Department of Social Anthropology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
PLoS One. 2023 Jul 12;18(7):e0287456. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287456. eCollection 2023.
Livestock diseases are a big challenge for the livelihood of pastoralists in sub-Saharan Africa because they reduce livestock productivity and increase mortality. Based on the literature available there is limited understanding on how pastoralists prioritize these diseases in the context of their culture, ecosystems and livelihoods. A study was conducted to provide insights on lay prioritization of animal diseases by pastoralists in Kenya.
A qualitative study was undertaken between March and July 2021. Thirty in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with community members to explore community attitudes on livestock diseases prioritization. Male and female livestock keepers were purposively selected and interviewed and they were all long-term residents of the area. Fourteen key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with professionals from different key sectors to provide detailed stakeholder perspectives on livestock diseases. The interviews were analyzed thematically using the QSR Nvivo software to identify the emerging themes related to the study objectives.
The pastoralists prioritized livestock diseases based on effect on their economic wellbeing, cultural values and utilization of ecosystem services. There were gender variabilities in how diseases were prioritized among the pastoralists. Men cited high priority diseases as foot and mouth disease and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia due to their regular occurrence and effect on livelihood. Notably, women regarded coenuruses as very important because it affected sheep and goats with a high mortality rate and lumpy skin disease because it rendered the meat from the carcasses inedible. Malignant catarrhal fever and trypanosomiasis were noted as some of the common diseases in the livestock-wildlife interface but not cited as priority diseases. Challenges related to disease control in pastoralist contexts exist including limited access to livestock treatment services, inadequate information on disease impact and complex environmental factors.
This study sheds light on the body of knowledge in Kenya regarding livestock diseases and their prioritization by livestock keepers. This could aid in the development of a common disease control framework and prioritization at the local level which would take into consideration the dynamic socio-cultural, ecological, livelihood and economic contexts of the communities.
牲畜疾病是撒哈拉以南非洲牧民生计的一大挑战，因为它们降低了牲畜生产力并增加了死亡率。根据现有文献，对于牧民如何在其文化、生态系统和生计背景下优先考虑这些疾病，人们的理解有限。本研究旨在深入了解肯尼亚牧民对动物疾病的基本看法。
本研究于 2021 年 3 月至 7 月期间进行，采用定性研究方法。通过与社区成员进行 30 次深入访谈和 6 次焦点小组讨论（FGD），探讨社区对牲畜疾病优先排序的态度。牧民按性别进行有针对性的选择和访谈，他们都是该地区的长期居民。与来自不同关键部门的专业人员进行了 14 次关键意见访谈（KII），以提供有关牲畜疾病的详细利益相关者观点。使用 QSR Nvivo 软件对访谈进行主题分析，以确定与研究目标相关的主题。
牧民根据疾病对其经济福利、文化价值观和生态系统服务利用的影响来优先考虑牲畜疾病。牧民在如何优先考虑疾病方面存在性别差异。男性认为口蹄疫和传染性牛胸膜肺炎等疾病优先级较高，因为这些疾病经常发生且对生计有影响。值得注意的是，女性认为锥虫病非常重要，因为它会影响绵羊和山羊，死亡率很高，而裂谷热会使病畜的肉无法食用。恶性卡他热和锥虫病被认为是牲畜-野生动物界面中的一些常见疾病，但未被列为优先疾病。在牧民背景下，与疾病控制相关的挑战包括获得牲畜治疗服务的机会有限、缺乏关于疾病影响的信息以及复杂的环境因素。
本研究阐明了肯尼亚关于牲畜疾病及其在牧民中的优先排序的知识体系。这有助于制定一个共同的疾病控制框架和地方层面的优先排序，该框架将考虑社区动态的社会文化、生态、生计和经济背景。
