Compared with the well-managed condition of the developed world, exotic chicken breeds are not higher yielders in tropical environments of developing countries. Yet, most developing countries have been importing several exotic chicken breeds to their country to meet the growing demand for high-quality protein. At the same time, these countries have several limitations to design and implement breeding programs capable of developing breeds adapted to their specific conditions. The question remains important in these countries is that which of the options are worthwhile: continue to import or developing their own breed?
There is no simple answer to this question. Here are however a few hints.
- you have to consider as alternative option, crossbreeding (F1 or Fx generations, creation of synthetic crossbreeding) to take advantage of adaptation traits of local chicken, and improved production traits of exotic strains.
- The choice of your option depends largely on the kind of production systems in place and planned, as well as on existing infrastructure, veterinary, research facilities, extension services and so on. For instance, exotic strains may be of interest for semi-intensive peri-urban production systems, but will have extreme difficulties to thrive without continuous provision of input such as vaccine, which are difficult to afford/provide in remote backyard systems.
- Another point which need to get attention relate to the preference of the consumer, which may be interested in specific characteristic that either local or exotic chicken may have.
- There are of course a diversity of other points to consider, such as finding solution to avoid the disappearance of local breeds, especially considering the future challenges that climate change will bring in terms of adaptability.
To conclude, to answer to such question I would advise you to make an analysis of the food systems (e.g. a value chain analysis) considering the different aspects of sustainability, to assess the pros and cons of each option.
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