Community-based breeding programs for sheep in Ethiopia: Performance evidence for scaling up

Abstract

• Provides a detailed review of sheep CBBP implementation in Ethiopia and other developing countries (e.g., Peru, Indonesia). • Summarizes growth performance and heritability estimates from ongoing programs. • Highlights institutional frameworks and farmer participation models that drive success. • Discusses knowledge gaps and documentation needs for scaling and replication. • Offers practical insights for researchers, and development partners promoting livestock genetic improvement in low-input systems. This review synthesizes evidence on the implementation, performance, and optimization of community-based breeding programs (CBBP) for sheep in Ethiopia, focusing on low-input systems. Relevant literature from 2001 to 2025 was identified through keyword-based search. Over the past decade, CBBPs have emerged as participatory breeding strategies that place farmers at the center of program design, implementation, and evaluation, using phenotypic and pedigree data to estimate breeding values and guide selection. The reviewed literature reports moderate to high heritability estimates for key traits in several CBBP populations, particularly in Bonga sheep, indicating strong potential for genetic improvement through selection. Evidence from various studies has shown measurable genetic gains ranging from 0.11 to 0.21 kg per year in six-month weight, along with improvements in reproductive traits such as litter size in Horro and Bonga flocks. While these results confirm the effectiveness of selective breeding within indigenous populations for enhancing productivity without compromising local adaptation. Challenges remain, including fragmented datasets, large standard errors in genetic parameter estimates, and inconsistent institutional coordination. Addressing these gaps through expanded data recording, statistical meta-analysis, and integration of mobile and genomic tools, alongside stronger market linkages, will be critical to scaling CBBPs as sustainable pathways for genetic improvement and livelihood enhancement in smallholder sheep production systems.