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The role of local adaptation in sustainable production of village chickens

Bettridge, J M; Psifidi, A; Terfa, Z G; Desta, T T; Lozano-Jaramillo, M; Dessie, T; Kaiser, P; Wigley, P; Hanotte, O; Christley, R M

Authors

J M Bettridge

A Psifidi

Z G Terfa

T T Desta

M Lozano-Jaramillo

T Dessie

P Kaiser

P Wigley

O Hanotte

R M Christley



Abstract

Village chickens are ubiquitous in smallholder farming systems, contributing to household, local and national economies under diverse environmental, economic and cultural settings. However, they are raised in challenging environments where productivity is low while mortality is high. There is much interest in utilizing indigenous genetic resources to produce a chicken that is resilient to its environment, while at the same time providing the basis of an economically sustainable enterprise. Globally, however, a wide variety of interventions have so far proved unable to deliver sustainable improvements. Here we show that regional differences in trait preferences and parasite burden are associated with distinct chicken gene pools, probably in response to interactions between natural and human-driven (economic and social) selection pressures. Drivers of regional differences include marketing opportunities, cultural preferences, agro-ecologies and parasite populations, and are evident in system adaptations, such as management practices, population dynamics and bird genotypes. Our results provide sound multidisciplinary evidence to support previous observations that sustainable poultry development interventions for smallholder farmers, including breeding programmes, should be locally tailored and designed for flexible implementation.

Citation

Bettridge, J. M., Psifidi, A., Terfa, Z. G., Desta, T. T., Lozano-Jaramillo, M., Dessie, T., …Christley, R. M. (2018). The role of local adaptation in sustainable production of village chickens. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0150-9

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 4, 2018
Publication Date Oct 15, 2018
Deposit Date Nov 3, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Nature Sustainability
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 1
Pages 574-582
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0150-9
Public URL https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1385583

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