The Baggara breed is part of the shorthorned Zebu

Zebu

Zebu , sometimes known as humped cattle, indicus cattle, Cebu or Brahmin cattle are a type of domestic cattle originating in South Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent. They are characterised by a fatty hump on their shoulders, drooping ears and a large dewlap...

 group of breeds of eastern Africa. Baggara cattle are smaller and thinner than the Boran breed

Boran cattle

Boran cattle are a popular beef breed in eastern Africa. They were developed in Kenya from the native shorthorned Zebu cattle of the Borana people of southern Ethiopia. They are usually white, with the bulls being darker...

 of Kenya and Ethiopia. They are named for the Baggara

Baggara

The Baggāra Arabs are a set of communities inhabiting the portion of Africa's Sahel between Lake Chad and southern Kordofan, numbering over one million. They have a common language which is one of the regional colloquial Arabic languages...

 people of western Sudan and central Chad, who keep Baggara cattle. Ironically, Baggara means cattle people in the Shuwa Arabic language of these people. The related Butana and Kenana breeds

Butana and Kenana cattle

Butana and Kenana breeds are part of the shorthorned Zebu group of breeds of eastern Africa. What makes them unusual is that they are dairy breeds, unlike other breeds like the Boran, Baggara, Fung, etc. The Butana breed is found to the east of Khartoum in central Sudan, in the Butana region...

 of the Nile Valley are dairy breeds and need much more feed and water than the Baggara, which are known for their hardiness and ability to thrive in the dry Sahel

Sahel

The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....

. The Baggara breed is being improved by breeding projects of the Sudanese Department of Agriculture.