Surveillance of Trade Sensitive Diseases
Project Brief/Background
A large part of the land mass covered by IGAD member states (MSs) falls under arid and semi-arid climatic conditions with less than 400mm of rainfall annually, making the region prone to recurrent droughts. The predominant livelihood system is pastoral and agro-pastoral livestock production which constitutes the only viable economic activity in these fragile ecosystems. The nomadic lifestyle of the pastoralists entails a constant search for pasture and freshwater resources with frequent cross-border conflicts and animal disease transmission that require regional approaches and coordinated actions.
Livestock are core to pastoral livelihoods and pastoral identity, and livestock products contribute significantly as the main sources of food and income. Livestock also serve as key buffers to shocks, particularly the frequent droughts in the region. Large herd sizes ensure viable herd sizes after droughts despite the drought-related mortalities. Although ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats and camels) and donkeys are the main livestock holdings, small ruminants are the predominant species and most important productive assets of the livestock- dependent communities in the IGAD region. Small ruminants provide the day to day needs for household nutrition particularly for women and children in pastoral areas. They also contribute more than 80% of the livestock exports from the IGAD region and the foreign currency incomes from this trade enable the imports of food and other commodities to ensure food security of the populations in livestock producing areas. Thus, the protection of small ruminants against the effects of natural disasters enhances the ability of communities and households to withstand shocks. In addition, small ruminants are highly prolific thus enabling rapid rebuilding of flock sizes following natural disasters and contributing to the resilience of the affected communities.
The region is the leading exporter of live animals in Africa, contributing 42% of the exports from the continent. Although Africa is a net importer of livestock products, the IGAD region is the only region in Africa that is self-sufficient in its meat requirements. The incomes derived from livestock trade contribute to the livelihoods of the different value chain actors and support the food security of households beyond those directly involved in livestock production. Livestock trade also contributes to regional integration by connecting livestock producing areas to regional markets and the improvement of this aspect is considered a key driver for economic development in the region.
However, the nature of the cross-border trade poses challenges to national and local-level authorities, in terms of revenue collection, border security and the management and control of TADs.
Throughout Africa, the livestock sector is seriously constrained by inadequate public and private sector investments to enhance its contribution to the development of the African continent, despite its great leverage potential. This situation assumes even greater importance in the IGAD region where livestock production and trade contribute significantly to the national and agricultural GDPs of the member states. Despite the abundance of livestock in the pastoral areas, the pastoralist communities across Africa remain among the most marginalized and face common problems of low productivity of indigenous livestock breeds, poor physical infrastructure, limited access to markets and appropriate information, poor communication, limited or lack of access to financial capital and limited access to crucial inputs and services to enhance livestock production within their environments. Pastoralists also face the threat of dwindling pastures for their flocks. Pastoral areas have inadequate public and private animal health service providers, mainly due to lack of appropriate incentives and enabling environments to effectively operate in the areas. Veterinarians, animal production and environmental service professionals operating in pastoral areas tend to be based in the urban areas and the pastoral communities in the remote areas do not have adequate and timely access to their services.
This project contributes to the overall strategic objective of AU-IBAR, which is: "to improve contribution of livestock to food security and safety, economic growth and wealth creation in Africa".
The specific objective is to reduce the impact of TADs and zoonoses on trade of livestock and livestock products.
Capitalizing on the outputs of the active survey programmes, risk maps will be developed for the five priority diseases to identify high risk areas and inform development of Risk-Based Surveillance Strategy (RBSS). Subsequently, future surveillance of these diseases will be guided by the RBSS focusing on hotspot areas as mapped out on the risk maps.
Strategy and Approach
The project will concentrate on strategic interventions with high efficiency and leverage potential of which implementing partners have a clear comparative advantage and added value. To ensure complementarity and avoid duplication of efforts, selection of activities to address the identified problem areas, will take into account interventions of other regional and continental projects such as the EU-funded programme on Supporting the Horn of Africa's Resilience (SHARE) which targets the pastoral areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia through country PPR control projects , SMP – AH and LITS.
To complement and fast-track implementation of the national SHARE PPR control programmes in pastoral areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the project will support development of regional and national control strategies and the establishment of a regional coordination mechanism for the control of PPR. Recognizing that the focus of SHARE country programmes is on pastoral areas of four IGAD MSs, this project will give more emphasis to areas and MSs which are not covered by the SHARE initiative in relation to PPR surveillance.
Furthermore, the above problem area is also expected to be indirectly addressed by other AU-IBAR continental projects such as the on-going VetGov project which is undertaking large scale advocacy activities to improve policies and legislation with a view to increasing investments in the animal health sector.
Consequently, the main focus areas of this project will be the following two problem areas:
- The inadequacy of surveillance systems: The core of this intervention will be addressing problems responsible for weak surveillance systems in the IGAD region, and thus it will mainly concentrate its efforts on the reinforcement of surveillance capacities as well as the adoption and implementation of new surveillance approaches such as risk-based and syndromic surveillance techniques.
- The weakness of identification, traceability and certification systems: The project will build on the lessons learnt and the achievements of SOLICEP in addressing the identified problems related to certification, animal identification and traceability in the region. The focus will be on development of regionally harmonized guidelines and capacity building programmes to promote piloting of recommended identification and traceability systems as well as adoption of a risk-based certification system in the region. While selecting activities under this problem area, the project will examine interventions and coverage areas of other complementary projects, particularly SMP – AH. Given that the USAID-funded SMP – AH project does not cover Eritrea and Sudan, this project will fill the gap left by SMP – AH by implementing similar activities in those two countries with the view to promoting regional harmonization.
Effective surveillance systems will enable early detection to trigger rapid response and mitigation measures against emerging and re-emerging diseases. The preferred intervention options are strengthening surveillance and systems for animal identification, traceability and health certification in the IGAD region, with emphasis on interventions with a regional dimension such as coordination, harmonization and capacity building as articulated in the strategic programmes of AU - IBAR. By strengthening surveillance systems and promoting new techniques such as risk-based surveillance approaches, the project will build capabilities of MSs for early detection of not only prevalent trade-sensitive diseases but also eradicated and emerging diseases such as rinderpest and others. Activities targeting the adoption and promotion of a suitable identification and traceability system as well as a risk-based certification system would enhance trade of livestock and livestock products in the region.
This project will enable generation of data and information necessary for evidence-based policy and strategy formulation as flagged by the Vet-Gov project in the quest to enhance public and private investment in the livestock sector. The project will also contribute to enhancement of resilience through better protection of small ruminants, which are the main livelihood assets of pastoral communities, by supporting coordination of PPR control and improved epidemiological understanding of other small ruminant diseases.
Stakeholders
Key Lessons Learnt
The main lesson from past interventions addressing drought and other climatic shocks in the region is that investing in resilience proves to be cost effective. Addressing the root causes of recurrent crises is not only better than only responding to the consequences of crises, it is also much cheaper.
Past interventions of AU-IBAR have laid the foundation for animal disease surveillance and control, animal health inspection and certification, and promotion of marketing of livestock and livestock products on the continent. AU-IBAR and partners have implemented a number of projects in the past. Lessons were learnt during the implementation of these past projects and programmes that have informed the development of animal disease surveillance and control strategies as well as the improvement of disease surveillance and control across the continent, which include among others: The use of novel epidemio-surveillance methods (risk-based and syndromic surveillance systems) which was in particular a key recommendation of the SERECU exit strategy.
- A regional coordination and ecosystem approach is essential for successful control of TADs as was successfully implemented for the EU-funded AU-IBAR/SERECU project for the final eradication of rinderpest from the Somali ecosystem.
- Epidemiological targeting of surveillance and control activities to increase the impact of interventions and facilitated harmonization and coordination.
- The use of Participatory Disease Search (PDS) in animal health delivery played an important role in disease control and surveillance efforts.
- Use of non-government organizations (NGOs) can enhance the implementation of animal health interventions in remote and conflict prone areas.
- The use of effective and safe vaccines (quality assured by AU-PANVAC) is critical for successful control and eradication of diseases.
- There is need for allocation of national funds to ensure sustainability of surveillance activities.
- Political good will, support and sustained funding by member states and development partners were critical for the eradication of rinderpest.
- Wildlife play an important role in the epidemiology of TADs and zoonoses and the success of disease surveillance and control is enhanced through their integration in the surveillance and control of TADs and zoonoses.
- Sustained structured dialogue between the Horn of Africa countries and trading partners is necessary to create trust and confidence and therefore stabilize livestock trade. The use of a certification system that combines live animal inspection and certification at border points, primary and secondary markets (upstream/pre-quarantine inspection and certification) and quarantines inspection and certification (downstream) provides added value through the continuous control of trade-limiting diseases.
- Animal health interventions in pastoral areas and strategically-located marketing infrastructure play a key role in supporting livelihoods and food security at the household level.
The project will also build on the gains and experiences of projects which have been implemented by IGAD and they include the IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative (IGAD LPI), the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) and the IGAD Livestock Information System.
The lessons learned from these initiatives are:
- A regional livestock policy framework forms a strong basis for revising member states' surveillance and control policies to stimulate and sustain growth and regional integration.
- The IGAD livestock policy hubs and information nodes serve as key entry points in the implementation of disease surveillance and control in member states, especially creating linkages with target groups and stakeholders.
- Downscaling and repackaging of climate prediction products provide useful decision support tools for disease prediction to trigger early detection and response.
- Institutionalization of data and information collection and analysis into national systems is important for sustainability of initiatives beyond lifespans of projects.
In conclusion, the STSD will build on achievements learned from past and on-going regional and national projects and the lessons learnt thereof in order to improve surveillance of trade-related diseases and achieve its set objectives.
Results and Activities
Partners
African Union
The African Union's vision on what should be achieved by 2015 in agriculture, including the livestock sector, has been expressed in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) has been mandated to lead the programme for the livestock sector.
AU-IBAR is a specialized technical office of the AU Commission (AUC) dealing with all aspects of livestock development in Africa. It is affiliated to the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of the Commission and is based in Nairobi with 85 staff (48 professionals). AU-IBAR has developed a strategic plan for 2014-2017 that will support the realization of the livestock sector goals.
IGAD
The Abuja Treaty on the minimum integration plan for the African Union puts regional economic communities (RECs) as the drivers for the process. The AUC and its different departments are mandated to strengthen the RECs' capacities. In line with this, AU-IBAR has been strengthening the institutional capacity of RECs to enable them to effectively play their roles of coordination and harmonization of actions in order to speed up the economic and political integration process. AU-IBAR is contributing to this capacity building process.
IGAD's primary stated mission is "to achieve regional cooperation and economic integration through the promotion of food security, sustainable environmental management, peace and security, intra-regional trade, and development of improved communications infrastructure (IGAD, 2000)". The general goal of IGAD is to achieve economic integration and sustainable development for the sub-region. Cognizant of the social, political and economic importance of dry-lands and livestock to the people of the region, the Secretariat has established an IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD) in response to the decision of the 33rd Council of Ministers and the recommendations of the ministers responsible for livestock development.
The Centre is a specialized institution mandated with technical, operational, institutional and policy coordination and support at sectoral and member state levels to promote and facilitate sustainable and equitable dry lands and livestock development in the IGAD region.
Member States
At national level, countries are now adapting and incorporating their agriculture and rural development strategies and programmes into the CAADP framework, resulting in the national CAADP compacts, which three countries in the region have signed so far. A regional compact is also currently under preparation.
MSs are engaged in the elaboration of programming frameworks for drought resilience and sustainability, comprising six intervention areas conductive to drought resilience and sustainable development. The Country Programming Papers (CPPs) are in most cases based on lessons from post disaster needs assessment (PDNA) conducted between 2008 and 2011; they identify the root causes of vulnerability in ASAL, design prospective multi-sectoral responses and investments as well as adequate national coordination mechanisms to implement the prioritized drought resilience programmes. In addition, the CPPs will also provide regional and cross-border priorities, which will be introduced in a common Regional Programming Framework (RPF) to guide the programmes to be developed and implemented at the regional level. Both the CPPs and the RPF are fundamental elements of the current strategy and are integral part of its action plan and programmes.
Stakeholders
The project beneficiaries will be pastoralists, smallholder livestock keepers, livestock processors and traders, and other value chain actors, who will benefit through improved protection of livestock against major trade-sensitive diseases. The benefits accrued will include enhanced access to livestock markets, improved food security and livelihoods. The ability to withstand and recover from shocks will also be strengthened. Women, given their significant role in small stock production, will constitute a big percentage of the project beneficiaries and will enjoy increased status, confidence, awareness and financial viability. The capacity of IGAD to effectively implement projects at both country and regional levels will be strengthened. The final beneficiaries will be the consumers of livestock products, who will benefit from improved availability and enhanced safety of livestock commodities.
Other target groups and beneficiaries will include the veterinary services, which will benefit from enhanced capacities, means, and strategies to coordinate the execution of disease surveillance, control and improvement of animal health certification. National governments and local authorities will benefit from enhanced revenue generated from improved trade in livestock and livestock products, and relevant stakeholders in the Middle East and other emerging and new markets will be informed about the intervention and the livestock sanitary status in the IGAD MSs.
This project will work with NGOs from the livestock sector in the IGAD region. It will also partner with regional and international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal health (OIE) to ensure synergy and complementarity, and alignment with global frameworks (GF-TADs, International Standards). Disease information and best practices will be shared with other RECs especially COMESA, EAC and UMA in order to contribute towards the harmonization of sanitary measures and facilitate trade between regional blocks.
Communication and Visibility
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| doc_20160307_stsd_brochure_disease_reporting_ad_en.pdf (393.56 KB) | 393.56 KB |
| doc_20160307_stsd_brochure_lits_ad_en.pdf (453.76 KB) | 453.76 KB |
| doc_20160307_stsd_poster_disease_reporting_ad_web_ar.pdf (958.64 KB) | 958.64 KB |
| doc_20160307_stsd_poster_disease_reporting_sample_ad_en.pdf (1.01 MB) | 1.01 MB |
| doc_20160307_stsd_poster_lits_sample_ad_en.pdf (1.13 MB) | 1.13 MB |
| doc_20160307_stsd_poster_lits_ad_web_ar.pdf (960.64 KB) | 960.64 KB |
| doc_20160307_stsd_visibility_roll_up_lits_ad_en.pdf (2.52 MB) | 2.52 MB |
| doc_20160307_stsd_visibility_sticker_ad_en.pdf (315.42 KB) | 315.42 KB |
