Global breeding programs

An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Approach to Climate-Smart Community-Based Genetic Improvement of Small Ruminants in Pastoral Systems

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Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa hosts 33% and 48% of the world's sheep and goat populations, respectively, primarily raised for meat with milk as a secondary product. These small ruminants (SR) play a critical role in livelihoods across arid and semi-arid regions, where they are often reared alongside cattle to maximize the use of scarce feed resources. Despite their importance, productivity remains low due to uncontrolled breeding, limited feed, poor market organization, and socio-cultural factors that influence management practices. Conventional breeding programs have had limited success in pastoral settings where herd expansion is prioritized over culling and selection. This study applies an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) approach to design and test a community-based breeding program (CBBP) that integrates genetic improvement with input and service delivery, market incentives, gender inclusion, and climate resilience. The EE framework conceptualizes breeding as a networked system linking producers, input and service providers, and market agents. Key steps include characterization of production environments, identification of breeding objectives across actor nodes, and co-development of a breeding strategy aligned with both local priorities and market demands. ICT-based tools were used to collect and benchmark data from 75 pastoralist households, 26 input and service providers, and 35 livestock market agents across three pastoral communities in Kenya. Participatory approaches were used to characterize the production environment, including focus group discussions and stakeholder workshops, facilitated trait prioritization, mapping of institutional linkages, and identification of collaborative entry points. Preliminary findings reveal divergent breeding goals and socio-cultural preferences that constrain harmonized selection and trust among actors. Producers favored traits linked to herd size and milk yield, while markets prioritized carcass quality and growth rate. Weak coordination, limited business and financial literacy, and the absence of structured breeding schemes reduced opportunities for collective action. However, the EE process improved dialogue, fostered shared understanding, and highlighted capacity-building needs for both technical and business competencies. Stakeholders at the three nodes co-developed options for localized breeding services and market organization that support the integration of digital data collection systems. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach offers a holistic pathway for sustainable genetic improvement in pastoral small ruminant systems. By aligning incentives across value chain actors and integrating indigenous knowledge with modern breeding and climate-smart technologies, it presents options to monitor and attain genetic progress, support inclusivity, and market engagement. The framework provides a replicable model for resilient, community-driven small ruminant breeding programs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: 2026

How to Cite:

Ojango, J., Sila, W., Oyieng, E., Mukalo, I., Okoth, J., Nyanja, B. & Rao, J., (2026) “An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Approach to Climate-Smart Community-Based Genetic Improvement of Small Ruminants in Pastoral Systems”, World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production Digital Archive 2026(1): 2285352. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/wcgalp.23652

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