Tackling bird flu in Egypt: ILRI and FAO develop manual for practitioners in community-based animal health outreach

The Strengthening Avian Influenza Detection and Response (SAIDR) project in Egypt was implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support efforts by the Government of Egypt to detect and respond to the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

This United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded project conducted a number of training courses in HPAI participatory disease surveillance, later elaborated to be community-based animal health outreach (CAHO), for 108 veterinarians (making 54 teams) in 15 governorates.

It also developed a training manual to serve as a reference guide for veterinarians during and after CAHO training. Although the manual focuses on HPAI, the methods can be easily adapted and applied to address other livestock diseases.

The manual will also be translated into Arabic to further adapt it for use in the Egyptian context.

Download the manual

You may also be interested in reading
Featured publication: Manual for participatory disease surveillance practitioners

ILRI research report features case studies on consumer demand for livestock products in Africa and Asia

Rising developing country demand for livestock products propelled by income and population growth, and by urbanization offers poverty reduction opportunities to actors in the supply chain.

The increase in volumes demanded also features diversification and increased demand for quality attributes. Reliable food safety and information on animal husbandry and geographic origin have long been recognized as value-adding differentiation mechanisms in the developed world.

Anecdotal accounts suggest that this is also the case in developing countries.

However, little consistent rigorously researched evidence has been published on this subject.

This report presents results based on case studies conducted in a number of developing countries in Asia and Africa: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Tunisia, and Vietnam.

An overview of the theoretically consistent methods used and a synthesis of the results obtained in the various case studies are presented first followed by the case studies each describing a study of specific commodities in specific developing country locations.

A consistent set of results emerges, wherein consumers exhibit willingness to pay for quality and safety in animal-origin foods, and within which this willingness to pay is strongest amongst the wealthy and the urban dwellers.

However, the intricacy and variety of quality definition and measurement are demonstrated fully, as they occur between and within countries, commodity groups and other settings.

The key message from the results is the evidence that quality and safety considerations in products of animal origin food provide commercial opportunities for developing country producers, market actors and industry participants.

Access the report here.

Citation
Jabbar MA, Baker D and Fadiga ML. (eds). 2010. Demand for livestock products in developing countries with a focus on quality and safety attributes: Evidence from Asia and Africa. ILRI Research Report No. 24. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya.