AT the recently ended 107th Harare Agricultural Show, Mark Hook, of the Hook Boran Stud and a member the Zimbabwe Livestock Society, presented President Robert Mugabe with a fine specimen Boran bull.
Adaptability, longevity, drought resistance, heat tolerance, disease resistant, temperament and breed survival are some of the characteristics of this predominantly indicine breed that is said to date back over 1 300 years.
The Boran is indeed a recommendable breed.
Researchers believe domesticated cattle first emerged in Africa via the Isthmus of Suez, possibly as long as 7 800 years ago, when domesticated sheep and goats arrived from the Near East.
Rock art and archaeological evidence show that the earliest cattle were the humpless bos taurus that arrived in the Nile Delta around 6 000BC.
The history of African pastoralism explains the contemporary genetic composition of African cattle domesticated within the African continent.
Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest development of pastoralism and the gradual introduction of cattle-herding in African began in the eastern Sahara from where it moved West across the once fertile Sahara, then south along the East African route.
Here in the north-east Horn of Africa, on the Borana plateau in southern Ethiopia, the Boran cattle breed originated and followed the early human migration and their livestock southward to their various destinations in Africa.
Later, human south-bound migrations herded their domesticated livestock through East Africa onto their present localities, especially in Kenya where the Boran developed into the dominant cattle breed of Eastern Africa.
The Boran is an East African short-horned Zebu type cattle breed established in southern Ethiopia, south-western Somalia and northern Kenya, primarily reared for meat production.
Kenyan cattle ranchers developed the Boran from the cattle of the Borana people of southern Ethiopia.
Since the turn of the century, the Kenyan Boran Cattle Breeders Society (BCBS) have been breeding the ‘improved Boran’ cattle breed.
In adjunct to Command Livestock Programme is the importance of understanding the characteristics of the various cattle breeds we have in Zimbabwe besides our autochthonous breed – the Mashona — cattle that are highly adaptable for rearing in Zimbabwe, that have evolved under similar tropical and sub-tropical environments.
The early dispersion of African pastoralism westward and southward on the African continent have influenced the majority of cattle populations and the pattern of introgression of bos indicus in Africa.
Eastern and southern Africa have a wide range of indigenous cattle breeds that are genetically distant and distinct from other bos taurus and bos indicus breeds.
DNA studies show that the portion of bos indicus genetics decreases while that of bos taurus increases as one moves south along the Eastern Coast of Africa and westwards into the African interior.
The Boran is a medium-size bos indicus breed.
They are usually white or grey in colour, but are also found in red or pied with bulls often displaying black points.
The breed was found in southern Ethiopia, northern Kenya and south-western Somalia.
In Zimbabwe the Boran cattle breed was commercially introduced in 1993 when 600 embryos were imported from Kenya by Forrester Estates via an embryo transfer programme that resulted in just under 300 embryo transfer calves being successfully raised.
The first attempt to bring Boran to South Africa was undertaken in the early 1960s by Miles Fletcher.
In 1962, a Kenyan Boran cattle and sheep farmer on Sugoroi Ranch near NaroMoru in Kenya decided to immigrate to South Africa with the intention of establishing a Boran herd in South Africa.
Fletcher transported over 100 herds down to Zambia, where he received news from the Rhodesian Veterinary Services who permitted him to move only the progeny of Boran he bought down from Kenya, through Rhodesia to South Africa.
In 1963, Miles abandoned his attempt and sold his Boran to Agricultural Enterprises Ltd, a subsidiary of Zambezi Ranching Corporation Limited, then situated in the Choma District, in Zambia.
According to their brochure: “Today the Demo Borans are unequalled in Zambia… the nucleus of the herd having been purchased from Miles Fletcher who is one of the foremost breeders in Kenya.”
In December 1991 the Kenya Boran Cattle Breeders Society (KBCBS) expressed their interest to export the Boran cattle breed into South Africa.
This resulted in the exportation of embryos from the excellent facility on Ol Pejeta Ranch at Nanyuki in Kenya, during 1994 and 2000, to South Africa as well as Zimbabwe.
In August 1995, the Department of Animal Improvement recognised the Boran as a breed and on May 17 2003, the Boran Cattle Breeders Society of South Africa was founded.
The Boran breed is currently also established in Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Australia, the US and Zimbabwe that originated from genetic exports of Kenyan Boran cattle between the 1970s and 1990s.
They were imported to Australia in 1990.
The Boran breed of cattle is noted for their docility.
They have many important qualities including resistance to disease, tolerance to internal and external parasites, high resistance to heat, ticks and eye diseases.
The Boran is highly fertile and matures earlier than most other bos indicus breeds with proven fertility under harsh conditions and have a strong herding instinct that has been nurtured over
3 000 years of living with pastoralist people and having to defend themselves against wild animals and have become well-adapted to being penned at night.
The breed can endure scarcity of water and can live on low quality feed.
Boran cattle have a large gut capacity.
This capacity, coupled with their tolerance to high temperatures, enables them to graze and fill their stomachs through the heat of the day when many other breeds would normally be resting.
This valuable asset enables Boran cattle to maintain good condition and produce a calf annually.
Given the current farming environment in Zimbabwe of interspersed cropping and grazing lands, the herding instinct of the Boran is very valuable in keeping animals out of crop plantations.
The modern African cattle breeds represent a unique genetic resource at a juncture when there is an urgent need to improve livestock productivity for the benefit of the present and future generations.
With its unique genetic composition of 64 percent bos indicus, 24 percent European bos taurus and 12 percent African bos taurus, the Boran is one of the best cattle choice for cross-breeding, especially in Zimbabwe.
This biddable and undemanding breed of cattle is worthy of its title of honour: ‘God’s gift to cattlemen’.
Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) and Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is a writer, lecturer, musician, art critic, practising artist and corporate image consultant. He is also a specialist art consultant, post-colonial scholar, Zimbabwean socio-economic analyst and researcher.
For views and comments, email: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com