The ACSAD paper

F. Tleimat and M. Wardeh
The Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands, ACSAD,
P.O. Box 2440, Damascus, Syria

The Arab countries can be divided into the following groups:
North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia
Middle Africa: Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan
Middle East: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria
Arabian Gulf: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen

Animal production in the Arab countries

There are an estimated 121 million sheep, 57 million goats, 39 million cattle, 11.5 million camels and 3.3 million buffaloes in the Arab countries, equivalent to a total of 74.8 million animal units (Table 1). The four countries in the Middle Africa region have large populations of cattle and camels and 57% of the animal units in the Arab countries. In the Middle East region, small ruminants form 65% of the animal population. Camels represent 23% of the total animal units in Middle Africa, 15.5% in the Arabian Gulf, 3% in North Africa and 1.6% in the Middle East.

Table 1. Number of animals and animal units (in millions) in the world, the Arab countries and the Arab regions.

Region	Cattle	Sheep	Goats	Camels	Buffaloes	Animal units
Middle Africa	27.9	41.1	32	9.8	–	42.8
North Africa	7.6	47.4	12.5	0.6	3.2	20
Middle East	2	20.7	3.3	0.1	0.1	6.2
Arabian Gulf	1.6	11.8	9.2	0.9	–	5.8
Arab countries	39.1	121	57	11.5	3.3	74.8
World	12,887	1078	609	18.8	149	1787

Calculated from FAO Production Year Book 1994.

The total annual production of milk in the Arab countries is estimated as 15 million tonnes and production of meat as 2.4 million tonnes (FAO Production Year Book 1994). The average production of protein per animal unit is estimated as 12.8 kg/year in comparison with a mean of 23.9 kg/year for the world. The average daily per capita production of animal protein is 10 g; it ranges from 4.5 g/day in the Gulf countries to 29.7 g/day in the countries of the Middle Africa area. The total consumption of animal protein is far higher, and large quantities of milk, milk products, meat and animals for slaughter have to be imported.

Production systems

There are four livestock production systems: extensive, semi-sedentary, sedentary and intensive. Most research in the Arab countries has been on animal nutrition, breeding and reproductive physiology. The Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), at its inception in 1971, initiated a programme for the development of animal production, which included surveys of animal resources and feeds. The research strategy developed included work on

genetic improvement of local sheep and goat breeds and distribution of improved males

characterisation of production systems and socio-economics of animal production

diet selection, grazing behaviour and carrying capacity of rangelands

introduction of animals into farming systems

development and application of new techniques.

ACSAD has established live animal banks for certain breeds of sheep, goats and camels. It also has important work on camel production and has established the Camel Applied Research and Development Network, in co-operation with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Islamic Development Bank and the French government.

Research priorities

Research should focus on extensive systems in the arid zones, in which 80% of sheep and goats and all of the camel population are kept, with programmes on

improvement of the sustainability of traditional systems of production, by studying existing systems, evaluating feed, environmental and socio-economic factors, and identifying promising local breeds

animal breeding, establishment of genetic banks and genetic improvement of local breeds

reproduction, reproductive diseases and the use of techniques such as embryo transfer and artificial insemination

feeding systems, supplementary feeding, nutrient requirements of local breeds and effects of nutrition on reproduction

rangeland improvement, studies of such topics as grazing behaviour and poisonous plants

introduction of high-yielding forage varieties

storage and processing of feeds

epidemiology and control of diseases and parasites

improvements in the processing and marketing of animal products

improvement of the links between development, research and extension, including training, financial support and field activities.