Despite various measures taken to alleviate the world hunger problem, food insecurity and undernutrition remain serious problems in many countries in the world. Attaining food security is a grand plan and it is given high priority in developing countries like Ethiopia, where population growth coupled with the increased intensity of environmental problems such as floods, droughts, and extreme variability in temperature or rainfall often pose a threat to food security.
Due to greater food needs and decreased crop productivity, higher food prices along with income inequalities may negatively affect food access and availability for poor households across the world. Besides, it should be noted that poverty, war and conflict, natural disasters, climate change, and population growth are considered to be the dominant causes of hunger and malnutrition.
The Horn of Africa is characterized by a high population growth rate, which population growth results in increased pressure on resources, leading to high demand for food. Accordingly, this presents a massive challenge to agriculture to feed the growing population with nutritious and sufficient food in a sustainable way.
Although various efforts have been made to ensure sustainable access to safe and adequate food at all times, the country is failing to cope with the increasing population growth using conventional strategies in agriculture production. Owing to this, there is a continual mechanism to curb this challenge.
According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, it is important to preserve and protect natural resources to ensure food security in Ethiopia. Youths across the country are involved in poultry farming, animal fattening, forestry, fodder, and so on to ensure their family’s food security.
However, Ethiopia as a country strives to ensure food security in the country, but the efforts are not free from problems. Especially, indigenous biodiversity species are facing challenges from foreign species.
Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute Crop and Horticulture Director Wubshet Teshome told The Ethiopian Herald that Ethiopian indigenous species have been facing various problems such as drought, construction of infrastructure, modernization, new ways of lifestyle, the coming of foreign species, and so on.
It is true that the current move in poultry farming is a very challenging step for Ethiopian indigenous chicken species. Currently, both urban and rural people especially the youths are involving commercial breeds which opt to fulfill the demand of the society without precautious the indigenous species. This, in turn, affects the indigenous chicken species.
In Ethiopia indigenous chicken is found in huge numbers being distributed across different agro-ecological zones and reared under a traditional family-based scavenging management system. Indigenous chickens are good scavengers as well as foragers and have high levels of disease tolerance, possess good maternal qualities, and are adapted to harsh conditions and poor-quality feeds as compared to the exotic breeds.
Moreover, Indigenous chickens provide major opportunities for increased protein production and income for smallholders. Therefore, Indigenous chickens need the necessary support for the development of local chickens in rural areas is essential to improving the nutritional status of the rural households.
Fulas Hinsemu et al in their academic article entitled “Review on Challenges and Opportunities of Poultry Breeds” stated that improvements to the genetic potential of the local chicken are imperatives across the country. Especially, in the scavenging production system, chicks are left to move freely around the village with their hens from the first day of their life. Confinement housing, supplementary feeds, water, and health care are rarely provided which attribute to high chick loss. Improving husbandry, especially confinement housing, supplementary feeds, water, and health care should be provided which likely protect chicks from these major causes of death and promote their productivity too.
According to Wubeshet, Ethiopia has several problems and drought-resistant species. Further, its indigenous species are better at mitigating climate change than commercial chicken breeds. Because they are used to it the weather condition of the country. However, the amount of production is less compared with commercial or exotic chicken Breeds but, based on production, mitigation of climate change, the resilience of diseases, and so on, indigenous chickens are better than immigrant species.
The role of genetically modified (GM) food items indeed for food security is the subject of public controversy. GM items could contribute to food production increases and higher food availability. There may also be impacts on food quality and nutrient composition. Growing GM crops may influence farmers’ income and thus their economic access to food. Smallholder farmers make up a large proportion of the undernourished people worldwide.
Ethiopian Biodiversity Institutions Ornithologist Amare Gibru told The Ethiopian Herald that in Ethiopia, chicken is an important food item that is attached to tradition and holidays. If the commercial chicken Breeds move at this pace, it will be a very serious threat to local chickens.
Ethiopian biodiversity institution Director Dr. Melese Mario told The Ethiopian Herald that though Ethiopia is endowed with high biodiversity that emanates from a wide range of topographic, climatic, and cultural variations among others, the biodiversity and ecosystem services are under critical threat, mainly due to rapid human population growth.
Because the livelihood of the population mainly depends on services generated from the natural resources, the demand of which is consistently growing. This, in return, drives the unbalance between the demand and supply of services which triggers unsustainable utilization of natural resources leading to a rapid decline in biodiversity.
Apart from population growth, agricultural expansion, patchiness of sectoral policies, low awareness, and lack of adequate evidence that would be used as an input for policy and decision-making process were identified as key drivers of the threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, he added.
As stated by Wubeshet, Ethiopians must utilize the biodiversity of the nation in a proper manner. Because foreigners, in the name of research, have been using our country’s indigenous species to their fingerprint to take patent rights. They have been befitted a lot while we are neglecting what we have by focusing on select seeds. Hence, it is important to be aware of indigenous species properly.
Although commercial or exotic breeds are important to ensure food security in Ethiopia, it also affects the country’s chickens’ resources and will put the local chicken resources under critical threat. So, it is imperative to save the chickens before too late. To do so, the government and concerned bodies should work on addressing the challenges of biodiversity and conserving resources. In this regard, community knowledge needs to be put to good use. Besides, it is an urgent need to formulate and adopt strategies and policies that will reconcile food security and protect local chicken.
BY EPHREM ANDARGCAHEW
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 3 MAY 2022
