Livestock Disease Surveillance and Control in Nigeria
Livestock Disease Surveillance and Control in Nigeria
IKORE, together with a consortium of 4 other international and governmental organizations - CIRAD, IZSVE and NVRI, worked to improve the capacities (human and material) of Nigerian animal health actors (Federal government, NVRI, veterinary services, field veterinarians, Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs), herders, poultry owners) in PPR and NDV surveillance and control.
The purpose of the EU-funded Livestock Disease Surveillance Knowledge Integration (LIDISKI) project is to Integrate Knowledge collected from actors in the animal health sector to provide tools and know-how to implement sustainable surveillance and control strategies against Livestock Diseases especially Newcastle disease (ND) in poultry and Peste des petits Ruminants (PPR) in small ruminants. The project was launched on 4th of March, 2020 to set the ball of activities fully rolling. The news of the launch event was disseminated through the LIDISKI website, a Press Release published in the PUNCH newspaper, and a reportage across several online platforms.
IKORE used various participatory approaches (Focus group discussions, transect walk and journey mapping) to establish the knowledge and skills level of the CAHWs, along with socioeconomics of animal diseases at the farmer level at baseline, and developed a monitoring and evaluation framework which reflects a combination of observations and reported data for tracking the behavior change amongst CAHWs (skills, use of skills to engage farmers and business management practices, including revenue/profit management) and farmers (adoption of animal health services and disease reporting. In the LIDISKI consortium, Ikore deployed a variety of techniques and tools to establish and improve the skills of the commercially driven community animal health workers and other actors within the value chain.
LIDISKI Assesses Animal Health Service providers in 10 states
The LIDISKI project team conducted rapid assessments of the current status of Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs), para-veterinarians, and veterinarians in 10 selected states. Designated members of the project team conducted baseline assessments on the presence of CAHWs in these states, their level of activity, training, and job competence. The assessment was carried out in the first quarter of 2020 in Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Plateau, Kaduna, Borno, Yobe, and Nassarawa states. The team also established the states’ interest in collaborating with LIDISKI if selected, all 10 states visited indicated interest to do so.
The result of the baseline assessment helped generate accurate information on the existing number of CAHWs, Para-veterinarians, and Veterinarians in active practice across the states as well as knowledge about the states that have provided training to their CAHWs and those states that have not. A cumulative of 216 CAHWs, 814 Para-veterinarians, and 825 Veterinarians were recorded to be in active practice across the states. Of the 10 states, 8 have provided some form of training to their CAHWs network, facilitated by the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN), National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) in collaboration with Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and State Department of Veterinary Services (DVS).
Information-Education-Communication (IEC) Materials
For the purpose of awareness for farmers, the LIDISKI team developed information-education-communication (IEC) materials on recognizing the signs of PPR and ND, vaccination, and the availability/sources of vaccines in respective communities. The farmers will be better informed through these IECs on the two diseases and know what to do and who to call when their animals are sick or there is an outbreak in their community.
LIDISKI Develops ODK Tools
Given that LIDISKI seeks to build a sustainable surveillance and control strategy; LIDISKI’s technical team integrated already built simple and easy-to-use data collection tool that will be used by CAHWs for gathering regular information from farmers on various livestock diseases. Data generated by CAHWs will enable state and national governments to make informed decisions and trigger prompt interventions in cases of outbreaks. The tool is being adapted by LIDISKI to enable seamless and real-time disease reporting and improve the country’s response to outbreak of livestock diseases. CAHWs will be equipped and trained on how to use this tool in the coming months.
Peste Des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and Newcastle Disease (ND) Sampling
LIDISKI commenced PPR sampling (collection of tissue samples from suspected PPR cases) in sheep and goats in the pilot states of Plateau and Bauchi. Collection and serotyping new samples for PPR is also took place to identify novel strains of PPR virus circulating in the region. Samples collection were carried out for ND in chickens via passive surveillance due to the Covid-19 pandemic but active surveillance resumed in the year 2021. Although the pandemic slowed down field activities, the project adapted its delivery approach and leveraged technology to carry on with delivering the project’s mandate.
See more on activities carried out on the Project and farmers’ stories of livelihood enhancement in the book of impact and evidence.