**3.1 Niche breeding of locally adapted animals**

Indigenous livestock breeds have an adaptive to their native localities advantage than the exotic ones. Characteristics such of drought resistance, disease tolerance are crucial for sustainability of livestock in the face of climate change and indigenous breeds are inherently superior in this regard. In Africa, there are higher levels of inbreeding of local breeds and these animals are often found in small-scale and pastoralist farming setups. Apart from having an adaptive advantage, knowledge of the ways of survival of such breeds ensures an effective way of maintaining the natural environments in which they dwell in with limited chances of negatively affecting them. The success of pasture and rangeland conservation lies in part on the availability of livestock breeds that can effectively utilise the environment [30].
