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p Soviet-African cooperation in cattle-breeding is nol so extensive as in plant growing and finding fresh water sources, yet it is very important for some African countries. Here are some examples.

p In the late 1950s the Government of the Republic of Guinea asked the Soviet Government to extend economic and technological assistance in raising the productivity of dairy cattle and organising state dairy farms.

p The difficulty in developing dairy farming in Guinea was that the local strains of cattle have a very low milk yield, though they are easy to breed. Highly productive breeds imported from Europe adapt badly to the tropical conditions. A need thus arose for new strains of cattle combining a high adaptability to local conditions and a high productivity.

p First, an experimental farm at Ditinn and a dairy-produce farm at Famoila were set up as bases for raising the productivity of local dairy-cattle. The first and second farms were completed by a Soviet building organisation and turned over to the Guinean side at “turn-key” readiness in 1964 and 1966, respectively. Apart from production buildings, auxiliary premises and housing—the complete set of structures required for any modern farm—small plants producing butter, cheese, cottage cheese and other dairy produce were also built on each of them. The farm at Famoila also has a school for training low and medium-level agricultural personnel.

p It is to the credit of the Soviet experts that (1) they have managed to preserve the entire livestock of the imported red-steppe breed in a climate that is unusual and harsh for that strain; and (2) they have ensured a normal increase in both pedigree and cross-breed livestock and are successfully continuing their work on improving the local’, breed, which is very resistant to trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)—that scourge of tropical cattle-breeding carried by the tsetse fly.

p The Guinean side has highly appreciated the work of the Soviet experts and the positive results achieved ?in raising high-productivity half-breed cattle.

p In Algeria, Soviet experts assessed the water and land resources in the western part of the Department of Medea 199 and evaluated the technological and economic feasibility of growing fodder crops’ there. This work is of significant importance for the development of cattle-raising in the country. For over two years, Soviet topographers, geologists, agronomists, geobotanists, and others made surveys and studied the possibilities for using underground water in irrigating fodder fields. As a result, they have drawn up a diagram for irrigating 10,000 hectares of land. They have also studied the pastures in the Department of Medea, drawn up geobotanical maps, designed water supply mains for the settlements in the area, and irrigation canals for 2,500 hectares. Once the project is completed, guaranteed fodder-reserves will be available for cattle-breeding and it will be possible to grow vegetables and melons for the local market.

p There is no organised veterinary service in the Sudan, so the losses of farm animals from cattle disease are heavy. The Soviet Government donated all the necessary equipment for constructing a $ 500,000-worth Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (at the town of Soba, 15 km from Khartoum) and assisted in building the laboratory’s main building, auxiliary and technical premises, the administration building, as well as living quarters for research personnel and workers. The lab was opened on 25 June 1974. In the course of construction, the Soviet experts undertook the practical training of Sudanese engineers, technicians and workers.

p An agreement was signed between the People’s Republic of the Congo and the USSR on 12 July 1970 providing for cooperation in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious and parasitogenic diseases among farm animals, and also in training’Congolese research personnel in veterinary microbiology and virology. Under this agreement, Soviet organisations have built, in cooperation with the Congolese side, a veterinary laboratory in Brazzaville to carry out research and field studies.

The Soviet side will supervise the laboratory’s activities for five years after its commissioning and then it will be donated to the Government and the people of the People’s Republic of the Congo. The Soviet side also helps train Congolese national personnel in veterinary microbiology and virology, both locally and in the Soviet Union.

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Meeting a request from the Government of Ethiopia, the Soviet Union provides extensive assistance to this country, too, in strengthening and outfitting the national veterinary service.