The impact of political crisis on smallholder pig farmers in western Kenya, 2006–2008

Dewey, Cate; Wohlgemut, Jared M.; Levy, Mike; Mutua, Florence

doi:10.1017/s0022278x11000280

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The results also demonstrate that not only farmers, but all the actors in the smallholder pig production value chain, are affected by the outbreaks. Such negative impacts on the entire pig value chain have been shown to occur in poor rural areas also for events other than infectious disease (Dewey et al., ). Although members of the value chain such as middlemen and butchers are often accused of spreading ASF to maximize profit, our results demonstrate that they too experienced mostly negative effects from outbreaks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Related to African Swine Fever Within Smallholder Pig Production in Northern Uganda

Chenais

Boqvist

Lewerin

et al. 2015

Transbound Emerg Dis

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Uganda is a low-income country with the largest pig population in East Africa. Pig keeping has a large potential, commercially and as a tool for poverty reduction, but African swine fever (ASF) is a major hurdle for development of the sector. The objective of this study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices related to ASF in the smallholder pig production value chain in northern Uganda. The study included three separate series of participatory rural appraisals (PRA), comprising purposively selected farmers and other actors in the pig production value chain. In the PRAs, various participatory epidemiology tools were used. A total of 49 PRAs and 574 participants, representing 64 different villages, were included. The results indicate that participants were well aware of the clinical signs of ASF, routes for disease spread and measures for disease control. However, awareness of the control measures did not guarantee their implementation. A majority of middlemen and butchers acknowledged having sold live pigs, carcasses or pork they believed infected with ASF. Outbreaks of ASF had a strong negative impact on participants' socio-economic status with loss of revenue and reversal into more severe poverty. In conclusion, lack of knowledge is not what is driving the continuous circulation of ASF virus in this setting. To control ASF and reduce its impact, initiatives that stimulate changes in management are needed. Because the behaviour of all actors in the value chain is largely influenced by the deep rural poverty in the region, this needs to be combined with efforts to reduce rural poverty.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Related to African Swine Fever Within Smallholder Pig Production in Northern Uganda

Chenais

Boqvist

Lewerin

et al. 2015

Transbound Emerg Dis

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“…Pigs have lower social prestige than cattle, but they are inexpensive to raise and are therefore a popular option for resource-poor farmers (Dewey et al . 2011 ). Moreover, the high fecundity and feed conversion efficiency, early maturity, short generation interval, relatively small space requirement and ability to produce maximally under varied management conditions are some of the advantages of pig production compared to other livestock rearing (Lekule & Kyvsgaard 2003 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasites of pigs in two farms with poor husbandry practices in Bishoftu, Ethiopia

Jufare¹,

Awol

Tadesse

et al. 2015

Onderstepoort J Vet Res

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A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2011 to April 2012 on a total of 384 pigs from two privately owned intensive farms in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. The objectives of the study were to identify and determine the prevalence of common parasites of pigs. For the determination of gastrointestinal (GIT) parasites, faecal samples were collected from the study animals and subjected to standard parasitological examination techniques. Physical examination was conducted for the presence of skin parasitic lesions and skin scrapings were collected to determine prevalence of ectoparasites. The overall prevalence of GIT parasites in the pigs was 25% (96/384). Examination of faecal samples revealed the ova or oocysts of four different gastrointestinal parasites, namely Coccidia (12%), Strongyles (5.2%), Ascaris suum (4.9%) and Trichuris suis (2.9%). Mixed infection by at least two parasite species was observed in 3.65% (14/384) of the pigs. The only ectoparasite species identified was Sarcoptes scabiei var. suis, with a prevalence of 2.6%. This study indicates that pig parasites are a major problem in the study area, hence implementation of strategic control measures and appropriate hygienic management systems are recommended to reduce the prevalence of parasites.

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“…Pigs, Sus scrofa , have lower social prestige than cattle, but they are cheap to purchase and to raise and are therefore a popular option for resource-poor farmers, particularly women [3]. Taking advantage of the pig’s natural ability as a scavenger, many of these resource poor farmers opt for an extensive, low input form of production, whereby the pigs roam freely.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatial ecology of free-ranging domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) in western Kenya

et al. 2013

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BackgroundIn many parts of the developing world, pigs are kept under low-input systems where they roam freely to scavenge food. These systems allow poor farmers the opportunity to enter into livestock keeping without large capital investments. This, combined with a growing demand for pork, especially in urban areas, has led to an increase in the number of small-holder farmers keeping free range pigs as a commercial enterprise. Despite the benefits which pig production can bring to a household, keeping pigs under a free range system increases the risk of the pig acquiring diseases, either production-limiting or zoonotic in nature. This study used Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track free range domestic pigs in rural western Kenya, in order to understand their movement patterns and interactions with elements of the peri-domestic environment.ResultsWe found that these pigs travel an average of 4,340 m in a 12 hr period and had a mean home range of 10,343 m2 (range 2,937–32,759 m2) within which the core utilisation distribution was found to be 964 m2 (range 246–3,289 m2) with pigs spending on average 47% of their time outside their homestead of origin.ConclusionThese are the first data available on the home range of domestic pigs kept under a free range system: the data show that pigs in these systems spend much of their time scavenging outside their homesteads, suggesting that these pigs may be exposed to infectious agents over a wide area. Control policies for diseases such as Taenia solium, Trypanosomiasis, Trichinellosis, Toxoplasmosis or African Swine Fever therefore require a community-wide focus and pig farmers require education on the inherent risks of keeping pigs under a free range system. The work presented here will enable future research to incorporate movement data into studies of disease transmission, for example for the understanding of transmission of African Swine Fever between individuals, or in relation to the life-cycle of parasites including Taenia solium.

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The impact of political crisis on smallholder pig farmers in western Kenya, 2006–2008

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Related to African Swine Fever Within Smallholder Pig Production in Northern Uganda

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Related to African Swine Fever Within Smallholder Pig Production in Northern Uganda

Parasites of pigs in two farms with poor husbandry practices in Bishoftu, Ethiopia

The spatial ecology of free-ranging domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) in western Kenya

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