Environment management

This summary paper is based on a review of ILRI"s analysis of livestock-climate and poverty. The ILRI discussion paper has assembled and summarized relevant information concerning climate change, livestock and development, and identified what key niches might be. It has also summarised what is known about climate change and its effects on agro-ecosystems, and the current limits to prediction. The discussion paper has highlighted the fact that little is known about the interactions of climate and increasing climate variability with other drivers of change in livestock systems and in broader development trends. There are ongoing activities towards assembling evidence to prove that the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of household responses may be very large. Further, the paper has shown climate change impacts on livestock and livestock impacts on climate. It has also identified knowledge and data gaps that exist within the climate change and livestock research field. The paper ends by looking at the questions, what do we not know, and what should we do about it, with a discussion of recommendations for ILRI activities in the area. The paper makes a candid appeal towards a comprehensive understanding of the context in which decisions about adaptation are made, and the capacity of decision markers to change. Finally, this paper has provided an inquest into climate change research agenda not only for ILRI but also for various organisations involved in climate change related activities.

LEGS is an outcome of a realised failure of numerous interventions in emergencies in pastoral areas to support pastoral livelihoods and build pastoral resilience to cope and adapt with recurrent disasters. It thus provides guidelines for instituting interventions to the two spectrums of disasters that is, slow and fast on-set disasters. The LEGS handbook is sub-divided into eight chapters, each detailing particular standards for various interventions in the livestock sector. This summary paper concerned itself with chapter two; standards common to all livestock emergency interventions. A brief review has been conducted with minimal reference to other literature in the field of disaster management. This summary paper appreciates the great initiative of the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) team in pioneering work towards integrating saving livelihoods consideration in emergency response.

Remote sensing technology and systems have grown more rapidly in the last two and half decades. Advances in remote sensing systems have gained much attention from the academia, researchers, disasters management specialists, business community and public administration to the say the least. As such, there has been a great focus on the benefits that accrue from investing and using remote sensing systems with less attention paid to the shortcomings in real remote sensing environment. This short essay highlights the shortcomings associated with real remote sensing systems. In summary, the shortcomings range from remote sensing system design and launch, data acquisition process, processing and to data utilisation. I encourage for continued move towards open access repositories to leverage some of the shortcomings especially for the developing world.

This discussion paper aimed at expositioning the impacts of climate change on the fragile economies of Sub-Saharan Africa. This work is a result of a desktop research conducted between March and April 2012. Climate change has been observed as one of the greatest challenge of the 21st century facing SSA. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most vulnerable region in the Africa continent due to her weak adaptive capacity orchestrated by inherent poverty. Climate change is premised to have several debilitating impacts including decreased food production, displacement, increased poverty, conflicts and general reduction in production capacity in the region. Although, some projections indicate that some parts of SSA will experience increased agricultural production as a result of increased rainfall. Generally, climate change promises SSA a grimy future. Given these observations, it is incumbent upon SSA countries to take immediate actions towards tackling prevailing climate change impacts whilst planning on how to mitigate future climatic impacts. Doing this requires joint initiatives as climate change is a transboundary ‘enemy’.
Key words: Climate change, economies, impacts, Sub-Saharan Africa

Agriculture is a backbone of most economies in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR). It is a major source of livelihood to over 80% of the rural households in the region.  ESAR has considerable expanse of drylands on the African continent within which both subsistence and commercial agriculture takes place. Since, colonial times Africa’s agriculture has been struggling with booms and collapses spatially distributed but not unique to any country. This review study focused on water productivity in agriculture; challenges and opportunities for smallholder farmers in the drylands of Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). The core objective of this review was to re-energize debate on African agriculture particularly in the ESAR. Two broad objectives constituted the gist of this review: first was to exposition the situation existing among smallholder farmers in dryland ESAR. Secondly; was to bring to the fore challenges and opportunities facing smallholder dryland farmers in ESAR with regard to water productivity. These issues have been addressed broadly in chapters one, two and three. The review basically adopted on desk research and basic comparative discussions with colleagues at University of Nairobi and electronic literature searches.
It is apparent that there is Africa’s agriculture has very limited positive nodes whenever it is discussed. Whereas it is presumed to be the backbone of the economies very few African countries’ budgetary allocation are indicative to this direction. Of the former 53 countries on the continent, only 6 countries had met their CAADP obligations by 2010; a decimal performance indeed. In the ESAR, agriculture is heavily burdened by limited investment in infrastructure, declining donor support, declining soil fertility and climate change is further exacerbating a ghastly situation. Water productivity in most ESAR countries has been declining. In fact staple crops such as maize, bananas, millet, sorghums and cereals have been underperforming. Considerable disparities equally exist between on-station yields and farmer field yields.  Amidst this seemingly hopeless situation, some efforts towards better water productivity have been implemented. In Kenya, several soil and water conservation projects have been implemented. Most of these efforts have been undertaken in the Ukambani region, Kenya.
Undertaking a holistic approach to water productivity management will be critical in increasing adoption of its technologies. Smallholder farmers in the drylands of ESAR need to be appreciated for their indigenous knowledge.  In these knowledge systems lie considerable solutions to increasing water productivity. This because, communities tend to be more compliant with locally formulated regulations and have a high positive perception and values regard to their local systems. Therefore, building capacity in local institutions will contribute to increased water productivity. Moreover, there is need to minimize the classical separation between ‘green’ and ‘blue’ water use characterization.

Garret Hardin's 'tragedy of the commons' thesis published in 1968 became a 'master piece' upon which environmental and development policies were formulated in the 1970s and 1980s. This review concerns itself with the perspective of the 'tragedy of the commons' and how it relates to pastoral livelihood. Case examples to illustrate the discussion are drawn from among the Maasai, Rendile and Gabra of Kenya as well as the Karamojong pastoral group of Uganda. This review has noted that; the theoretical framework provided by Hardin's work unfortunately mislabeled pastoralists as irrational land use managers as such pastoralists were seen as responsible for overstocking, desertification and insecurity. Following this understanding, global viewpoint in the 1970s and 1980s considered pastoralism as a system that was economically inefficient, ecologically dysfunctional and socially backward; pastoralists were thus a people worthy to be civilized and settled. These perspectives hindered the development of pastoralism as an economic system and a resilient complex system operating in an environment of disequilibrium; this affected the pastoral livelihood. Finally, the review shows that there has been a move to re-examine Hardin's perspective, especially following the failure of some multi-million dollar United Nations Projects such as the Integrated Project in Arid Lands (IPAL) instituted in northern Kenya.

Fuelwood is the primary source of household energy in rural areas of Uganda. Findings show that 98.8% of the households use fuelwood for cooking and preserving food with a per capita consumption of 542.32 kg with a preference for acacia tree species. Further, expenditure on food per week, household size, expenditure on charcoal, price of fuelwood and household income are the key determinants of fuelwood demand while distance covered by the household members to collect fuelwood, age, and sex of household head were not statistically significant (P < 0:05). In terms of elasticity, price of fuelwood, distance covered to collect fuelwood, collection by adult females, and expenditure on charcoal posted negative elasticities while household size and weekly food expenditure posted positive elasticities. Therefore, household characteristics are important determinants of fuelwood demand while the elasticity coefficients in this study are stronger than those reported in other studies elsewhere.

This study investigated how rural households cope with firewood scarcity in dryland areas of Eastern Uganda. A household survey was conducted in December 2008 to January 2009, where 490 respondents were randomly interviewed. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also held with community elders and women. Responses were analyzed both descriptively and qualitatively. Findings indicated that 99% of the households used firewood for cooking with a per capita consumption of 542.32 Kilograms. Commonly used tree species included Combretnum molle (42.7%) and Acacia polyacantha willd (18.2%). Over 78% of the households have a preference for acacia tree species for firewood. In particular, Acacia polyacantha willd (60.3%), Acacia hockii (16.9%) and Combretum collinum (9.6%) were the most preferred tree species. The scarcity of firewood supply was eminent from the average distance (2 ± 7 Km) traveled by collectors in search of them. Firewood collectors spent 1 to 10 hours with an average of 3 hours weekly in firewood collection activities. This resulted in per annum estimated opportunity cost of Shillings 432,000 (US 232 dollars) for those who collected on weekly basis and Shillings 1,080,000 shillings (US 580 dollars) for those who collected on daily basis. The frequency of collection decreased as distance increased among 89% of the households. Minority of households (1%) have resorted to deliberately planting trees on their own farms to ease problems of firewood shortage, and to modification of biomass stove so as to use less firewood. Households in their endeavour to circumvent the problem of continued scarcity have resorted to poorer quality tree/bushes for firewood (71.2%), alongside other coping strategies such as cooking meals once a day, avoidance of cooking some food types (70%), and using crop residues as fuel source (60%). There is a need for scaling-up on-farm tree planting as well as the use of improved biomass cook stoves in the region.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of pastoral grazing resources influences the pastoral production system. Obtaining timely and reliable information on the status of these resources will support planning and early response to climatic variability. This study in Karamoja pastoral sub-region of Uganda identified herbaceous and woody forage species in different grazing land cover types, quantified forage in different grazing land covers, analyzed long-term land use/cover change (from 1986 to 2013) and determined the relationship between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and herbaceous biomass. Results showed that the sub-region has over 30 grass species that provide forage. During the wet season, woodlands, grasslands and thickets and shrublands recorded a wet weight of 1,342.5 ± 104.5 kg/ha, 857.5 ± 29.4 kg/ha and 501 ± 43.9 kg/ha, respectively. In the dry season, 542.5 ± 57.6 kg/ha, 273 ± 6.4 kg/ha and 140 ± 9.2 kg/ha were realized in the woodlands, grasslands and thickets and shrublands, respectively. However, in the transitionary season, 276, 512.5 and 529.2 kg/ha were obtained in the woodlands, grasslands and thickets and shrublands accordingly. Similar trends were observed in dry matter biomass in the respective land cover type. Seasonality, land cover type and location accounted for the variations in the observed forage quantities. Analysis of land cover and land use change revealed a tenfold increase in croplands in the last 13 years. The expansion of crop cultivation is attributed to interventions by the Government of Uganda and development partners to promote food security in the sub-region. Heightened bushland encroachment was similarly observed in the last 13 years. The study also found a significant positive relationship between NDVI and herbaceous biomass, indicating that remote sensing offers reliable resource assessment and monitoring options for informing planning and interventions in semi-arid areas.

Background: Non-clinical Theileria parva infection among indigenous cattle occurs upon recovery from primary disease during the first year of life. Continuous exposure to infection through contaminated tick infestations with absence of clinical disease gives rise to endemic stability. Endemic stable populations may become sources of infection if contaminated tick vectors are shared with susceptible exotic cattle. This study aimed at establishing a nationwide distribution of non-clinical T. parva infection among indigenous cattle populations to inform novel control strategies. Methods: The occurrence of non-clinical T. parva infection among apparently healthy 925 indigenous cattle from 209 herds spread out in 10 agro-ecological zones (AEZs) was determined using a nested PCR assay. The influence of AEZ, breed, sex, age and farmers' ranking of ECF importance were interrogated for influence of non-clinical parasite occurrence. Results: The overall prevalence of non-clinical T. parva infection was 30% (278/925). A gradual increase of non-clinical T. parva infection was observed ranging from 17% (95% CI: 0.03-0.23) to 43% (95% CI: 0.3-0.55) in the North Eastern Savannah Grasslands (NESG) to the Western Highland Ranges (WHR) respectively. A similarly associated 18% (95% CI: 0.07-0.28) and 35% (95% CI: 0.3-0.39) non-clinical parasite prevalence was observed among the East African shorthorn Zebu (EASZ) and Ankole cattle respectively. Average herd level non-clinical T. parva prevalence was 28%, ranging from zero to 100%. The likelihood of non-clinical T. parva infection was 35.5% greater in the western highlands compared to the northeastern semi-arid AEZs. Conclusions: Non-clinical T. parva occurs countrywide, structured along patterns of AEZ and breed gradients. These findings may guide policy formulation, deployment of integrated control strategies and local cattle improvement programs.

East Coast fever (ECF) is a fatal sickness affecting cattle populations of eastern, central, and southern Africa. The disease is transmitted by the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, and caused by the protozoan Theileria parva parva, which invades host lymphocytes and promotes their clonal expansion. Importantly, indigenous cattle show tolerance to infection in ECF-endemically stable areas. Here, the putative genetic bases underlying ECF-tolerance were investigated using molecular data and epidemiological information from 823 indigenous cattle from Uganda. Vector distribution and host infection risk were estimated over the study area and subsequently tested as triggers of local adaptation by means of landscape genomics analysis. We identified 41 and seven candidate adaptive loci for tick resistance and infection tolerance, respectively. Among the genes associated with the candidate adaptive loci are PRKG1 and SLA2. PRKG1 was already described as associated with tick resistance in indigenous South African cattle, due to its role into inflammatory response. SLA2 is part of the regulatory pathways involved into lymphocytes' proliferation. Additionally, local ancestry analysis suggested the zebuine origin of the genomic region candidate for tick resistance.

East Coast fever (ECF) is a fatal sickness affecting cattle populations of eastern, central, and southern Africa. The disease is transmitted by the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, and caused by the protozoan Theileria parva parva, which invades host lymphocytes and promotes their clonal expansion. Importantly, indigenous cattle show tolerance to infection in ECF-endemically stable areas. Here, the putative genetic bases underlying ECF-tolerance were investigated using molecular data and epidemiological information from 823 indigenous cattle from Uganda. Vector distribution and host infection risk were estimated over the study area and subsequently tested as triggers of local adaptation by means of landscape genomics analysis. We identified 41 and seven candidate adaptive loci for tick resistance and infection tolerance, respectively. Among the genes associated with the candidate adaptive loci are PRKG1 and SLA2. PRKG1 was already described as associated with tick resistance in in...

A meeting and course supported by the Vice-Presidency for International Affairs of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the National Agricultural Research Organization of Uganda (NARO) were held at the National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI) in Nakyesasa, Wakiso, Uganda on September 2–9, 2019. The activities were conducted within the collaboration program between the Institute of Game and Wildlife Research (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Spain) and NARO for the development of vaccines and other interventions for the control of cattle ticks in Uganda.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Endemic foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) presents a global economic challenge to the livestock industry. The progressive control pathway for FMD (PCP-FMD) specifies successive steps through which a country/region can reduce FMD virus circulation and impact. These steps are reliant on understanding and obtaining knowledge on FMD epidemiology, to inform development of appropriate disease interventions like vaccination and quarantine programs. Currently, Uganda and Tanzania are in the early stages of the PCP-FMD. This review was undertaken to determine FMDV serotype distribution in Uganda and Tanzania between 2003 and 2015. The paper also presents the vaccine strains used in both countries for the same period viz avis the circulating topotypes. The review highlights four (O, A, SAT 1 and SAT 2) and five (O, A, SAT 1, SAT 2 and SAT 3) serotypes that occurred in Uganda and Tanzania respectively in the thirteen year period. Observations revealed that reported circulating serotypes O and A in ...