Livestock for life

A new initiative aims to find ways of providing practical help to livestock owners in the world's most impoverished countries.

What is your most prized possession? The one thing that you would never want to sell? Most of us have something - perhaps a piece of jewellery that belonged to parents or grandparents; a fine painting or vase; a record or CD collection. Whatever it might be, it is a personal treasure that is valued often more than its actual worth. These things can be a reassuring sign of prosperity: we keep what is valuable to us safe in the knowledge that we are unlikely ever to have to sell them for something more basic, like food. In fact, in prosperous countries, like the UK, we constantly collect things, buying new ones, upgrading old ones, all of which bring a little pleasure to our lives, giving us a sense of achievement and pride, knowing that we have worked hard and earned some reward.

In poorer countries, people are no different. They too want to break the drudgery of their lives; they want prosperity and wealth as much as any of us do; and they want to achieve this themselves, so that they can also feel pride in their successes, knowing that they have worked hard to obtain them. And in such circumstances, what is a prized possession? What is the thing that they own that would not want to sell? In poor, rural communities, it will often be their livestock - be it just one goat, one ox or one chicken. For them, livestock is more than just a source of food. It is a pathway out of poverty.

For those of us in prosperous countries, where the closest we get to livestock is the meat counter in a supermarket, we might understandably assume that, to a person in a poor country, a chicken would primarily be a source of meat. In fact, eating their livestock is literally the last thing they would do.

The possession of a farm animal for a poor family gives them opportunity. They will, of course, use eggs or milk from their animal for food, but they can also sell or barter with any excess products for other needs. They can breed the animal and, over a period of time, they and their community build up their livestock holding. The livestock become a bank balance for the family, leading to better health, better opportunities and better life. Take the example of Mr and Mrs Kinoti – theirs is a perfect example of the value of healthy livestock for the development of a sustainable way of life for the rural poor.

Dreading disease

Yet one of the main enemies to such sustainable solutions is disease. It takes just one outbreak of a major infection to devastate the livestock and the community. One only has to look at the havoc wreaked by the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK to appreciate the significance of such an event. It is not difficult to imagine the effect of a similar outbreak in poor, rural communities, where there is only limited or no access to veterinary services, where alternative food sources and livelihoods are almost non-existent, and where no welfare state back-up exists.

In these communities, it is crucial to prevent or minimize livestock infections, and to be able to diagnose a disease accurately and treat it properly. Yet for many livestock diseases in tropical countries, the means just do not exist to do much of this.

How can a disease be controlled if there is only a limited understanding of how it is transmitted or what its natural reservoir might be? How can it be eradicated if there are no vaccines, diagnostics or treatments, or if those that do exist are not affordable or will not function in hot climates? And even if all these products did exist, but there are no vets or animal health practitioners to administer them, how can the health of livestock and so the health of the community be maintained?

In recognition of this need, the Wellcome Trust has launched a new initiative, 'Animal Health in the Developing World - Livestock for Life'. It has set aside £25 million to support a spectrum of activities that will focus on livestock diseases in developing countries and their impact on human health and wellbeing. The Trust will fund biomedical research:

• to improve understanding of the distribution and transmission of these diseases so that control mechanisms can be developed; and

• to advance the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics, designed to work effectively in developing countries.

The emphasis of the initiative is very much on practicalities, on actual needs and real solutions. The Trust will therefore also fund other complementary activities aimed at strengthening the translation of research outcomes into practical benefits, for example, by encouraging partnerships between scientists and the beneficiaries of research. One goal is to encourage scientists to work with local livestock keepers, animal health practitioners and community policy makers, to help identify their real needs and research priorities. The Trust will also support the education and training of animal health practitioners to facilitate knowledge transfer and the uptake of animal health technologies.

Of course, the Wellcome Trust has just launched its initiative, but, as the FARM-Africa example shows, there are many other agencies with significant expertise already working on similar issues relating to livestock in developing countries, and the Trust aims to complement the work of other organizations. Therefore, the Trust is open to other ideas and possible partnerships that would provide alternative means by which the aims of the initiative can be realized.

The challenge that Livestock for Life sets out to address is immense, and solutions will not be easy or immediate, but as the story of Mr and Mrs Kinoti shows, there is a pathway out of poverty led by healthy livestock.

A pathway out of poverty

Mr and Mrs Kinoti and their family live in Meru, Kenya. This is an area regularly affected by outbreaks of malaria and the main reason why many landowners have been driven away; the Kinotis, however, decided to stay since they had nowhere else to go. In 1996, Mr Kinoti was one of the poorest farmers in the area, surviving as a casual labourer and selling farm products. He had owned two goats in the past, but they had died due to the lack of veterinary support.

In 1996, in its Meru Dairy Goat and Animal Healthcare Project, FARM-Africa encouraged the establishment of a self-help group in Meru for the local farmers. On 23 December 1996, a pure-bred Toggenburg dairy goat was received from FARM-Africa. Native goats produce very little milk, but when crossed with the Toggenburg, the offspring are robust animals that produce high milk yields. FARM-Africa also trained a member of the group as a community animal health worker to provide basic animal healthcare services to local farmers and to advise them on where to go for more serious health issues.

Mr Kinoti joined the self-help group and, as one of the poorest farmers, he received a local goat on loan as part of the FARM-Africa project. He bred this with the Toggenburg, producing cross-breeds, which he kept and cared for, and used for further breeding. By 1998, he sold his first cross-bred goat for KSh8000 (around £70) - more than the cost of a cow or bull.

Now, in 2003, he has 16 cross-bred goats, valued at KSh65 000 (around £550), a cross-breed commanding prices up to five times that of a local goat. Mr and Mrs Kinoti currently have a waiting list of five people who have placed orders for their goats, the high demand reflecting their quality. The health of their herd of goats has been maintained through membership of the self-help group, who support each other and share what they have learnt, and through access to veterinary aid from the community animal health worker.

The money from the goats has allowed Mr and Mrs Kinoti to develop their farm, and they use their land for crops. Mr and Mrs Kinoti are true partners - when working on the farm, Mr Kinoti focuses on livestock, while his wife concentrates on growing crops, in addition to managing more than ten employees. Casual labourers are very happy to work with the Kinotis and even copy some of their ideas, learning as they work. As a result, Mrs Kinoti views her farm as a 'training centre' for her workers.

Before the project, in 1996, Mr Kinoti was a subsistence farmer who couldn't afford to send his five children to school. Now his younger children attend school, and he has helped his older children to set up their own businesses. His elder daughter runs a kiosk in Meru Town selling consumer goods, and is now self-sufficient, and his other two sons run a barbecue grill and cattle-slaughtering venture. His income brings him security and peace of mind: should the need arise, he can even pay medical bills.

Mr and Mrs Kinoti realize that their family has come a long way. Initially they had nothing, but the goat and the support from the FARM-Africa project was the start that they needed, and they have used it to make for themselves a prosperous, sustainable and enjoyable life. And as their fame spreads, the number of visitors (many from overseas) that they receive continues to rise. Their main worry now seems to be the number of times they have to retell their story.

FARM-Africa

FARM-Africa is an international charity that works with poor, rural African farmers, providing practical help to enable them to develop a sustainable way of life so that future generations do not have to depend on handouts of aid. More information on the work of FARM-Africa and how to make donations can be found at FARM-Africa website.

The Wellcome Trust thanks FARM-Africa and Mr and Mrs Kinoti for allowing the example of their work to be printed in Wellcome News. For more information on the Meru Dairy Goat and Animal Healthcare Project, which worked with the Kinotis, contact:
In the UK:
Laura Greenwood
T +44 (0)20 7430 0440
E laurag@farmafrica.org.uk

In Kenya:
Patrick Mutia
T +254 1 642 0906
E patrick@farm-africa.org