OPEN NUCLEUS DAIRY CATTLE BREEDING PROGRAMME IN THE LAKE VICTORIA CRESCENT REGION OF UGANDA

The availability and accessibility of livestock products, facilitated by efficient farm production, is highly recognized by Uganda as one of the major ways of alleviating poverty. Although animal genetic improvement offers one of the most powerful and cheapest means of improving the productivity of farm animals, its effective exploitation has been hampered by lack of well planned and executed breeding programmes. With the help of the open nucleus breeding strategy, recommended by many authors for developing countries (Bondoc et el., 1993; Smith, 1988; Kahi et el., 2004), the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Databank (NAGRC&DB) is making efforts to put systematic cattle breeding programmes in place. The essence of this study therefore, is to evaluate a range of open nucleus plans (genetical and operational) for the Holstein-Friesian and Ankole (local) cattle breed populations. The best plans will then be recommended for execution. The study covers the Lake Victoria crescent region in Uganda, a region with an on-going Herd/Milk Recording Scheme, which has provided much of the data. SelAction (computer programme) which uses deterministic simulation, will be used in the evaluation of the different genetic plans. The modes of operation (modus operandi) of the nuclei are to be derived from other studies and literature. 1. Background and aim of the study The multifaceted role of livestock in combating rural poverty, and enhancing food security in terms of quality and quantity makes it an indispensable tool in development. Increasing the availability of nutrients, especially of protein, produced by farm animals is one of the ways out of poverty and malnutrition prevailing in many developing countries. The per capita availability of livestock products in Uganda is 40 litres of milk and 5.6 kg of meat, a pathetic level compared to the FAO recommendations (FAO, 1974-1977) of 200 litres and 50 kg, respectively. At the political level, Uganda has responded to this problem by making animal breeding an important component of its Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), which is a comprehensive development framework (MAAIF/MFPED, 2000). The National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Databank (NAGRC&DB), a body corporate under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) with the mandate to oversee animal breeding activities in the country, is trying to streamline cattle breeding programmes in the country. The legal basis of its operation is a law entitled “The Animal Breeding Act” (Nakimbugwe et al., 2002). Uganda is one of the few developing countries which have recognised the importance of livestock breeding up to this level.