Economic analysis of animal disease control inputs at farm level: the case of trypanocide use in villages under risk of drug resistance in West Africa

This paper presents an economic analysis of the use of drugs (isometamidium and diminazene) in controlling African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT), a serious disease of cattle and small ruminants in villages that exhibit resistance to isometamidium in Burkina Faso and Mali in West Africa. The study applies a production function framework integrating a damage control function to assess the short term productivity effect of trypanocide use under different epidemiological conditions. We found that the marginal value products of isometamidium in all epidemiological conditions, and the marginal value product of diminazene in high-prevalence-high-resistance conditions are positive and greater than one revealing an underuse of trypanocidal drugs in those conditions. The economical optimum level of isometamidium is far larger than the current use level. In a strict economic interpretation, this implies that in the short term cattle farmers could increase the profitability if they increase trypanocide input beyond current levels. On the other hand, if the use of trypanocide increases, cattle farmers will also be more likely to experience future losses from trypanocide resistance. In this paper we demonstrated the feasibility of applying the damage control framework for measuring the productivity of veterinary therapeutic drugs at farm level in poor African countries

Impact assessment of agricultural research in West Africa: An application of the propensity score matching methodology

Ex-post evaluation of agricultural research is aimed to empirically provide evidence of past investments’ effectiveness. This paper is intended to measure the immediate impact of livestock research activities on cattle farmers’ knowledge about trypanosomosis and its curative and preventive control strategies. According to the quasi-experimental design of the intervention, it is shown that its impact will be adequately estimated by propensity score matching (PSM). Based on data collected according to a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire in the region of Kénédougou that is common to Mali and Burkina Faso, results indicate a significant gain in farmers’ know-how due to participation in livestock research activities

Postharvest losses in Africa - analytical review and synthesis

PowerPoint presentationThis presentation reviews and compares icipe (International Centre of Physiology and Ecology-African Insect Science for Food Health) innovations and responses to food security issues with other groups (such as FAO/World Bank). It abstracts post harvest losses from the data by country, and gives them a value, noting that: there are no generally replicable methods for evaluating postharvest losses of fresh produce and; some results represent findings in a single locality, while others are averages of a number of localities/districts. Assessment of losses and postharvest innovations, from the perspective of entire value chains, is limited

Economic analysis of trypanocide use in villages under risk of drug resistance in West Africa

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Addressing food losses : status and way forward for postharvest research and innovations in Kenya

Overcoming postharvest (PH) losses has re-emerged as a vital part of the broader undertaking to ensure food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Dominant issues in PH chains of important food commodities in Kenya comprise inefficiencies in handling, food storage and food preservation technologies, as well as local marketing channels burdened with high transaction costs and poor postharvest infrastructure. PH mitigation through methods of technology transfer, training, and reinforcing of simple food handling and preservation practices are suggested, as well as some national policy and legislation actions that could fast track PH loss reductions

Mitigating food losses in Benin : status and way forward for postharvest research and innovations

Access to extension services was found to be an important factor for adoption of post harvest (PH) technologies in Benin. Consequently, there is need to give more impetus to outreach programmes. Training and dissemination of simple cost-effective handling and shelf-enhancing technologies can easily reduce losses associated with harvesting and handling, especially for fruits and vegetables. Innovations to mitigate post harvest losses need to be holistic, addressing the whole system rather than individual components. This brief reviews literature associated with post harvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa, and makes recommendations for interventions along value chains to increase food security

Gaps and outlook for postharvest research and innovation in Ghana

To overcome food insecurity and poverty in food deficit countries, losses occurring post-harvest need to be halted. This brief features innovations that focus more on supply and value addition segments of value chains, as opposed to an on-farm segment. Some national policy and legislation actions are suggested that could fast track initiatives for PH loss reduction in Ghana, such as: facilitating access to credit and markets by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), PH extension policy to promote postharvest best practices and build local capacity, formal-informal sector gap bridging policy to promote participation in entrepreneurships

Tackling food losses : outlook for postharvest research and innovation in Mozambique

Mitigation of postharvest (PH) losses are part of a major effort to overcome food insecurity and poverty in food deficit countries. Where data quality is poor, government, development agencies, donors and research institutions need to invest in rigorous and systematic field-based studies to assess losses in Mozambique, and to identify matching loss mitigation innovations. Moreover, building local capacity and strengthening policy on PH is essential. New models can include organized farmer groups as well as small and medium agro-enterprises operating in postharvest segments of value chains