Livestock make a vital contribution to poor people’s lives in many regions. The death or illness of an animal can make the difference between security and poverty. Amongst livestock keepers in Africa and Asia, tick-borne diseases are a particular threat to sustainable livelihoods. What opportunities exist for affordable, integrated livestock disease control?

Research from the UK Department for Interntional Development’s Animal Health Programme looks at the impact of tick-borne diseases on poor households in India and Africa. In India, many poor and landless farmers own dairy cows. Livestock are also particularly important assets for women, whose opportunities to own land are limited. By contrast, in Eastern and Southern Africa livelihood systems are more likely to integrate crops with livestock. Animals here are valued as much for their working power and manure as their milk or meat.

Given the importance of livestock to livelihoods, there are huge costs associated with livestock disease. The incidence and effects of disease vary according to livestock management systems, the contribution of livestock to the household economy, the type of disease and the system used to control it. Across a range of different livelihood systems, tick-borne diseases have an impact on both financial and human capital. For example:

• In East African smallholder dairy systems, East Coast Fever is a major risk. The loss of a single dairy animal not only reduces household income, it also limits access to credit, most of which is used for payment of school fees. The cost of disease control and treatment is very high.
• In Indian smallholder dairy systems, income from livestock often makes up the majority of the total income of landless or marginal households. When tick-borne diseases reduce milk productivity, there is a direct impact on income. Despite this, farmer expenditure on animal health care is very low; available resources are invested in livestock feed.
• Southern and Eastern African crop-livestock systems, in which sheep and goats are as important as cattle, the frequency of tick-borne diseases is relatively low. However, when new diseases arrive in an area, severe livestock losses occur. These shocks hit poorer households hardest, reducing income and increasing the risks of agriculture.
• In East African pastoralist systems, milk is a crucial feature of diets when there are shortages of other types of food. Here, the seasonality of tick-borne diseases is as important as the annual incidence.

The most widely used method of tick control is the application of acaricides. These are expensive and can have negative environmental impacts. To use them more effectively, farmers need to understand the biology and ecology of the ticks that infest their livestock. 

• Farmers must have access to up-to-date information about tick-borne diseases. This would allow them to assess and implement new technologies and develop tick control strategies appropriate to their own situations.
• A long-term programme of genetic research is needed to evaluate livestock breeds for productivity and parasite resistance. In particular, this would allow the African livestock industry to benefit from the natural resistance of indigenous breeds.
• Research is needed into cheaper and safer vaccines; these must be affordable and accessible for poor farmers.

Integrating these three strategies could revolutionise the economics of controlling ticks and livestock disease. Research in these areas could have a significant, long-term impact on food security and poverty alleviation amongst people who rely on the productivity of their livestock for survival.

Source(s):
‘Tick-borne diseases and poverty: the impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases on the livelihoods of small-scale and marginal livestock owners in India and eastern and southern Africa’, Research Report, DFID Animal Health Programme, 2004

Funded by: Animal Health Programme, Department for International Development, UK

id21 Research Highlight: 7 April 2005

Further Information:
Ian Maudlin
DFID Animal Health Programme
Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine
University of Edinburgh
Easter Bush
Roslin
Midlothian
EH25 9RG

Tel: +44 (0) 131 650 6287
Fax: +44 (0) 131 650 7348
Contact the contributor: ahp@vet.ed.ac.uk

DFID Animal Health Programme

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'Meeting the different needs of livestock farmers in Tanzania'

'Natural resource management and human health: the forgotten link?'

'Animal to human: controlling diseases which affect poor people and livestock'

The Wellcome Trust - funding research to improve human and animal health

Institute for Animal Health