Priorities for Pig Research in Southeast Asia and the Pacific to 2010

Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Expanding the roles of community health workers to sustain programmes during malaria elimination: a meeting report on operational research in Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia malaria elimination is targeted by 2030. Cambodia aims to achieve this by 2025, driven in large part by the urgent need to control the spread of artemisinin-resistant falciparum malaria infections. Rapid elimination depends on sustaining early access to diagnosis and effective treatment. In much of Cambodia, rapid elimination will rely on a village malaria worker (VMW) network. Yet as malaria declines and is no longer a common cause of febrile illness, VMWs may become less popular with febrile patients, as VMWs do not diagnose or treat other conditions at present. There is a risk that VMWs become inactive and malaria rebounds before the complete interruption of transmission is achieved. During 2021–23 a large-scale operational research study was conducted in western Cambodia to explore how a VMW network could be sustained by including health activities that cover non-malarial illnesses to encourage febrile patients to continue to attend. 105 VMWs received new rapid diagnostic tests (including dengue antigen–antibody and combined malaria/C-reactive protein tests), were trained in electronic data collection, and attended health education packages on hygiene and sanitation, disease surveillance and first aid, management of mild illness, and vaccination and antenatal care. In August 2023 the National Malaria Control Programme of Cambodia convened a stakeholder meeting in Battambang, Cambodia. Findings from the study were reviewed in the context of current malaria elimination strategies. The discussions informed policy options to sustain the relevance of the VMW network in Cambodia, and the potential for its integration with other health worker networks. This expansion could ensure VMWs remain active and relevant until malaria elimination is accomplished

Investigating farmers’ decision-making in adoption of conservation agriculture in the Northwestern uplands of Cambodia

In the Northwestern uplands of Cambodia, the commodification of agriculture in the 2000 s substituted the traditional rotational and diversified cropping systems with monocropping of commercial crops such as maize and cassava. Driven by high market demand, this transition was associated with deforestation, erosion of soils and biodiversity as well as pollution from increased use of chemical inputs. Land degradation observed after a few years of intensive monocropping undermined the sustainability of the overall agricultural system. However, lessons learned from previous failures of crop boom-bust cycles did not materialize as an incentive to adopt alternative sustainable practices. Along with local villagers we developed a role-play game to investigate farmers’ decision-making in relation to land-use transitions and their participation in a Conservation Agriculture (CA) initiative aimed at mitigating land degradation. The game revealed that farmers were still trapped in the boom-bust cycle with commercial crops. Market opportunities and high, short-term economic returns are key parameters in the decision-making process, which mostly overrides environmental aspects. This study shows the importance of opportunity windows for development interventions, the crucial role of farming communities in co-designing alternative cropping systems and the potential of social learning devices to bring CA to scale