Joint OAU-IBAR-IAEA Workshop on The Establishment of Area Wide and SIT Forum for the ControlEradication of Tsetse Flies..PDF

Livestock make a significant contribution to the economic development process in West and Central Africa. The livestock sub-sector contributes 30-50% to the agricultural Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and about 15-20% of the national GDPs. It is estimated that until the year 2025 the demand for animal products will annually increase by 4% in sub-Saharan Africa. Much of that projected demand could be met by the subhumid and humid zones of West Africa which offer a significant potential for an increase in animal production. However, diseases, notably tsetse-transmitted Trypanosomiasis, are seriously Impairing a profitable livestock production in these zones. Tsetse-transmitted Human African Trypanosomiasis adds to the constraints. Estimates of the annual losses due to animal Trypanosomiasis amount to about US$ 4 billion, whereas annual control costs range from US$ 0.6 to 1.2 billion (FAO, 1994). Livestock development encompasses an entire range of aspects, from the rural poor to accelerated economic use of animals by intensified production. Livestock are central to the livelihood of the rural poor in developing countries in multiple ways (Delgado et al., 1999 Livestock to 2020, The next food revolution). First, they are an important source of cash income. Second, they are one of the assets available to the poor, especially poor women. Third, livestock manure and draft power are vital to the preservation of soil fertility and the sustainable intensification of farming systems in many developing areas facing increasing population density. Fourth, livestock allow the poor to exploit common property resources, such as open grazing areas, in order to earn income. Fifth, livestock products enable farmers to diversify incomes, helping to reduce income variability. Sixth, livestock provide a vital and often the only source of income for the poorest and most marginal of the rural poor, such as pastoralists, sharecroppers and widows. The specialisation of production lads to more diversified production systems, directly responding to demand. These new systems are emerging in increasing numbers as a result of market forces.