, the genetic control of these traits remains poorly understood in sub-Saharan Africa livestock. Using selection signature analysis performed on Ovine HD BeadChip data from the prolific Bonga sheep in Ethiopia, 41 candidate regions under selection were identified. The analysis revealed one strong selection signature on a candidate region on chromosome X spanning
BMP15
, suggesting this to be the primary candidate prolificacy gene in the breed. The analysis also identified several candidate regions spanning genes not reported before in prolific sheep but underlying fertility and reproduction in other species. The genes associated with female reproduction traits included
SPOCK1
(age at first oestrus),
GPR173
(mediator of ovarian cyclicity),
HB
-
EGF
(signalling early pregnancy success) and
SMARCAL1
and
HMGN3a
(regulate gene expression during embryogenesis). The genes involved in male reproduction were
FOXJ1
(sperm function and successful fertilization) and
NME5
(spermatogenesis). We also observed genes such as
PKD2L2
,
MAGED1
and
KDM3B
, which have been associated with diverse fertility traits in both sexes of other species. The results confirm the complexity of the genetic mechanisms underlying reproduction while suggesting that prolificacy in the Bonga sheep, and possibly African indigenous sheep is partly under the control of
BMP15
while other genes that enhance male and female fertility are essential for reproductive fitness.
The community‐based breeding program (CBBP) for Bonga sheep was introduced with the objective of improving the productivity of sheep and income of producers. Technical evaluation of the program ...reported outstanding outcomes in growth and reproductive traits of the animals. Further participatory evaluation allowing farmers to assess the relevance and impact of such programs has been suggested. This paper thus aims to explore the multifaceted contributions of the CBBP of Bonga sheep, emphasizing its flock dynamics, improvements in animal performance, and socio‐economic benefits as perceived by beneficiaries. Data were generated through interviews of 222 (111 CBBP members and 111 nonmembers) randomly selected sheep producers. The survey focused on flock dynamics, improvement in biological and aesthetic traits, and livelihood change of farmers. Logistic regression, ANOVA, and Pearson’s chi‐square were the analysis methods used. Results revealed that CBBP members had better flock size by 42.6% and they had higher numbers of breeding rams, suckling lambs, and breeding ewes in their flock by 60.5%, 54.3%, and 41.6%, respectively, compared to non‐members. The study further showed that members acquired and lost more (<0.001) animals annually than non‐members. About 94.6%, 82.8%, and 81.1% of respondents witnessed the improvement in body size, twinning rate, and survival of lambs, respectively. Likewise, 97.3% of members reported substantial improvement in reproductive traits such as age at first lambing (92.8%) and lambing interval (93.7%). Improvement in aesthetic traits like tail size (92.8%) and coat color (92%) too was reported by the farmers. The CBBP farmers produced, slaughtered, and sold more animals than their non‐CBBP counterparts. They also acquired more income by 60%, which enabled them to store assets and fulfill routine home needs better than non‐members. In conclusion, CBBP positively influenced sheep assets, performance, and marketability, elevating the income and livelihoods of beneficiaries. This underlines the need for expansion of the program to benefit more farmers.
The Normal feathered local chicken (LL), Sasso-RIR (SRSR) and their F1-cross (LSR) chickens were hatched to evaluate for egg hatchability, body weight, feed efficiency, and survival rate. After ...14 days of brooding, 150 chicks of each genotype were randomly selected and further replicated into five pens in a deep litter grower house consisting of 30 chicks each in a completely randomized design, and evaluated for a period of 16 weeks. Hatchability of fertile eggs was highest for LL (80.0%), intermediate for LSR (68.6%), and lowest for SRSR (55.9%) chickens. The body weight (BW) of chicks at 2 weeks of age was 80.0, 76.3, and 61.5 g/bird for SRSR, LSR, and LL, respectively, the latter being the lowest (p < 0.05). The respective BW at 8 weeks of age was 732, 587, and 451 g while at 18 weeks it was 1877, 1379, and 1070 g/bird and different from each other (p < 0.05). During 3- to 8-week and 9- to 18-week growth periods, the LL chickens were inferior (p < 0.05) in feed intake (29.7 and 66.9 g/d/bird) whereas the SRSR chickens were superior (p < 0.05) in body weight gain (15.5 and 16.3 g/d/bird) and feed conversion ratio (2.67 and 5.35 g feed/ g gain), respectively. The mortality rate of chicken was not affected by genotypes. It can be concluded that Sasso-RIR chicken genotype had played a significant role in upgrading the growth rate and market weight of the local normal feathered chicken without adverse effect on hatchability, feed efficiency, and survival rate.
This is to differentiate indigenous chickens at different agro-ecologies based on morphometric traits using multivariate analysis. Morphometric data were collected from a total of 520 (130 male and ...390 female) adult indigenous chickens. Traits scored were body weight, body length, breast circumference, wingspan, shank length, shank circumference, comb length, wattle length, earlobe length and beak length. Ten quantitative traits for both sexes were subjected to the stepwise discriminant analysis, of which four (wingspan, live body weight, shank circumference, and body length) in females and two of them (shank length, and wingspan) in males were identified as the best discriminating variables. CAN1 and CAN2 were extracted with 61.5% and 38.6% of the total variation in females, respectively and CAN1 (89.3%) and CAN2 (10.7%) of the total variation in parameters of male chicken populations. The higher classification rates were obtained in highland agroecology for female (64.7%) and midland for male (89.8%) chickens. Cross-validation with split–sample indicated that 62.7% (highland), 39% (lowland) and 59.3% (midland) success rate. The longest pairwise Mahalanobis distance was observed between midland and highland in male chickens and between lowland and highland in females, whereas the shortest distance was observed between lowland and highland in male and female chicken populations. The variations obtained in chickens of different agro-ecologies and sexes considered as opportunities for genetic improvement of indigenous chicken genetic resources, because significantly related parameters could be used as selection criterion for improving body weight of Ethiopian indigenous chickens under small scale farmers.
Tools for the rapid and accurate analysis of nutrient intakes from diets of individuals in Southern Ethiopia are lacking. The Calculator of Inadequate Micronutrient Intake program for Ethiopia ...(CIMI-Ethiopia) has been developed to overcome this problem. CIMI-Ethiopia also computes protein and energy intakes from the diet. The objectives of the current study were to validate CIMI-Ethiopia for the dietary pattern of Southern Ethiopia, and assess the nutrient intakes in postharvest dry and lean wet seasons.
24-h dietary recall (24HR) data was collected from 578 women of a reproductive age in postharvest dry and lean wet seasons in 2017. For analysis, 24HR data was entered into NutriSurvey (NS), which was the reference nutrition software, and then into CIMI-Ethiopia. For validation, the mean and standard deviation (SD) of the difference between CIMI-Ethiopia and NS were computed. The percentage of participants with an inadequate intake was calculated. The correlation between CIMI-Ethiopia and NS results was determined. The nutrient intakes in postharvest dry and lean seasons were compared.
Among the nutrients, pantothenic acid, vitamin B1, and protein showed a very high accuracy in CIMI-Ethiopia calculation (|difference (D)| < 5.0% of the NS result). Nutrients with a good accuracy (|D| = 5%-15%) were iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and energy. The accuracy for calcium, niacin, and vitamin A was moderate (|D| = 15%-30%). The intakes calculated by CIMI-Ethiopia and NS of iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, B-complex vitamins, vitamin A, protein, and energy were highly correlated (r = 0.85-0.97,
< 0.001). NS analysis identified a significant reduction in the mean intake of iron; zinc; magnesium; pantothenic acid; vitamin B1, B12, and D; protein; and energy in the lean wet season; however, calcium and vitamin A intake increased.
It has been found that CIMI-Ethiopia is a valid tool for estimating nutrient intakes at an individual level in Southern Ethiopia. The study demonstrated a decline in intakes of iron; zinc; magnesium; pantothenic acid; vitamin B1, B12, and D; protein; and energy in the lean wet season. This result provides some hint for fortification and supplementation programs that aim to combat maternal malnutrition in rural Southern Ethiopia.
Background. Through in vitro studies, dried Leucaena leucocephala leaf (DLL) was identified as potential candidate in mitigating enteric methane (CH4) emission. Nevertheless, its efficiency as ...suitable feed for sheep has not been determined in Ethiopia. Objective. To assess the suitability of replacing the concentrate mix (CM) with DLL on voluntary intake, growth performance in rams and in vitro CH4 production. Methodology. Thirty yearling rams were first stratified according to their initial body weight similarities and then individuals from each stratum were randomly assigned to five treatment diets with six rams each. The control diet contained CM with 346 g/head/d (T1), and treatment diets replacing the CM in the control diet with DLL at a rate of 5% (T2), 10% (T3), 15% (T4) and 20% (T5) with the corresponding CM to DLL mixture ratio of 346:0, 329:17, 311:35, 294:52 and 277:69 g/head/day. Grass hay was provided ad libitum to all rams. Data were collected on fed intake and body weight. Methane (CH4) production was determined along with 24h in vitro gas production (GP). Digestible organic matter (DOM) and Metabolizable energy (ME) were estimated from 24h GP. Results. The contents of ash, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDFom), acid detergent fiber (ADFom) and acid detergent lignin were higher in DLL than in the control diet while it contained the lowest EE value. The DLL had the highest Ca and K values as compared to the control diet. The feed intake, live weight and weight gain did not differ (P>0.05) among rams supplemented with various levels of DLL. The total intake of CP increased across treatment diets and was significantly higher for T3, T4 and T5 than T1 and T2 diets. None of the supplementation levels of L. leucocephala affected the total intake of DM, NDFom and ADFom. There was a linear reduction (p<0.05) of in vitro CH4 production as the levels of DLL in the diet were increased. It was lowest in T4 and T5 diets being significantly different from those of T1 and T2. The T5 diet showed the lowest values and differed (p<0.05) from those of T1, T2 and T3. The ME and DOM values were higher (p<0.05) in T1 and T2 diets than that of T4 and T5. No difference in ME and DOM values were observed between T1, T2 and T3 diets as well as among T4 and T5 diets. Implications. The current findings suggest that conventional CM could be replaced with DLL up to 20% as alternative protein source in ruminant nutrition in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Conclusion. The replacement of CM with DLL significantly reduced the in vitro CH4 production across treatment diets without affecting the voluntary intake and growth performance parameters in rams.
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