Returns to livestock disease control – a panel data analysis in Togo

Abstract

This paper investigates whether – and to what extent – a veterinary intervention programme lead to improvements in small-scale cattle farmers’ welfare using a unique panel data set of 443 households from northern Togo. Our results show a positive impact of the interventions on improving farmers’ knowledge and husbandry practices that translates into improved livestock health and productivity. In addition, these positive effects trigger improvements in terms of poverty and vulnerability. The results highlight the important role of targeted interventions that aim to improve livestock health – a key asset among rural households in sub-Saharan Africa.

A pound for information or a penny for cure: Farmers' economic decisions on testing and treatment of livestock diseases

“…Sok et al (2018) use a discrete choice experiment to estimate the willingness-to-pay for bluetongue vaccination scheme attributes, showing that moral values and peer behaviour affect the outcome. Weyori et al (2020) evaluate the impact of a veterinary intervention program on farmers' knowledge, husbandry practices and profits. Gramig et al (2010) use farm-level data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the analysis of the impact of bovine leukosis virus (BLV) on US dairy farms, using a two-stage procedure in which they first estimate the disease risk reduction for different livestock health management practices, and subsequently calculate expected economic benefits of these risk reductions and use those as explanatory variables in an econometric model of adoption of the practices.…”

“…Weyori et al. (2020) evaluate the impact of a veterinary intervention program on farmers' knowledge, husbandry practices and profits. Gramig et al.…”

“…Studies on the economic aspects of livestock diseases have strived to quantify the costs of different livestock diseases, and the costs and benefits of different strategies for prevention and treatment, in order to direct policy resources towards their most efficient use. The majority of these studies make use of accounting or modelling frameworks (Bennett, 2003; McInerney et al., 1992; Nieuwhof & Bishop, 2005), whereas relatively few examine farmers' stated or revealed preferences for disease management (Sok et al., 2018; Ugochukwu & Phillips, 2019; Weyori et al., 2020). In spite of several studies considering information acquisition through learning or testing, the role of costly information acquisition for farmers' preferences for management has not been explored.…”

The anthelmintic efficacy of ivermectin, levamisole and albendazole against strongyle and tapeworm infections in sheep

“…Small ruminants perform many functions for the well-being of poor and landless households (Bettencourt et al, 2015). These animals are not only reared for socioeconomic gains, but also for monetary gains (Barratt et al, 2019) including manure, hide, source of medium-term savings, investment diversi cation, and social and cultural purposes among others (Weyori et al, 2018). In rural livelihoods, the animals also serve as insurance to cover unforeseen expenses such as school fees and medical bills (Verpoorten, 2009).…”