Using conjoint analysis to estimate farmer's preferences for cattle traits in West Africa

Abstract

This paper estimates the preferences of farmers for cattle traits in southern Burkina Faso using conjoint analysis, a survey-based system for measuring preferences for multiple-attribute goods. Here the technique is used in the context of a West African country where literacy is low, where cattle perform multiple functions, where low-input management is the norm, and where cattle are exposed to a number of tropical diseases and other environmental stresses. The results reflect the production practices of the region, suggesting that important traits in developing breed improvement programs should include disease resistance, fitness for traction and reproductive performance. Beef and milk production are less important traits. The study shows the potential usefulness of conjoint analysis for quantifying preferences in less developed countries for livestock and for the wide variety of other multiple-attribute goods. One implication is that conjoint analysis provides a quantitative methodology that helps make diverse livelihood strategies more operational. Distinguishing differences in preferences between groups of respondents in connection with specific agro-ecological zones and production systems can be used to promote conservation-through-use of breeds at risk of extinction.

Introduction

Livestock production is an important component of the African agro-ecological landscape. Most obviously, cattle, sheep and goats produce milk and meat for home consumption and sale. Milk and meat comprise about 25% of the value of agricultural products produced in Africa (USDA, 1990 in Winrock International, 1992). Livestock, particularly cattle, donkeys, horses and camels, are important sources of draft power for cultivation and transport. Animal traction allows farmers to increase cultivated area, labor productivity and allocative efficiency (Savadogo et al., 1998). Livestock also play important roles in the processes of nutrient cycling and transfer, thus contributing to the sustainability of cropping systems that use little or no inorganic fertilizer (Powell and Williams, 1995). In addition to direct offtake, livestock are also valued for their roles in the farm economy because they are used to reduce income risk and provide a substitute for missing insurance and credit markets. At the same time, livestock may be associated with environmental degradation, particularly when narrow productivity motivations lead to adoption of new systems of production that utilize exotic species and production methods not well adapted to local ecological conditions.

The productivity of Africa's livestock is low, in part because cattle perform multiple functions in the livelihood system. The bovine raised in the humid and sub-humid grasslands produces an average of 13.8 kg of beef per year in Africa, compared with 34.1 kg in Central and South America and 85.5 kg/year in the OECD countries (Seré and Steinfeld, 1996). In order to keep pace with expected increases in the demands for meat and milk, Africa's domestic supplies will have to increase by an average of 4% per year at least until the year 2025 (Winrock International, 1992). Achieving this growth will require sustained improvements in the supplies of feed, animal health inputs and services, the genetic capacity of the cattle, sheep and goat populations, and the overall system of incentives faced by farmers. Breed improvement programs provide entry points for increasing productivity. The tendency for genetic improvement programs to focus on one aspect (such as meat production) in isolation from broader livelihood system needs often leads to the substitution of large-frame exotic cattle for indigenous breeds. Indigenous cattle are often less productive, when a trait such as beef production is considered alone, but may be very well suited to the difficulties posed by a particular agroecosystem. Selection indices commonly utilized in developing breed improvement strategies can cause researchers to focus on one trait, to the exclusion of others. In addition, there is a growing concern about the loss of genetic diversity and the potential to devise in situ conservation strategies based upon productive use of that diversity by farmers.

Winrock International (1992) argues that improvements in genotype are particularly important for the sub-humid zone, the zone with the highest potential for productivity growth despite the many diseases and environmental stresses to which livestock are exposed. Indigenous genotypes, such as the N'Dama and West African Shorthorn, need to be multiplied, better exploited, and when necessary cross-bred with more productive European breeds. Large programs of artificial insemination are, at best, only part of the answer. New genotypes must be well-adapted to the environment, capable of performing multiple functions, and must possess traits that are appealing to the smallholder farmers that own the large majority of the cattle.

The main systems of cattle production and management in southern Burkina Faso are mixed-crop farming, beef and milk and subsistence farming systems. Mixed-crop farming, the dominant system, integrates cattle and crop production, with cattle mainly providing draught power and manure, while crops provide fodder and residues to cattle and income for the subsistence of the family. The beef and milk system—the second largest production system—is primarily market-oriented and provides the majority of the domestic sale of cattle and milk and exports of live cattle to coastal countries. The subsistence system is more a traditional way of subsistence than a production system designed for optimal offtake. However, cattle play a wide range of functions such as store of wealth, insurance against risks and misfortunes, milk, means of transport, manure and various social needs (funerals, sacrifices and dowry). The two study sites—Pays Lobi and Kourouma—are representative of large areas of sub-humid West Africa. More details on the study sites, breeds and production systems are given in Tano (1998).

Various types of consultative processes and farm surveys can be used to better understand the preferences of African farmers for cattle traits. Self-explicative ratings and rankings can shed some light, but usually cannot provide insight into the substitutions and complementarities that farmers consider when they make upstream choices about the breed. Cattle breeds tend to differ in a number of ways, so it is unlikely that farmers would face choice decisions that focus on each animal trait individually. Instead, farmers usually face choices involving tradeoffs between desirable characteristics.

This paper describes a study in which conjoint analysis was used to quantify farmer's preferences for cattle traits in the sub-humid zone of West Africa. It was partly motivated by the desire to provide a better understanding of farmer's preferences for cattle so that specific program to encourage adoption and use of trypanotolerant cattle could be assessed (Tano et al., 1998). The selected study sites have high potential for expansion of agricultural production, but now support relatively low populations of people and livestock. Tick-borne diseases and trypanosomosis, transmitted by the tsetse fly, are severe constraints on animal health and productivity. Thus the study focuses particular attention on farmer's preferences for disease resistance, relative to other important traits, which could be introduced through breeding programs that utilize indigenous genotypes. Adoption of resistant genotypes would help advance better land-use practices, such as reduced bush clearing for the control of tsetse flies, and a reduction in the use of trypanocides to control the disease.