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Land degradation (LD) in Mali is prevalent and leads to an enduring environmental and humanitarian crisis. Farmers' ecological knowledge has proven to be a valuable tool in addressing its challenges. How farmers perceive LD affects how they deal with induced risks, and their responses to these perceptions will shape restoration options and outcomes. Therefore, this study assessed farmers' perceptions of LD along a climatic gradient in three regions of Mali. We interviewed 270 farmers, and we analyzed their responses using descriptive statistics and Spearman rank-order correlation. We found that the respondents were aware of LD and have identified its key indicators and its impacts on their livelihoods. Moreover, we found that farmers' perceptions are not influenced by gender, age, or education level, but rather by agricultural training, participation in agricultural labor, the practice of fallowing, shortage of firewood, livestock, household size, appearance of some plant species and famine. Additionally, farmers' perceptions of LD vary along the climatic gradient as they correlate to different variables in each agro-ecological zone. LD's impacts, however, decrease in severity along the north-south gradient, although they are linked to the same variables. As LD is seen through a reduction of ecosystem services provisioning capacity because of the local communities' heavy dependence on natural resources, actions should be geared towards agronomic and vegetative land management options. Such actions should prioritize context-specific soil and water conservation techniques and proven indigenous practices.

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Cette étude présente les résultats d’une enquête sérologique qui évalue le statut épidémiologique de la peste des petits ruminants (PPR) d’ovins et de caprins de différentes régions du Mali. Les animaux ont été testés par Elisa de compétition (c-Elisa) afin d’évaluer la séroprévalence par région prospectée, ainsi que par espèce, classe d’âge et sexe. Les résultats indiquent un taux individuel de séroprévalence de 42,6 p. 100 [intervalle de confiance à 95 p. 100 (IC95) : 40,9 - 44,3]. Une variation significative de la séroprévalence a été observée entre les différentes régions allant de 5,5 p. 100 (IC95 : 3,3 - 7,7) à Gao (la région avec la plus faible prévalence) à 55,6 p. 100 (IC95 : 52,2 - 59,1) à Koulikoro (la région avec la plus forte prévalence). Une différence significative (p < 0,05) a été observée entre les prévalences estimées des femelles et des mâles, et entre celles des animaux adultes (> 3 ans) et des plus jeunes (< 3 ans), mais pas entre ovins et caprins. Ces résultats confirment la présence de la maladie à travers tout le territoire, avec une prévalence relativement élevée dans les régions du centre, du sud et de l’ouest. Ils montrent aussi que la maladie sévit probablement à l’état enzootique, soulignant la faiblesse du programme de vaccination contre la PPR au Mali. Ils révèlent l’urgence de mettre en place un plan de vaccination efficace afin de protéger le cheptel contre cette maladie contagieuse.

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Our survey aimed to investigate avian influenza (AI) and Newcastle disease (ND) prevalence and risk factors in three areas of Mali at risk for occurrence of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza. Blood samples and cloacal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 1470 birds between February 2007 and May 2008 and were tested by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect antibodies and real-time reverse-transcription (rRT)-PCR to detect virus. Risk factors associated with seropositivity or positive rRT-PCR were identified by random effect logistic regression. AI seroprevalence was significantly lower in birds from commercial farms (0%) than in village backyard birds (3.1%). For backyard birds, no individual risk factors (species, age, sex) were identified, but birds in the Mopti area in the Sahelian zone, where millions of wild birds migrate, were more seropositive than in the Sikasso area in the Sudano-Guinean zone (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0, P = 0.051). Among backyard birds nonvaccinated against ND, ND seroprevalence was 58.4%, and the odds of seropositivity was 2.0 higher in chickens than in ducks, 1.7 higher in females than in males, 3.1 higher in adults than in young birds, and 3.0 higher in poultry from the Sikasso area than from the Mopti area (P < 0.01 in all cases). Prevalence established by rRT-PCR was low for both AI virus (1.1%) and ND virus (2.6%) and was associated with no risk factors for AI but was higher in chickens than in ducks (OR = 5.3, P = 0.05) and in the Sikasso area than in the Mopti area (OR = 3.4, P = 0.027) for ND. For AI and ND, prevalence assessed by serology or rRT-PCR varied over time, although seasonal and interannual variation could not be clearly distinguished. The intracluster correlation coefficient for serologic data was low for AI (0.014) and higher for ND (0.222). These results are useful to optimize surveillance and control strategy for notifiable avian diseases in African countries with similar agroecological and resource-limited contexts.