<p>​Agricultural intensification and commercialization policies that favor high yielding crop and animal varieties have led to the underutilization and disappearance of landraces and local breeds of plants and&nbsp; animals. Such changes lead to the loss of the genetic pool that can be used in the improvement of future breeds of crops and livestock. Additionally, the cultivation of large tracts of land with exotic species may also contribute to genetic erosion especially through invasion and colonization of ecosystems (NBSAP, 2016).</p>