Newly funded project
“Uganda pig genetics”
Karen Marshall
CIAT-ILRI discussion group on Uganda Pigs
Entebbe, 19 June 2017

Background – motivation to project
During the varied assessments, many
stakeholders expressed interest in:
 an evidence base on the most
appropriate pig breed-type for the
local production systems /
environments
 access to breeding pigs of known
breed-type, high genetic quality
Productivity
Genetics
Health-
care
Welfare
Feed

Background – current state of knowledge
Limited data on pig productivity exists
No data on local breeds; no data on pig performance on-farm
Organisation Type of data - 2015
NAGRC&DB Data on Camborough herd for last 2-3
years. Herd comprises 30-40 sows
(Camborough 22), 6 boars (PIC terminal
sire line).
KCCA Data on LW/LR crossbreeding herd for
last 2 years. Herd comprises 20 sows
(LW), 4 boars (LR)

Background – pig genetic diversity in Uganda
LandraceLarge White PIC Camborough 22 Local
Cross-bred
descendants
of Pietran?
Cross-bred
descendants
of Duroc?
Duroc? Saddleback?Pietran?
Synthetic LW, LR, White Duroc
Other?

This project
Sustainable intensification of the pig value chain in Uganda – for improved
rural livelihoods and enhanced food security
Partners  International Livestock Research Institute
 National Animal Genetic Resources Centre & Databank (NAGRC &
DB), Uganda
 University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Austria
Duration July 2017 to July 2020
Donors Austrian Development Agency
Livestock CRP
Objective To increase the productivity and profitability of the Ugandan smallholder
pig enterprises, through use of the most appropriate pig genetics

Activity 1: Evaluate the profitability and productivity of
different household pig production systems in Uganda
 To create an evidence base for informed
decision making by pig keepers
 Approach:
 Monitoring 150+ pig keeping households, 400+
pigs, in for at-least a 14 month period
 Considering productivity (following through to
slaughter); cost-benefit (intra-household)
 Pig breed-type assignment by a genomic
approach

Genomic approach to breed assignment
Illumina PorcineSNP60
(64,000 SNPs)
PIG of unknown
breed composition
DNA
Genomic
analysis
Compare genotypes of pig of
unknown breed to pigs of known
breed-type (reference populations)
Breed A
Breed B
Breed C
50% breed A
50% breed B

Example result from a similar study in dairy cattle in Senegal
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
Indigenous
Zebu
Indigenous
Zebu
Indigenous
Zebu by
Guzerat
Indigenous
Zebu by
Guzerat
Indigenous
Zebu by
Bos Taurus
Indigenous
Zebu by
Bos Taurus
High Bos
Taurus
* ** * ** ** *** ****
Householdprofit(CFApercowperannum)
Breed type and management level
8.0 fold difference
2.4 fold difference

Activity 2: Design, with stakeholders, a genetic
improvement strategy for the smallhold pig sector
 To produce pigs which meet the needs and preferences of
their women and men keepers and other value chain
actors, as well as market demand

Approach to breeding program design
1) derive the breeding goal;
2) assess the state of current breeding strategies, capacities and
infrastructure;
3) prepare the breeding plan, with attention to supportive
institutional arrangements, public and private sector
involvement, and sustainability;
4) plan implementation and ongoing monitoring and refinement
Stakeholder
owned and
driven
From: http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2311

 To allow pig-keepers to confidently
access the breed-types they desire
 Approach:
 Registration scheme will be developed
and pilot-tested
 Led by NAGRC&DB - mandated via the
Animal Breeding Act of 2001 to register
and certify all animal breeds, breeders
and breeding centers
Activity 3: Develop, with stakeholders, a scheme for
registration of suppliers of pigs of known breed-type

Activity 4: Capacity building of women and men pig
keepers, as well as other stakeholders
 Capacity building activities:
 Training workshops for smallhold pig keepers and other
stakeholder such as village boar keepers, artificial
insemination service providers, and extension agents
 PhD student enrolled in BOKU and based locally
 Further dissemination activities:
 Media, including newspaper and radio
 The existing multi-stakeholder platforms
 Policy briefs and discussions.

Pig heat stress
Pigs are highly sensitive to heat stress
 do not have functional sweat glands
 small lungs – reduces ability to disseminate heat by
sweating / panting
Heat stress in pigs
 increases respiration rate, negatively affects voluntary
 lowered reproductive performance and growth.
 can result in a higher rate of secondary bacterial
infections

Pig heat stress
 Heat stress alert occurs between 24’C to 27’C, and heat stress danger between 26’C
and 30’C, depending on the relative humidity.
 Temperatures > 31’C are considered a heat stress emergency for all humidity levels.
Iowa State
University

Pig heat stress
Interventions to heat stress –
 use of appropriately adapted breed-types,
 use of shade structures and / or cheap evaporative cooling
measures,
 avoidance to feed during hottest parts of day,
 use of specialised diets,
 provision of adequate drinking water,
 provision of wallows or simple water baths.

Pig heat stress – research questions
 Do pig keeping areas in Uganda have climates that may result in pig heat
stress
 Difficult to predict as heat affects are cumulative and can be mitigated with
temperature drops (e.g. day night temperature fluctuations)
 Not yet clear on how long pigs need exposure to high THI for productivity or
welfare to be negatively affected
 Are women and men pig keepers concerned about pig heat stress, and
what strategies are they employing (intentional or unintentional) that
would mitigate the negative effects of heat stress on pigs
 Are pigs showing signs of heat-stress
 Indicators are respiration rate, body temperature, others
 How does this vary across breeds and management systems
 Effect of pigs heat stress of productivity - reproduction, growth, carcase
quality etc. (designed experiment e.g. on research station needed)
 Cost:benefit and acceptability of different interventions for pig heat-stress

The most appropriate pig
genetics for improved
productivity and profitability
of the Ugandan smallholder
pig enterprises