ABSTRACT
Africa represents an elaborate mosaic of production systems and livestock species other than the principal ruminants (Blench 1997). Although cited as "minor" species, animals such as the donkey or camel can playa major role in the economic life of ordinary rural householders. They are, however, of no significant interest to major donor agencies and research is often confined to enthusiastic individuals. As a result, there are often startling lacunae in our knowledge of, say, the history of the domestic pig in Africa. The only author to consider some of these species in detail was Lagercrantz (1950) who reviews the literature on cats, pigeons, ducks, geese and turkeys. Ruminants, donkeys, pigs, chickens and bees are described in other chapters in this volume (Chs 21, 22, 27). The history of the horse in Africa has been discussed elsewhere extensively (Law 1980, Seignobos 1987, Blench 1993) and will not be further treated here. This chapter! synthesizes current knowledge of the history of the residual species - "minor" domesticates of Africa.
