A project in Cameroon’s drought-stricken northern region is enabling an increasing number of farmers to take up traditional poultry keeping. In the villages of Bibemi and Djola in Garoua, regular access to the I-2 Newcastle Disease (ND) vaccine is protecting poultry against this fatal disease, and is providing farmers with a complimentary source of income in the face of an erratic climate and dwindling crop yields.

The campaign is run by CAPHAVET, a society of veterinarians in Cameroon, with support from the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicine (GALVmed) – a non-profit company that makes livestock vaccines accessible and affordable to smallholder farmers in Africa and South Asia. CAPHAVET distributes ND vaccinations to poultry keepers every 4 months. According to GALVmed’s poultry project manager, Jean-Narcisse Koffi, “GALVmed has continued to multiply its efforts working with partners on the ground to help smallholder farmers combat this infection, which can kill over 80-90% of poultry.”

Direct and indirect impacts

Hebena Brigitte, a farmer from the Djola village says the programme is improving farmers’ incomes and the wellbeing of their families. “From the sale of my chickens, I am now able to pay my children’s school fees and medical bills. Before, due to the prolonged drought, poor harvests from my vegetable farm left us desperate.”

In the Bibeni village where the project was introduced 2 years ago, farmers are also benefiting from the boost in poultry production. “I rear over 600 chickens and sell about 200 every month. I am also able to sell 10-15 trays of 24 eggs a week. I sold far less when there was no modern vaccine,” says local farmer Kangoube Joel.

Farmers are seeing indirect benefits to vaccinated chickens, which some are saying are at healthier weights and achieving higher market prices. “Before the programme, my chickens weighed less than 2.5 kg, but now, thanks to the vaccine, they weigh about 5 kg when they are ready for market,” attests Joel. At 4-6 months, vaccinated chickens weigh 4-5 kg and sell for between 4,000-6,000 Central African francs (XAF) (US $6-8), while a tray of 24 eggs sells at 1,200 XFA (US $2). Prior to the vaccine, Joel’s chickens sold for between 2,500-3,000 XFA (US $4.06-4.87).

Partner veterinarians from Garoua say more emphasis should be placed on farmer sensitisation to vaccine benefits and broadening vaccine distribution. Habiba Hayatou, a female farmer at Bibemi village says some of her neighbours who weren’t aware of the project initially resisted vaccinating their birds, and suffered heavy losses when the infection broke out. “I vaccinated all my 250 chickens a month before the infection was announced, which is why they all survived,” says Hayatou.

Local health service support

According to Dr Mahamat Mamate, project manager at CAPHAVET in Ngoundere, since 2013, the vaccination programme has been introduced to poultry farmers in the far north, north, northwest and western regions of Cameroon. This has been achieved partly through the continuous training of local vaccinators. Although not veterinary experts, the vaccinators, who are trained by CAPHAVET and Cameroon’s cotton production health service SODECOTON, advise poultry keepers on disease preventive measures. SODECOTON supports smallholder cotton farmers in the area with alternative income generating activities as part of their corporate social responsibility. In the Garoua region alone, over 100 vaccinators have been trained on providing poultry management advice in the local language of Fulfude.

Dr Assana Mouhamadou, the chief of service for veterinary medicine at SODECOTON and coordinator of vaccinator training, says that as well as helping smallholder farmers, these youths earn some additional income through their work. Trained vaccinators purchase vials from SODECOTON containing 50 doses of the vaccine for 2,500 XFA (US $4.06) and administer one dose per chicken for small communities of 15-20 households. In less than five hours, they can administer the vaccine to over 15 households in small villages. The vaccinator receives a contribution of roughly 3,500 XAF (US $5) from each community they deliver the vaccination to.

Upping the uptake

The vaccinating process is simple to understand says Louablbe Robert, a vaccinator in the Pitoa community.
It involves mixing 4 ml of water in a bottle of 5 ml I-2 ND vaccine, which contains 50 doses. Robert vaccinated 700 chickens from 46 households in 2015 and says this number doubled in 2016, indicating that many more families are responding positively to the new vaccine. Bouba Thomas, another vaccinator, points out that the simplicity of the new eye drop procedure is encouraging more farmers to use it. “Even farmers who used to refuse the [former injection] vaccination accept the new method,” he says. The Itanew and Multi-vax injections used 3 years ago were difficult for the local agents to administer and could not be used on chicks. However, the new application is showing positive results for the farmers, explains Dr. Mouhamadou.

ND vaccines are also supplied to commercial chicken farmers in greater volumes to cater for large-scale production of over 1,000 chickens, says Dr Azibe Mazra, CAPHAVET Director General.
But for traditional, backyard poultry farming, where fewer than 200 chickens are reared for subsistence purposes, the smaller package of I-2 is provided. “We supply the smaller packs to remote village areas, with poor road networks, experiencing problems with the infection,” explains Mazra. Over 1.5 million chickens now receive the I-2 ND vaccine every 4 months in the north regions of Cameroon since it was introduced 2 years ago, according to Azibe. And with the intensification of the campaign through increased vaccinator training and sensitisation of many more households to poultry farming, vaccination uptake shows signs of increasing.

Written by Elias Ntungwe Ngalame, WRENmedia consultant

Since July 2016, smallholder farmers in Oyo, Osun and Ogun states in southwest Nigeria have benefited from Newcastle Disease (ND) I-2 poultry vaccination and deworming. Already, the treatment is unlocking the economic potential of poultry production and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Initiated by the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) – a non-profit organisation improving smallholders’ access to livestock vaccines in developing countries – the project was launched to control this highly contagious and lethal infection. Devastating for farmers, ND can kill 80-90% of infected birds. “The aim of the project is to develop sustainable smallholder poultry production in rural communities for improved livelihoods,” says Dr. Samuel Adediran, GALVmed Assistant Director for Market Development and Access.

Positive partnerships

Through GALVmed’s Nigerian partner in project delivery, Bdellium Consult, young people are trained as Community Poultry Agents (CPAs). Providing rural smallholder poultry keepers with information on improved poultry management, vaccination and deworming at an affordable cost, enables CPAs to earn a living while contributing to the improved economic wellbeing and livelihood of smallholder farmers.

Morufat Adedeji, a young mother in Osun state has meaningfully increased her income since becoming a CPA in 2016. She says, “On August 8th, I participated in GALVmed training to become a vaccinator and started enjoying the benefits of the new business immediately. I encouraged a farmer with about 15 birds to vaccinate her flock and after three days, she excitedly told me she had started seeing the positive results of the vaccination and gave me a gift of a grown live chicken.” Having carried out over 1,500 vaccinations in four months at 20 naira (US $0.06) per dose, Adedeji has realised a profit of at least 30,000 naira (US $95) from vaccinations alone. “I have been getting phone calls from people I don’t know, asking me to come and vaccinate their birds. More farmers are now vaccinating and deworming their poultry.”

Another CPA, John Olugbohunmi, is an Ordinary National Diploma graduate in pharmaceutical technology who vaccinated about 500 birds in the last four months of 2016. He purchases vials, each one containing 50 doses, and sells a dose for 10 naira (US $0.03) each. After deducting purchasing costs, he makes a profit of about 250 naira (US $0.79) per vial. John says the CPA work has also provided him with extensive information on poultry keeping, enabling him to educate his clients and consider starting up his own poultry business as an additional form of income.

Spreading the word

Adedeji currently administers around 400 vaccinations and 270 dewormings on average per month, but plans to increase sensitisation of the project to poultry keepers in surrounding towns. The target is to sell 2,500 vaccine doses per month but, with referrals mostly disseminated via word of mouth, further resources are required. “I inform people generally about the programme, but would need more posters and flyers to paste so I can distribute the message further and increase awareness,” says Adedeji.

Lack of awareness is also a problem in Oyo state where Olugbohunmi operates. The free range system practised in this area means poultry wander freely and eat what they can find. Often, the poultry keepers operate a minimum input system with little or no feeding to supplement the fowls’ diets. Mindful of these challenges, Olugbohunmi is intensifying sensitisation on best practices in poultry keeping in addition to promoting ND I-2 vaccination and deworming.

Saving village chickens

One poultry keeper whose 35-bird flock was vaccinated by Adedeji is Rachel Oyebamiji, a tailor and mother of six. Oyebamiji says, “I need the proceeds from selling live chickens to pay my children’s school fees. After my fowls were vaccinated in August, there have been no deaths, no sickness, and they have all grown so big. I also feed my family with some of the eggs and chickens.” Explaining her previous dilemma, she continues, “In 2015, I had 25 birds and about 10 died before I could sell them. The money was barely enough to pay my bills. But since I started using the ND vaccination, none of my fowls have died.”

The vision for the vaccine

According to Dr. Adediran of GALVmed, poultry keeping is an untapped resource that can generate employment for young people in rural and peri-urban areas. “GALVmed supports partners like Bdellium to promote awareness and set-up market networks which facilitate sustainable and affordable access to these and other products for improved livestock health and production,” says Adediran.

The project with Bdellium is GALVmed’s first entry into vaccine delivery in Nigeria, but the overall vision is to make the ND I-2 vaccine for ND control a routine practice among smallholder poultry producers, globally.

Article and photos by Oluyinka Alawode, WRENmedia correspondent

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and Sheep and Goat Pox (SGP) result in major losses in livestock productivity and also death of many small ruminants for farmers in Safèbougou, a Malian village located about 100 km north of Bamako. “Every year, there were cases of sheep pox and PPR,” says Boubacar Dramane Bah, a 65 year old Fulani livestock farmer, standing in the middle of his goat herd. “PPR is a dangerous disease. We know when they are infected, the sick animals cry and, after only two days, they
die,” continues Bah.

PPR and SGP have been recurrent diseases, not just in the region but across Mali where it devastates the local economy which is dependent on livestock. In the Malian Bambara language, the name for PPR is Berebla meaning ‘end of career’. This is due to the high mortality rate during an outbreak, which according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), is between 90-100%. PPR can also cause abortion in female animals. SGP has a slightly lower mortality rate of between 70-90% but also causes huge economic losses resulting from decreased milk production as well as reduced quality of hides and wool.

Vaccines for both PPR and SGP are available separately, but their use has been predominantly limited to government vaccination campaigns once an outbreak occurs, which sometimes may be too late for affected communities. Non-profit company, the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) has been supporting Morocco-based pharmaceutical company, MCI Santé Animale, to trial vaccinations using LYOPOX-PPR (a combined vaccine against both diseases) along with deworming of sheep and goats. With this new combined vaccine, farmers are able to actively manage their livestock’s health by vaccinating against both diseases before an outbreak occurs.

In Safèbougou, houses built of mud bricks dot the land owned by the Fulani – an ethnic pastoralist group whose livestock are passed from father to son. “We live only from the livestock that our parents bequeathed us,” says Bah. Each member of his family (adult men and women) has around 80 goats and sheep. With his family comprising of 10 people, they have around 800 goats and sheep in total.

For these livestock farmers, small ruminants are a critical source of income so the impact of these diseases can be economically devastating. According to Bah, when he sells a goat or a sheep, he can earn XOF 60,000 (about US $100), a sum that is sufficient to cover the monthly expenses of his family.

Until the introduction of this new combined vaccine against SGP and PPR, herders did not vaccinate their animals because of the cost. “For 20 years I have been working with livestock farmers from surrounding villages,” says Aguibou Sylla, the Sirakorola village veterinarian. “For the first time, the farmers have taken the initiative to request this new vaccine.” Sylla is one of the vets who recently took part in the vaccination and deworming project. “We received 10,000 doses of the vaccine and selected 14 surrounding villages to participate in the project, where we vaccinated all small ruminants,” states Sylla.

Bah is pleased with the recent vaccinations in his village. “There are a lot of Fulani herders in the surrounding villages, but since the animals were vaccinated, no one has told me of a single case of PPR or sheep pox,” Bah says. “One year I lost all my animals due to PPR, but the arrival of this new vaccine [LYOPOX-PPR] has saved
my flock so far.”

The vaccinators are also confident that the new vaccine does not result in any common complications in animals, such as abortion in pregnant females. The results of laboratory analysis of blood samples taken from vaccinated animals confirm the livestock farmers’ observations of the efficacy of LYOPOX-PPR. In total, more than 95,000 small ruminants were vaccinated during the project in three regions of Mali: Kayes, Sikasso and Koulikoro.

Dr Moussa Keita, who supervised the vaccination programme in Mali, states that the vaccine is efficient and cost-effective as both diseases are controlled at the same time. The trial found that smallholder herders are willing to pay for this vaccination that was previously provided by the government for free. Further data provided by the trial (which was approved by the regulatory authorities) will also support the vaccine licensing (registration) process in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), which covers 14 countries including Mali. MCI Santé Animale has filed the vaccine registration of LYOPOX-PPR with the UEMOA and when registration is complete the vaccine will be available for all countries in the UEMOA region.

Written by: Soumaila T. Diarra, WRENmedia correspondent

Produced by WRENmedia for GALVmed

 

 

For 33 year old Amrita Kunjur, vaccinating her poultry against Newcastle Disease (ND) has brought an added value to her family. Amrita who lives in the rural hinterland of Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand state in India, has always owned chickens. But due to the prevalence of Ranikhet Disease (Newcastle Disease), the flock never grew to a large enough size to earn a bit of extra income and for regular consumption.

“Earlier, we would hardly eat chicken regularly. We did not earn enough money to buy chickens,” says Amrita.

Amrita and her family exemplified the general condition of tribal families in Jharkhand. Many of their chickens were being wiped out mainly by ND and hardly had enough chickens to eat, let alone sell. For most of India’s tribal families, agriculture is the primary source of livelihood. But due to long dry spells, farming has not been as productive as desired and they often resort to buying food that they once produced. With inadequate income, most families find it extremely challenging to have proper nutritional intake, especially eggs and chicken. Buying chicken for consumption is not prioritised in comparison to other basic household needs. For families to afford to eat chicken, they must be able to keep free range chicken, free from diseases.

Vaccine leads to better nutrition

With the introduction of the Lasota ND vaccine in 2015, backyard poultry has flourished. Amrita’s family, who only managed to keep up to ten chickens before, have now increased their flock size to nearly fifty. As a result, the family can now afford to consume at least one chicken every week, giving them the much needed protein. Plus, considering the market value of one chicken at INR 300-400 (US$ 4.5 – 6) within the locality, the family is saving about INR 1500 (US$ 23), or about 60 percent of their present monthly food budget.

Another case is that of 32-year old Mariam Karkatta, who owns a flock of about 70 chickens, ten times more than she owned before she started vaccinating her chickens.

Being an early adopter, she was one of the first in her community to embrace the vaccination programme. After experiencing the benefits of vaccination first-hand, she actively promoted the vaccine in her village, which resulted in substantial increase in chicken population.

Consumption increases with growth in chicken flock

While Mariam’s family could only consume a few chickens the whole year previously, consumption has gone up to about two chickens every month.

For Mariam, the main concern has been the nutrition of her children. Apart from serving the children a regular diet of chicken, she also serves them chicken soup when they are ill. Additionally, eggs are added into their diet. “My son used to catch the flu easily but now he is healthy,” she remarks with a smile, pointing to her school-going son.

With the growth of her flock, Mariam keeps a healthy food budget. As she doesn’t have to buy chickens, she spends about INR 4000-5000 (US $ 60 – 75) on food every month.

With more and more families vaccinating their poultry against ND, it is evident that nutritional intake is slowly improving as families are now able to add chicken and eggs to their regular diets. This is a major boost to the health of community members, particularly children. It is a proof that, even supporting one parameter such as vaccination, goes a long way in improving the lives of poor rural families.

Written by Prasenjit De of Alternatives for GALVmed