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In West Africa, the Maradi red goat and guinea fowl are improving the lives of family farmers, boosting local economies and making better nutrition more accessible. These indigenous livestock species are well suited to West Africa, thanks to a wide genetic diversity that makes them more adaptable to a changing climate. With the help of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), these species are becoming easier and more profitable to raise.

The Maradi red goat is found in central Niger. It plays an important role in the economy of rural households for its milk and skins. Its typical litter consists of two to three kids, which reach breeding age between six and seven months, and have two litters a year. Each female can produce 0.6 liters of milk per day for three to four months after each litter. Its milk is rich in vitamin A and is known to save motherless children in rural Niger. Its meat is a good source of protein and its skins are used to make luxury leather goods of international renown.

Maradi in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali

The Centre Secondaire d'Elevage Caprins du Niger was created in 1963 to conserve, improve and disseminate the red goat, and to train farmers in adaptive breeding techniques. Thanks to this breeding program, the red goat is now present in several parts of Niger. The West African Agricultural Productivity Program (PPAAO), run within the framework of CORAF, has ensured wide distribution of red goats in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali to improve local economies and provide supplementary nutrition.

Guinea fowl creates jobs in Ghana

A PPAAO program is developing a guinea fowl breeding industry in Ghana to create jobs in rural areas. Incubation methods and techniques, such as monitoring guinea fowl to protect them from predatory birds, have increased productivity by over 500%. The program's start-up kits include financial support, an incubator, a generator, 500 eggs, deworming, fodder and vaccines. Participants also receive regular visits from agricultural trainers to help them care for the poultry. More than 50,000 people are currently benefiting from the program.

"Previously, we couldn't produce more than 100 guinea fowl a year. Now, our losses are really reduced. This year alone, we obtained 800 guinea fowl, which enabled us to hire young people to help us," says Adamu, a guinea fowl farmer in Garu Tempane. "Thanks to the income obtained from this activity, I was able to pay my children's university fees without taking out loans".

According to the International Livestock Research Institute(ILRI), up to 80 percent of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) in developing countries comes from livestock, while 600 million rural people depend on livestock to feed themselves and their families. Farmers often raise native species and manage their herds to maintain diversity and support community livelihoods.

"In the face of climate change and other challenges to food security, it is vital to maintain the resilient characteristics of species that are well adapted to difficult terrain, hostile environments, and with little water and food," says the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, José Graziano da Silva, "and many species have useful characteristics that help protect landscapes and wildlife habitats."

This article was originally published on Foodtank