Economic impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases on cattle production systems around Lake Mburo National Park in South Western Uganda

Abstract

A longitudinal economic impact study of Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases (TTBDs) in cattle around Lake Mburo National Park (LMNP) was done. Impact was valued using Uganda Shilling (Ug. Shs) (exchange rate of 1USD to Ug. Shs 1,420). The costs for controlling TTBDs was constituting 85.6 +/- 3.2% (pastoral) and 73.8 +/- 4.2% (ranches) to total disease control costs. The main costs were on tick control, constituting 83.1% (ranches) and 87.9% (pastoral). In pastoral herds, the costs were negatively correlated to herd size (r = -0.99). The mean annual cost per cattle for controlling TTBDs for ranch and pastoral herds was similar Ug. Shs 5,900 +/- 545. The mean annual Economic Cost (EC) of TTBDs per cattle was not significantly different (p > 0.05) between pastoral (Ug. Shs 6,700 +/- 580) and ranch herds (Ug. Shs 7,600 +/- 970). The mean annual EC per cattle was negatively correlated (r = -0.99) with herd size in pastoral systems contrary to positive correlation (r = 0.99) observed among the ranches. The major component of EC of TTBDs of 88.2% (pastoral) and 78.6% (ranches) was due to their control. The other component was owed to mortality, which was positively correlated (p < 0.01) to the ranch herd size. The total annual EC of TTBDs around LMNP was Ug. Shs 437,754,600 (USD 308,144).

Socio-economic factors influencing the use of acaricides on livestock: a case study of the pastoralist communities of Nakasongola District, Central Uganda

“…This agrees with observations made earlier by Ocaido et al (2003) and Mugisha et al (2005) that on average, farmers used less than 3 litres of acaricide wash per animal. In order to achieve thorough wetting of the animal, at least 10 litres of wash should be used per head of cattle (FAO 1998).…”

“…They believed that routine spraying of cattle make them acquire a shiny and good-looking coat hence enhancing their social esteem amongst fellow pastoralists. A similar observation was made by Ocaido et al (2003) in South-western Uganda and Otim et al (2004) in Sembabule in Uganda. The non-traditional cattle-keepers kept cattle mainly as a capital asset which they converted to liquid cash when need arose, for instance if they required money to pay children's school fees or medical bills.…”

The impact of HIV on agricultural livelihoods in southern Uganda and the challenges of attribution

“…As a result of this and the decrease in the supply of labour to take livestock for grazing (this is often done by children or older people) as well as a shortage of open land for free grazing cattle, household cattle holding has decreased (Hunter et al. 1993; Ocaido et al. 2009).…”

“…There have also been significant changes in the production areas and varieties of cash crops and livestock holdings in the districts over the past 20 years. There have been declines in the production areas per household of previously significant components of agriculture: cattle, bees and English ⁄ Irish potatoes (Hunter et al 1993;Haslwimmer 1994;Vega-Sanchez et al 2000;Ogaba & Akongo 2002;Mugisha et al 2008;Ocaido et al 2009). Meanwhile, there have been increases in the contributions of vanilla, forestry and pig keeping to the region's agricultural economy (Buyinza & Mukasa 2007).…”

Diseases affecting livestock production mediate landscape scale of a changing pasture regime in Lake Mburo Conservation Area, Uganda

“…The dilemma is, "pastoralists around Lake Mburo National Park are forced by their situation to either choose to reduce their herd size and ease pressure on range resources, or increase their herd size to manage risks associated with diseases and hang on being pastoralists". Partially informed by previous studies, showing that livestock diseases are the most economic constraint affecting livestock farmers (Ocaido et al, 2009) in the region, pastoralist households in areas perceived to be most affected by diseases attributed to wild animals have responded by increasing their herd size. Thus, overstocking is increasingly becoming a common practice around LMNP.…”