Fogera cattle

Fogera

Country of origin	Ethiopia
Distribution	Fogera plain, east of Lake Tana
Use	Draught, meat, milk
Traits
Coat	black, stained
Horn status	medium
Cattle Bos (primigenius) indicus

Fogera cattle is an Ethiopian breed of cattle.^[1][2] One of its typical characteristics are broad hoofs, that allow it to move more easily in the marshes of the Fogera Plain. At Woreta, the agricultural research centre specialises in preserving the breed.

Origin of the cattle breed

Ethiopia has been at a crossroads for cattle immigration to Africa^[3][4] due to

• proximity to the geographical entry of Indian and Arabian zebu
• proximity to Near-Eastern and European taurine
• introgression with West African taurine due to pastoralism

Furthermore, the diverse agro-ecology led to diverse farming systems which, in turn, made Ethiopia a centre of secondary diversification^[3] for livestock :

• The Sanga cattle originated in Ethiopia. They are a major bovine group in Africa – a cross-breeding of local long-horned taurines and Arabian zebus^[4]
• The Zenga (Zebu-Sanga) breeds, which resulted from a second introduction and crossing with Indian zebu.^[4] The Fogera cattle are part of this group

Closely related types

• Arado cattle

Stresses on the cattle breed

• socio-political: urbanisation, and civil wars
• panzootic: cattle plague^[5]
• environmental: destruction of ecosystems and droughts^[6]
• cross-breeding with Arado cattle

References

1. Cattle breeds, milk production, and transhumance in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geotrekking in Ethiopia's tropical mountains, Chapter 28. Cham: SpringerNature. 2019. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_28. S2CID 199323600.
2. Merha Zerabruk; Vangen, O; Mitiku Haile (2007). "The status of cattle genetic resources in North Ethiopia: On-farm characterization of six major cattle breeds". Animal Genetic Resources Information. 40: 15–32. doi:10.1017/S1014233900002169.
3. Merha Zerabruk, and colleagues (2011). "Genetic diversity and admixture of indigenous cattle from North Ethiopia: implications of historical introgressions in the gateway region to Africa". Animal Genetics. 43 (3): 257–266. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2011.02245.x. PMID 22486496.
4. Hanotte, O. and colleagues (2002). "African pastoralism: genetic imprints of origins and migrations". Science. 296 (5566): 336–339. Bibcode:2002Sci...296..336H. doi:10.1126/science.1069878. PMID 11951043. S2CID 30291909.
5. Pankhurst, R (1985). The history of famine and epidemics in Ethiopia prior to the twentieth century. Addis Ababa: Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
6. Van Cappellen, H (2016). The ox-plow complex on the edge: an ethnographic inquiry into social change and cross-breed dairy farming in Tigray, Ethiopia [MSc Thesis]. KU Leuven, Belgium.