Human health improvement in Sub-Saharan Africa through integrated management of arthropod transmitted diseases and natural resources

Abstract

A concept of an ecosystem approach to human health improvement in Sub-Saharan Africa is presented here. Three factors mainly affect the physical condition of the human body: the abiotic environment, vector-transmitted diseases, and natural resources. Our concept relies on ecological principles embedded in a social context and identifies three sets of subsystems for study and management: human disease subsystems, natural resource subsystems, and decision-support subsystems. To control human diseases and to secure food from resource subsystems including livestock or crops, integrated preventive approaches are preferred over exclusively curative and sectorial approaches. Environmental sustainability - the basis for managing matter and water flows - contributes to a healthy human environment and constitutes the basis for social sustainability. For planning and implementation of the human health improvement scheme, participatory decision-support subsystems adapted to the local conditions need to be designed through institutional arrangements. The applicability of this scheme is demonstrated in urban and rural Ethiopia.

People’s Perceptions of the Benefits of Natural Beekeeping and Its Positive Outcomes for Forest Conservation

“…In rural communities, where there are limited opportunities to earn incomes, small-scale beekeeping can contribute significantly to a secure livelihood. Beekeeping also provides honey as a source of food and improves the welfare of beekeepers due to its production as new sources of income (Baumgärtner et al., 2001). Traditional beekeeping is complementary to other farming activities, and it creates diverse socioeconomic benefits by reducing the risks associated with depending solely on conventional crops and animal production for one’s income (Sunderlin et al., 2008).…”

From Tsetse Control to Sustainable Rural Development – Progress and Opportunities for an Ethiopian Community

“…Samuel Gebreselassie (2006) shifts the attention from technologies to carefully designed 'innovation systems' where the promotion of new technologies is linked to processes of farmer innovation, social and cultural institutions governing uptake, and the economic and market conditions pertaining, particularly for poorer farmers in more marginal areas (Mitiku Haile et al, 2001;Ejigu & Waters Bayer, 2005). These concepts were the driving force behind the establishment of onsite technology testing, demonstration and training units named BioVillages (Baumgärtner et al, 2001). …”

Ecosystem approaches and health in Latin America

“…Only one of the nine studies was published by a Brazilian researcher 3 . The others are distributed geographically as follows: four by Latin America researchers, namely from Peru 21 , Colombia 22,23 , Paraguay 24 , and Argentina 25 ; two by Canadian researchers 26,27 ; one by a Swedish researcher 28 ; and one involving cooperation between researchers from Kenya, Sweden, and Italy 29 .…”