Most of the cattle in East and southern Africa are in the traditional sector, in which indigenous breeds and types predominate. Exotic cattle are found mostly on commercialfarms. Comparative studies show that while exotic beef breeds grow fast and attain large body weights at maturity, annual cowproductivity is lower in exotic cattle due to high calf mortalityrates. Indigenous cattle produce much less milk than exotic dairy cattle and their crosses. Purebred and crossbred dairy cattle have spread from the large-scale commercial sector to thesmall-scale sector. Most of the milk marketed through formal markets is from exotic dairy cattle and their crosses. It is suggested that in future more efforts should be directed to the development of smallholder dairying
Publication year
1993
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
livestock, small farms, research, extension activities, disease control
