National decisions about how to control bird flu are critical to global as well as national success. The best ways to fight bird flu in industrialized countries are often not the best for developing nations. This article describes the strategy of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and its partners to improve control of the disease in developing countries, and thus to help protect both human health and development around the world

Narrod, C.A.

Randolph, Thomas F.

Rich, Karl M.

Seré Rabé, Carlos

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          Copyright Permission   Note: Permission of the Publisher has been given to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to post this article to its web site as allowed under the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) which governs "fair use" or the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.”  The correct citation for this article is Narrod, Clare; Randolph, Tom; Rich, Karl; and Seré, Carlos. 2006. Finding strategies that work in developing countries: a one-size-fits-all solution won’t work. Entwicklung & Ländlicher Raum 5: 20-21.*  *For more information on Entwicklung & Ländlicher Raum, visit http://www.rural-development.de/.  Reprinted with the permission of Entwicklung & Ländlicher Raum.   Thank you in advance for respecting these conditions. For additional information, contact IFPRI-library@cgiar.org. entwicklung & ländlicher raum 5/200620SchwerpunktFinding strategies that work in developing countriesA one-size-fits-all solution won’t workThe H5N1 form of avian influenzathat has recently swept across Asiainto parts of Europe and Africa isunprecedented in scale and geographicalspread. The international community haspledged over US $ 1.9 billion to fight thishighly pathogenic form of avian influen-za, or bird flu, and prevent (or prepare for)a human pandemic. Emergency efforts inmany developing countries, where thedisease may become entrenched, showthat conventional responses may beinappropriate. A better understanding ofthe developing-country context is need-ed to make the enormous investmentsdevoted to control efforts effective andequitable.Our assumptions are that unless weemploy control strategies appropriate fordeveloping countries, we will fail in ourefforts to control bird flu globally. Ratherthan keep technical and socio-economicissues separate in our thinking and plan-ning, we must unite them and fullyengage the countries of the developingworld and their small-scale poultry farm-ers and sectors in this battle – perhaps thefirst of many campaigns to control poten-tially devastating new diseases.The image of an emerging human diseasebeing tackled by an all-out global effortthat triumphantly eliminates the threat isenduring but (outside Hollywood) general-ly inaccurate. Whereas a few new diseasessuch as SARS (severe acute respiratory syn-drome) have been handled in this way, thenature and context of highly pathogenicbird flu means it will not be so easily con-quered. Some countries in the developingworld, for example, are likely to face a fair-ly constant threat of bird flu, and the dis-ease may become endemic in some areas.Detecting the disease and controlling itare often hampered not only by weak vet-erinary services, but also by the difficultiesof getting large numbers of dispersed,unorganized, small-scale and backyardpoultry keepers to understand the dangersof the disease and to comply with effortsto control it. This kind of challenge raises anew set of research issues that needsaddressing. To identify those issues, aninternational group of experts is workingtogether to determine the research gapsNational decisionsabout how to controlbird flu are critical toglobal as well asnational success. Thebest ways to fight birdflu in industrializedcountries are often notthe best for developingnations. This articledescribes the strategyof the ConsultativeGroup on InternationalAgricultural Research(CGIAR) and itspartners to improvecontrol of the diseasein developing countries,and thus to helpprotect both humanhealth anddevelopment aroundthe world.and priorities for tackling bird flu in devel-oping countries.The International Food Policy ResearchInstitute (IFPRI) and the International Live-stock Research Institute (ILRI), two of 15centres supported by the CGIAR, are spear-heading this research with many otherpartners. Their common goal is to identifyappropriate strategies for the developing-country context and to help governmentsmake informed decisions on how to con-trol the spread of bird flu while protectinglivelihoods of the poor.The need to advance understanding in thisarea is urgent. Rapid changes in poultryproduction systems, trade regimes, andconsumer perceptions are challengingexisting ways of dealing with bird flu.Developed countries and their poultry pro-ducers have largely shaped thinking onhow to best tackle bird flu. But conven-tional control measures – culling and com-pensation – are increasingly questioned indeveloping countries, where these strate-gies are often problematic if not impossi-ble to implement.Importance of poultry and birdflu to the world’s poorPoultry production is a central source offood and income for billions of poorhouseholds in the developing world. InSoutheast Asia, where highly pathogenicbird flu is endemic in many areas, poultryare crucial to the farming systems of poorpeople. Poultry raising and selling haslong provided a pathway out of poverty.Rapidly rising demand for poultry, linkedto population growth, rising incomes, andurban migration, has intensified produc-tion, creating jobs and expanding oppor-tunities for smallholders to sell their poul-try products.In both Asia and Africa, meat and eggsfrom poultry are important sources ofessential micronutrients for poor and vul-nerable groups, comprising mostlywomen and children. Most poor house-holds keep backyard flocks, which canmingle freely with wild birds. The domes-tic flocks commonly scavenge for food,entering households and sharing outdoorClare NarrodInternational Food Policy ResearchInstitute – IFPRI2033 K Street, NWWashington D.C. 20006, USAc.narrod@cgiar.orgTom Randolph, Karl Rich and Carlos SeréInternational Livestock ResearchInstitute – ILRIP.O. Box 30709Nairobi 00100, Kenya.t.randolph@cgiar.org, k.rich@cgiar.org,c.sere@cgiar.orgentwicklung & ländlicher raum 5/2006areas where children play, creating manyopportunities for human exposure. Whenbird flu breaks out, the economic lossesfaced by poor communities in developingcountries can be devastating.A global problem Bird flu is a global problem. The implica-tions of ineffective control of bird flu arenot limited to poor communities. If the dis-ease is left unchecked, and continues tocycle and periodically break out, large-scalecommercial poultry production and world-wide trade will remain under constantthreat. The risk of highly pathogenic birdflu becoming transmissible from human tohuman is of course a concern shared by thewhole world. Furthermore, the trans-boundary nature of zoonotic diseases suchas bird flu requires that efforts to preventor control the disease elicit the cooperationof key stakeholders worldwide.Hard choices for the developing worldThe key to successful control of bird flu indeveloping countries is enlisting the coop-eration of all actors, including the manypoor households that keep poultry, to helprapidly detect the disease and complywith control measures. The conventionalstrategy is to compensate producers wholose their flocks through preventiveculling; this helps stop disease spread andprovides an incentive for poultry farmersto report suspected outbreaks. But devel-oping-country governments are strug-gling with this control method.The first problems are determining how,and how much, to compensate farmersfor their destroyed birds. Then there arethe obstacles to be faced in implementinga compensation scheme where adminis-trative infrastructure is weak and corrup-tion a problem. It is also difficult for poorcountries to find the resources with whichto compensate poultry farmers, especiallywhen repeated outbreaks occur. Finally,there may even be new problems generat-ed by poorly designed compensationschemes, which could perversely encour-age people to try to benefit from the com-pensation or to elude culls.Service priorities and researchneeds of developing countriesTo help developing-country governmentsand aid agencies make informed pro-poordecisions on bird flu control, in June 2006ILRI and IFPRI convened a consultationthat used frontline and expert opinion (1)to identify roles that research could playto support lead agencies in controllingbird flu and (2) to highlight medium- andlong-term research needs in the areas ofepidemiology, genetics, vaccines, diagnos-tics, and socio-economics. Findings fromthis consultation are posted at www.ilri.organd www.ifpri.org.The CGIAR centers and their partners arefocusing initial activities on helping gov-ernments make more informed decisionson how to prevent or limit the spread ofbird flu while minimizing the adverseimpacts of those interventions on thepoor. Even governments that never facean outbreak must decide how much toallocate to surveillance. These funds areoften diverted from other activities (e.g.,HIV/AIDS control, food security, rural infra-structure), which are also crucial to thewelfare of the poor. Developing-countrygovernments are therefore challenged todetermine the difficult trade-offs be-tween the potential benefits of prevent-ing and controlling bird flu with the costsof doing so – even before an outbreaktakes place.Furthermore, the burden of control costsmay fall disproportionately on the ruralpoor, who consume their own poultry andrely on it for their livelihoods. This andsimilar discrepancies raise other issuesinadequately addressed as yet. To bridgethese knowledge gaps, researchers at ILRIand IFPRI have begun research with awide range of partners to do the follow-ing. Understand how bird flu is spread (e.g.,via migratory birds, commercial trade,veterinary inputs, live animals, or trans-portation of infected equipment orsoils) to poultry and humans, and howthis might differ by production systemor time of year. Assess the social and economic impactof the disease and its control, particu-larly on poor poultry producers, sellers,and consumers. Highlight market failures (in terms oforganization, information, institutions,transactions, and regulations) thatnecessitate policy interventions, suchas assessing alternative mitigationmeasures that enhance smallholderadoption of control measures. Identify effective, affordable, andsustainable control techniques tailoredto local circumstances in developingcountries, possibly entailing public-pri-vate partnerships or other innovativeinstitutional approaches. Promote ways to increase complianceof surveillance and control measures,including better designed compensa-tion programs and strategies more ap-propriate and sustainable in developingcountries. Communicate research findings to pol-icymakers faster and more effectively.The central importance ofdeveloping countries in theglobal battleThe importance of developing countriesas locations where the highly pathogenicbird flu virus is most likely to spread unde-tected, possibly leading to a full-blownglobal human pandemic, is a strongincentive for the developed world to sup-port poor countries in combating the dis-ease. No global control strategy will suc-ceed without the involvement of develop-ing-world communities.Researchers can help provide developingcountries with the information they needto implement equitable, effective and evi-dence-based control strategies, therebystrengthening the voice of developingcountries in international fora whereglobal strategies are negotiated. Partner-ships that help developing countriesestablish capacity in risk analysis, epi-demiology, and socio-economic analysisshould help position these countries asfull partners in the battle against highlypathogenic bird flu. Finally, this researchcan help the global community learnlessons on how to reduce the growing riskof emerging zoonotic diseases thatthreaten livelihoods as well as lives.21A young man onthe outskirts ofHyderabad, insouth-centralIndia, takes hisfamily chickensto market.Foto:ILRI

Finding strategies that work in developing countries: A one-size-fits-all solution won’t work

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Finding strategies that work in developing countries: A one-size-fits-all solution won’t work

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