Genomic breeding value prediction pipeline for small holder dairy systems in East Africa

Genetic improvement in livestock is cumulative and permanent. However, genetic improvement occurs when the genetic merit of animals can be computed and those with superior genetic merit values selected as parents of the next generation. In smallholder dairy systems in East Africa, the lack of a systematic procedure to capture performance data and pedigree information to infer relationships among dairy animals has made it impossible to compute the genetic merits of animals and hence commence genetic improvement. This has resulted in the importation of foreign dairy bulls not adapted to the local tropical conditions for breeding and farmers blindly selecting animals/semen for breeding without any knowledge of their genetic merit and their suitability to the local production environment. This has resulted in the use of unsuitable foreign bulls, a merry go round in performance and productivity, and no defined direction in terms of genetic improvement in small holder dairy farming in East Africa.