Strategies of promoting sustainable use and conservation of indigenous chicken breeds in Zambia: lessons from low-income countries [version 2; peer review: 1 not approved]

This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for conservation and use of village or indigenous chickens (IC) ( Gallus domesticus) in Zambia with lessons in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Small scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households’ nutritional needs, incomes, social-cultural and religious uses. The commitment exhibited by SSF to keeping indigenous animals has made them the major custodians of essential animal genetic resources in most low-income regions. Between 1991 and 2012, private breeders invested over US$95 million in Zambia’s commercial poultry sector resulting in over 100% increase in the annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production costs and low market access hindered the participation of rural farmers hence their continued dependence on IC breeds. The future of IC genetic resources is threatened due to their rapid erosion. In the 2015 biodiversity status report, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, an international body of the United Nations highlighted that over 3.5% of chicken breeds were extinct, nearly 33% were at high risk, and over 67% were of unknown status. Poultry diseases, lack of sustainable conservation strategies and poor use have significantly contributed to these losses. For example, in 2012, 60% of village chickens were reportedly diseased in parts of SSA. If these challenges are not mitigated, the loss of IC genetic resources and the adverse impact on rural communities is inevitable. Further, future research and breeding programs on commercial chickens may be limited due to the erosion of IC genetic resources. This paper reviews lessons and contributes to previous studies that demonstrated how community-based breeding programs and researcher-community-stakeholder engagements potentially enhanced sustainability, adoption of innovative ideas and conservation of local animal genetic resources in selected low-income countries. Further, suggest strategies to promote judicious use and conservation of IC breeds in Zambia.