Building an evidence base for informed
decisions on choice of dairy cattle production
systems - “Senegal Dairy Genetics”
Karen Marshall, Stanly Tebug, Gareth Salmon, Miika Tapio, Jarmo Juga,
Ayao Missohou
Conference on Impacts of International Agricultural Research:
Rigorous Evidence for Policy, ICRAF, Nairobi, 6-8 July 2017

The importance of dairy
 milk = high-quality food which supplies protein,
energy & essential micronutrients
 consumption of even small amounts of milk can
significantly increase nutritional security
Dairy production in Senegal
 Senegal is a net importer of dairy products
 the Senegalese government is actively supporting
increased local dairy production - including
through the use of genetically improved animals
 but no evidence base on the most appropriate
type of dairy animal / dairy system
Background

Indigenous Zebu cattle under
traditional management
Cross-breed (Zebu by Bos Taurus) under
improved management –
supplementary feed and shade provision
Types of dairy systems

Methodology
Trade-off analysis considering
aspects of:
Breed preferences
Productivity
Profitability
Environmental sustainability
Food quality
Food safety
Equality
Partnered with 220 dairy
keeping households, with
3000+ cattle, over an almost 2
year period to obtain data
Dairy systems (n=7) defined by
breed kept & management level

Key results – productivity & profitability
Scenario: Herd size of 8 cows; non-transhumant; public AI
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
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
* ** * ** ** *** ****
Household profit (CFA per cow per annum) Milk yield (liters per annum)
Breed
Management
level
8.0 fold increase in household profit
7.5 fold increase in milk production
2.4 fold increase in household profit
3.2 fold increase in milk production

Key results – Environmental sustainability:
GHG emissions intensity of protein
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
+ ++ + ++ ++ +++ ++++
IZ IZ IZ x GZ IZ x GZ IZ x BT IZ x BT BT
Proteinproduction(kgprotein/herd/year)
GHGemissionsintenisity(kgCO2eq/kgprotein)
Breed group and level of management
Manure CH4
Manure N2O
Feed CO2
Feed N2O
Enteric CH4
Protein yield kg/herd/year

Key results – food safety: aflatoxins
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Aflatoxinlevel(ppb)
Purchased
concentrate
Groundnut
hay
Wheat
bran
Millet
bran
Rice
bran
Groundnut
cake
WHO limit is 5 ppb
Improved management associated with increased use of supplementary
feeds (e.g. up to 10 fold higher use for purchased concentrates) 
associated with milk safety risk (as aflatoxins are passed into milk)

Key results – equality: gendered impacts
Level of
market
orientation
Control of income from the
sale of milk
%
Women
%
Men
%
Joint
Low 72% 27% 1%
Medium 45% 50% 5%
Control of income from the sale of milk can shift from women to men
as the level of market orientation increases

Key results – summary
Breed
Management level (*)
Zebu
*
Zebu
**
Zebu x
Guzerat
*
Zebu x
Guzerat
**
Zebu x
Bos
Taurus
**
Zebu x
Bos
Taurus
***
High
Bos
Taurus
****
Breed preference –
male / female famers
+/+ +/+ +/+ +/+ +++/+++ +++/+++ ++/+
Productivity -
liters milk / annum
175 568 223 640 508 1,315 1,422
Profitability -
CFA / annum/cow
60,235 142,041 65,384 186,670 236,028 479,525 407,441
Environmental sustainability
-GHG EI, kg CO2eq/kg protein
338 190 307 165 188 110 108
Food quality -
milk protein/fat
For milk protein – no difference between breed-types
For milk fat – variation between breed-types, but changing trend on parity
Food safety -
aflatoxin levels in feed
Low Medium Low Medium Medium High
Very
high
Equality -
gendered impacts
Women control income from milk sale in a
majority of households
Women control income from
milk sale in fewer households
Still building on additional aspects of this as resources become available

Adoption issues:
Investment cost
Access to cross-bred
semen
Farmer capacity
This system is:
Productive
Profitable
Need to address:
Animal feed supply –
sufficient, safe
Potential negative
impacts on women &
children
Recommendations
Dairy cattle systems comprising cross-bred
animals (Indigenous Zebu by Bos Taurus)
kept under good management
Evidence base currently being shared with stakeholders for more informed
decision making …. Planned phase 2 project on intervention implementation

Building an evidence base
for informed decisions on
choice of dairy cattle
production systems -
“Senegal Dairy Genetics”