Abstract:
Africa for the largest part is still regarded as part of the developing world and has a history of political
instability, natural disasters, floods and droughts that all had an effect on the development of livestock
production systems and the potential application of biotechnologies. It is expected that the human
population in sub Saharan Africa will experience a growth of 1.2 % per year over the next 30 years. There
is therefore pressure to increase sustainable productivity of livestock. Reproductive technologies such as
Artificial Insemination in Africa were driven primarily by the need to control or prevent venereal diseases
like Trichomoniases and Campylobacter fetus venerealis in cattle. Reproductive biotechnology had a
limited impact in Africa due to several factors including a lack of infrastructure and animal recording
systems, clear breeding objectives and continuously changing production systems and markets. Africa has
a large variety of genetic resources adapted to the diverse environment and production systems and
biotechnology should be applied within this context for an increase in food production.
