MALARIA: mapping resistance

	William Brieger
Date:	Sat, Jul 27, 2013 8:33 am

In Africa using the Internet to map malaria drug resistance for a more effective kill

According to UNICEF, “Malaria kills a child somewhere in the world every minute”.   It is one of the greatest causes of infant mortality, competing with HIV, Tuberculosis and wars.  A new internet-based initiative, the IR Mapper is the latest effort at gathering data on resistance to malaria drugs, especially of insecticides.

The World Health Organization gives a 2010 estimate of 219 million cases of malaria of which 660,000 deaths occurred especially among African children.  Things are however improving and although we may not achieve the 2015 UN estimate for total eradication, there is reason to hope thanks especially to the effort of many in the international community.  This has resulted in a reduction of death from malaria by 25% worldwide and 33% in the African region.

Malaria is transmitted mainly through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito.  The twin-mainstays of control of the disease have therefore been the provision of insecticide-treated bed nets, and the provision of affordable medicines.  Just as adults survive malaria through developing immunity however, the parasite develops resistance to both the insecticides and the medicines in use.

The IR Mapper initiative is an interactive online database of data of “insecticide susceptibility and resistance mechanisms” tests.  Users can view data published from 1954 to date, and can also upload their own data comparing this with available information.  Data on the IR Mapper were sourced from scientific articles and other published reports.  Data is available from more than 50 countries, from Afghanistan to India, from Bangladesh to South Africa. It includes data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, two countries said to account for 40% of the estimated total malaria deaths globally.

IR Mapper was developed by a Kenyan firm; ESRI Eastern Africa using the Microsoft Azure platform, while data collation and proofreading were respectively done by the Switzerland based Vestergaard Fransend and the KEMRI/CDC (a joint project of the Kenyan Medical Research Institute and the US Centre for Disease Control).

- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/harambee/view/12521#sthash.NNapcPlT.dpuf

According to UNICEF, “Malaria kills a child somewhere in the world every minute”.   It is one of the greatest causes of infant mortality, competing with HIV, Tuberculosis and wars.  A new internet-based initiative, the IR Mapper is the latest effort at gathering data on resistance to malaria drugs, especially of insecticides.

The World Health Organization gives a 2010 estimate of 219 million cases of malaria of which 660,000 deaths occurred especially among African children.  Things are however improving and although we may not achieve the 2015 UN estimate for total eradication, there is reason to hope thanks especially to the effort of many in the international community.  This has resulted in a reduction of death from malaria by 25% worldwide and 33% in the African region.

Malaria is transmitted mainly through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito.  The twin-mainstays of control of the disease have therefore been the provision of insecticide-treated bed nets, and the provision of affordable medicines.  Just as adults survive malaria through developing immunity however, the parasite develops resistance to both the insecticides and the medicines in use.

The IR Mapper initiative is an interactive online database of data of “insecticide susceptibility and resistance mechanisms” tests.  Users can view data published from 1954 to date, and can also upload their own data comparing this with available information.  Data on the IR Mapper were sourced from scientific articles and other published reports.  Data is available from more than 50 countries, from Afghanistan to India, from Bangladesh to South Africa. It includes data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, two countries said to account for 40% of the estimated total malaria deaths globally.

IR Mapper was developed by a Kenyan firm; ESRI Eastern Africa using the Microsoft Azure platform, while data collation and proofreading were respectively done by the Switzerland based Vestergaard Fransend and the KEMRI/CDC (a joint project of the Kenyan Medical Research Institute and the US Centre for Disease Control).
- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/harambee/view/12521#sthash.NNapcPlT.dpuf

According to UNICEF, “Malaria kills a child somewhere in the world every minute”.   It is one of the greatest causes of infant mortality, competing with HIV, Tuberculosis and wars.  A new internet-based initiative, the IR Mapper is the latest effort at gathering data on resistance to malaria drugs, especially of insecticides.

The World Health Organization gives a 2010 estimate of 219 million cases of malaria of which 660,000 deaths occurred especially among African children.  Things are however improving and although we may not achieve the 2015 UN estimate for total eradication, there is reason to hope thanks especially to the effort of many in the international community.  This has resulted in a reduction of death from malaria by 25% worldwide and 33% in the African region.

Malaria is transmitted mainly through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito.  The twin-mainstays of control of the disease have therefore been the provision of insecticide-treated bed nets, and the provision of affordable medicines.  Just as adults survive malaria through developing immunity however, the parasite develops resistance to both the insecticides and the medicines in use.

The IR Mapper initiative is an interactive online database of data of “insecticide susceptibility and resistance mechanisms” tests.  Users can view data published from 1954 to date, and can also upload their own data comparing this with available information.  Data on the IR Mapper were sourced from scientific articles and other published reports.  Data is available from more than 50 countries, from Afghanistan to India, from Bangladesh to South Africa. It includes data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, two countries said to account for 40% of the estimated total malaria deaths globally.

IR Mapper was developed by a Kenyan firm; ESRI Eastern Africa using the Microsoft Azure platform, while data collation and proofreading were respectively done by the Switzerland based Vestergaard Fransend and the KEMRI/CDC (a joint project of the Kenyan Medical Research Institute and the US Centre for Disease Control).

- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/harambee/view/12521#sthash.NNapcPlT.dpuf

According to UNICEF, “Malaria kills a child somewhere in the world every minute”.   It is one of the greatest causes of infant mortality, competing with HIV, Tuberculosis and wars.  A new internet-based initiative, the IR Mapper is the latest effort at gathering data on resistance to malaria drugs, especially of insecticides.

The World Health Organization gives a 2010 estimate of 219 million cases of malaria of which 660,000 deaths occurred especially among African children.  Things are however improving and although we may not achieve the 2015 UN estimate for total eradication, there is reason to hope thanks especially to the effort of many in the international community.  This has resulted in a reduction of death from malaria by 25% worldwide and 33% in the African region.

Malaria is transmitted mainly through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito.  The twin-mainstays of control of the disease have therefore been the provision of insecticide-treated bed nets, and the provision of affordable medicines.  Just as adults survive malaria through developing immunity however, the parasite develops resistance to both the insecticides and the medicines in use.

The IR Mapper initiative is an interactive online database of data of “insecticide susceptibility and resistance mechanisms” tests.  Users can view data published from 1954 to date, and can also upload their own data comparing this with available information.  Data on the IR Mapper were sourced from scientific articles and other published reports.  Data is available from more than 50 countries, from Afghanistan to India, from Bangladesh to South Africa. It includes data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, two countries said to account for 40% of the estimated total malaria deaths globally.

IR Mapper was developed by a Kenyan firm; ESRI Eastern Africa using the Microsoft Azure platform, while data collation and proofreading were respectively done by the Switzerland based Vestergaard Fransend and the KEMRI/CDC (a joint project of the Kenyan Medical Research Institute and the US Centre for Disease Control).

- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/harambee/view/12521#sthash.NNapcPlT.dpuf

 

http://www.mercatornet.com/harambee/view/12521

MALARIA: Bats devour mosquitoes, help check malaria

RAMESH KUMAR POUDEL CHITWAN, July 28: To everyone´s surprise, experts say that a bat can swallow over 2,000 mosquitoes in one hour. They say the flying mammal can be a boon for eliminating mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue. As very few people are aware of the benefit from bats, many are given to eating the creature. Moreover, bat meat is a much preferred delicacy among members of the Chepang community. But a recent move by Chepangs in hilly Shaktikhor VDC in Chitwan district indicates that the community is also acknowledging the benefit from bats. For the last one and half years, the Chepangs have been conserving bats instead of eating them. “We realize now that bats are not to be destroyed, but rather preserved. They are good for humans as they protect us from mosquitoes,” said Baburam Chepang, a resident of the VDC. Earlier, bat meat was easily available at almost every lodge or eatry in the hills. But over the years, this item has become rare. “And villagers have also stopped eating bat meat,” informed Baburam. The killing of the flying mammal for food purposes has declined drastically, echoed Govinda Shrestha, chairman of Samphang Community Forest in the VDC. “After it was explained to locals that bats devour insects that destroy crops and even help protect us from mosquitoes, they have been for the preservation of the unique mammal,” said Shrestha. Previously, restuarants in the villages would sell roasted bat for Rs. 40 per piece. The locals became active in bat conservation after a non-government organization launched a public awareness program in the village with the support of the United Nations Development Program. The fruits of the churi plant and its seeds are a major source of income for members of the Chepang community. And these fruits and flowers are much liked by bats. “We encouraged locals to cultivate churi and preserve the flying mammal,” said Keshav Prasad Regmi, director of Yuwa Samaj. Bashu Bidari, a conservationist, informed that the bats available in the hill region of the districts are also known as ´fruit bats´. They live on the churi fruit and flowers. Besides the fruits, the bats also eat small insects and mosquitoes, admitted Bidari. He said various studies have already proved that a bat can consume over 2,000 mosquitoes in an hour.

MALARIA: Know Your Mosquitoes

July 28, 2013 9:54 AM

Bill Brieger

Recently we have seen some online discussion about mosquitoes biting 24/7, and while this is true, it is not all species of mosquitoes that bite all the time - only that anytime during the day/night one might be bitten, but by different types of mosquitoes, carrying different diseases at different times. Below is a chart that tries to draw some of the distinctions among the different types of mosquitoes.  It is not all inclusive. Some references are listed at the end. Finally there is an abstract about possible changes in malaria mosquito biting behaviors, although we should use caution in that this has not been verified universally.

mosquito-types-sm.jpg

Reference Links

How Mosquitoes Work. http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/insects-arachnids/mosquito1.htm

Be vigilant to different mosquito breeding grounds. http://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/safefood/images/Pestnews_9e.pdf

Biological Notes on Mosquitoes. http://www.mosquitoes.org/LifeCycle.html

Mosquito. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito

Anopheles Mosquitoes. http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/

Differentiate Culex, Anopheles and Aedes Mosquitoes. http://profwaqarhussain.blogspot.com/2012/10/differentiate-culexanopheles-and-aedes.html

Flight performance of the malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles atroparvus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15266751

Effects of changing mosquito host searching behaviour on the cost effectiveness of a mass distribution of long-lasting, insecticidal nets: a modelling study. Malaria Journal 2013, 12:215 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-12-215. Olivier JT Briët (oliv...@unibas.ch). Nakul Chitnis (naku...@unibas.ch)

Abstract: Background The effectiveness of long-lasting, insecticidal nets (LLINs) in preventing malaria is threatened by the changing biting behaviour of mosquitoes, from nocturnal and endophagic to crepuscular and exophagic, and by their increasing resistance to insecticides. \

Methods: Using epidemiological stochastic simulation models, we studied the impact of a mass LLIN distribution on Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Specifically, we looked at impact in terms of episodes prevented during the effective life of the batch and in terms of net health benefits (NHB) expressed in disability adjusted life years (DALYs) averted, depending on biting behaviour, resistance (as measured in experimental hut studies), and on pre-intervention transmission levels.

Results: Results were very sensitive to assumptions about the probabilistic nature of host searching behaviour. With a shift towards crepuscular biting, under the assumption that individual mosquitoes repeat their behaviour each gonotrophic cycle, LLIN effectiveness was far less than when individual mosquitoes were assumed to vary their behaviour between gonotrophic cycles. LLIN effectiveness was equally sensitive to variations in host-searching behaviour (if repeated) and to variations in resistance. LLIN effectiveness was most sensitive to preintervention transmission level, with LLINs being least effective at both very low and very

high transmission levels, and most effective at around four infectious bites per adult per year. A single LLIN distribution round remained cost effective, except in transmission settings with a pre-intervention inoculation rate of over 128 bites per year and with resistant mosquitoes that displayed a high proportion (over 40%) of determined crepuscular host searching, where some model variants showed negative NHB.

Conclusions: Shifts towards crepuscular host searching behaviour can be as important in reducing LLIN effectiveness and cost effectiveness as resistance to pyrethroids. As resistance to insecticides is likely to slow down the development of behavioural resistance and vice versa, the two types of resistance are unlikely to occur within the same mosquito population. LLINs are likely cost effective interventions against malaria, even in areas with strong resistance to pyrethroids or where a large proportion of host-mosquito contact occurs during times when LLIN users are not under their nets.

——–

Finally please note that one malaria intervention alone will not solve our problems so we need to apply a mix that includes Nets, Indoor Residual Spraying, Diagnosis with mRDTs, Appropriate treatment with Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy, Intermittent Preventive Treatment, one day a vaccine and others …

View article...

Malaria update is a service of Jhpiego's Senior Malaria Adviser. You can also follow Malaria updates on https://twitter.com/#!/bbbrieger and http://malariamatters.org/

POVERTY: Bill Gates invests $1 million in toilet that recycles human waste

A self-contained sewage recycling system being designed by Duke and Missouri engineers. (Duke University)

A new-fangled toilet, such as the one being rolled out in Toronto -- air conditioned and spacious with stainless steel fittings and a lit interior -- is hardly practical for the developing world.

And yet safer sanitation is a priority for many countries, what with 1.8 million people dying each year of water-borne diseases such as diarrhea.

The benefits of toilets for the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don't have them extend well beyond health issues. In many countries, girls can't go to school because of a lack of toilets. Pit latrines and in-the-open defecation are often norms that convince parents to keep their daughters at home. An affordable toilet, one that fits with local needs, could transform communities in a number of ways.

So the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2011 kicked off a novel competition, offering cash prizes for anyone who could come up with a next-generation toilet for the third world and last August, Gates announced the winners of his "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge."

The California Institute of Technology in the United States won a $100,000 first prize for designing a solar-powered toilet that generates hydrogen and electricity. Loughborough University in the United Kingdom won the $60,000 second place prize for a toilet that produces biological charcoal, minerals, and clean water. University of Toronto in Canada won the third place prize of $40,000 for a toilet that sanitizes feces and urine and recovers resources and clean water. (While U of T professors plan to role out a pilot project in Bangladesh, they aren't ready to showcase its toilet yet, a professor told The Star.)

Now, there's more news on the challenge, this time out of Duke University and the University of Missouri, where researchers have been given $1.18 million to continue developing a toilet that conceivably - wait for it - can recycle sewage into drinking water.

The idea, according to a report by WUNC public radio in North Carolina, features a waste recycling system that fits into a standard shipping container: "people empty their latrines into a sewage receptacle (currently, latrines are often emptied into rivers), the waste gets funnelled through a series of tubes and is pressurized at extreme temperatures, and the byproduct is clean, possibly drinkable water."

Marc Deshusses, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, is leery of saying the system turns human waste into drinking water. At least not yet. “We have to be aware that there are going to be cultural barriers,” he told WUNC.

“We’re not yet saying that this will be drinking water. But even if you can recycle water for flushing, that would be very big progress.”

Rick Westhead is a foreign affairs writer at The Star. He was based in India as the Star’s South Asia bureau chief from 2008 until 2011 and reports on international aid and development. Follow him on Twitter @rwesthead

MALNUTRITION: Bolivia: Quinoa boom a mixed blessing

The UN has proclaimed 2013 the year of Quinoa, but price rises for the healthy grain worry some Bolivians. Michele Bertelli and Javier Sauras Last Modified: 25 Jul 2013 16:19

Challapata, Bolivia - The small village of Challapata hosts the main Quinoa black market in Bolivia. On its dusty streets, indigenous farmers unload dozens of blue, yellow and red sacks, each containing 46kg of the grain. They had been growing Quinoa over the infertile steppes of the Andes - the continental mountain range stretching across South America - for more than 7,000 years before the UN considered its nutritive properties as a means to eradicate malnutrition globally, and proclaimed 2013 as the international year of Quinoa. Rich in protein, minerals and vitamins, the grain has become a world renowned food, and its price has skyrocketed. "Very soon we’ll sell Quinoa to the Pope," said Victor Hugo Vasquez, Bolivia's deputy minister of Rural Development and Land. "We’re establishing the arrangement to achieve the DOP classification in Europe and the trademark in the US."  Bolivia is the largest producer and exporter of this super-crop in the world. According to the Ministry of Rural Development and Land, in 2012 Bolivia produced around 58,000 tonnes , including 26,252 for export, generating a revenue of $79.9m. "Thirty years ago, 46kg cost 20 Bolivianos ($2.90)," Juan Crispín, president of the National Association of Quinoa producers, said. "And we were cultivating only for our own consumption." The Andes, and in particular the Southern Altiplano, have been an area of traditional poverty and deprivation. Four-thousand metres above sea level, the region is characterised by poor soil fertility, lack of rainfall and drastic temperature changes. Only Quinoa and a handful of other plants can survive here. Growing interest International appetite for the region's grain was supposed to improve the lives of local farmers. "Before we lived in thatched huts; now we have brick houses with tiles," said Hugo Choqui, a local Quinoa farmer. Some residents  "have bought vehicles to bring the crops from the fields to the warehouses". Although the production is still in the hands of small and medium sized farmers, Bolivia is trying to get the most from this unexpected asset, and the government aims to expand the cultivated area up to 1 million hectares. Nevertheless, many concerns have arisen related to such an expansion. Researchers and activists have sounded the alarm over the lack of any regional or national planning, which could hurt traditional production organisations and lead to a drop in oil productivity. These newcomers are getting back to their villages thanks to the subsides of the government, breaking the previous organisation of the community. Patricia Molino, campaigner In the Southern Altiplano, Quinoa fields are communal properties administrated by their respective ancestral authorities, which decide about the exploitation of land parcels and any eventual enlargement. "Our organisation is based on our original authorities, which divide the land equally among every citizen," explained Crispin. Many former rural residents turned city dwellers have grabbed the opportunity to start a profitable business, coming back to their original communities, and in some cases causing conflicts. "These newcomers are getting back to their villages thanks to the subsides of the government, breaking the previous organisation of the community," said Bolivian Forum on Environment and Development campaigner Patricia Molino. "They come, seed and go away, without taking part in the community assembly," said Vladimir Orsag, a researcher at San Andres Mayor University. Orsag underlines how the disruption of communal rules, the search for profits through the extension of cropland, and mechanisation can affect the percentage of nitrogen in the soil, which is a key aspect for the growth of Quinoa. Unfortunately, Southern Altiplano lands are low in nitrogen and, according to UMSA engineer Roberto Miranda, their yields are already beginning to diminish. To combat soil degradation, Orsag supports a return to older farming methods used in arid zones: traditional farming, vegetal protections, division of the land into several parcels, and rotation of the sowing. "There have been good practices as long as the institutions were on the field," Orsag said. "But when they left, farmers dropped these innovations." Even the deputy minister Vasquez worries the explosion in exports could cause social problems in the countryside. "I believe a third of Bolivian farmers are still endorsing these ancestral methods, another third use them only partially," he said. "But the last third has abandoned our heritage, and we need to work with this last one." 'Too expensive' Social and soil problems aside, the Quinoa boom has caused another social problem: local price increases. Despite producing such a nutritious food, according to FAO’s State of food insecurity in the world 2012report , Bolivia still faces a 24 percent rate of malnutrition among its population, which means more than two million people are regularly hungry. Stunting in children under five years old has remained at 27 percent nationally, and 37 percent in rural areas of the Andean country, according to a World Food Programme report . The export-driven soar of Quinoa prices has lead to worries that many Bolivians won't be able to afford their traditional food. In 2000, 100kg of Quinoa cost 80 Bolivianos ($11.60), but prices have risen 10-fold to about 800 Bolivianos ($115). On the streets of La Paz, Bolivia's mountain capital, it's quite normal to hear complaints about the price of Quinoa. "I’m not buying it because it’s too expensive, but I always try to get some Quinoa for my little son, especially through the scholar breakfast programme," said Almendra Espinosa, a receptionist at a local hostel. Five years ago, the National Association of Quinoapushed the government to finance prenatal and breastfeeding subsidies. "It was the first peasant’s product to enter into the subsidy," said Molina. Following this programme, Bolivia's government has tried to introduce Quinoa into the daily diet of citizens through special subsidies intended for pregnant mothers and students. For these reasons, deputy minister Vasquez said domestic consumption is growing, despite new export markets. "Three years ago, Bolivians were consuming 4,000 tonnes a year, now it has grown up to 12,000 and we plan to reach 20,000 by the end of this year." The recent UNICEF report Bolivia: Una Victoria posible seemed to endorse Vasquez' claim: child malnutrition levels have been cut by half in the last 20 years, and the country could be one of the few to meet the UN's Millenium Goals. The importance of Quinoa’s consumption in this process is, however, difficult to quantify, but many Bolivian farmers are undoubtably happy their crop is getting so much attention.

MALARIA: Barriers to Interventions to Prevent Malaria in Pregnancy Similar Across Sub-Saharan Africa

July 23, 2013 — The main barriers to the access, delivery, and use of interventions that help to prevent malaria in pregnant women are relatively consistent across sub-Saharan African countries and may provide a helpful checklist to identify the factors influencing uptake of these important interventions, according to a study published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

The analysis by Jenny Hill and colleagues from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and PATH in Seattle, USA, also found that there were more barriers to the uptake of intermittent preventative treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with the drug SP (sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine) than the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs, which protect pregnant women from the bites of infected mosquitoes).

These findings are important as malaria in pregnancy is responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 newborn babies and 10,000 women every year and can also cause miscarriage and preterm delivery yet these simple, inexpensive interventions can prevent malaria.

In their detailed review of 99 appropriate studies of all types, the authors found that key barriers to the provision and uptake of IPTp and ITNs included unclear policy and guidance, general health system issues such as drug shortages, healthcare facility issues such as unavailability of water (so women could take IPTp tablets at the clinic), confusion among health providers about the timing of IPTp doses, and pregnant women delaying antenatal care.

The barriers identified in this study may be helpful as a checklist for use by country malaria programmes and policy-makers to identify factors that influence the uptake of these interventions in their specific location or context.

The authors say: "This analysis provides a comprehensive basis for identifying key bottlenecks in the delivery and uptake of IPTp and ITNs among pregnant women, and for understanding which scale-up interventions have been effective, in order to prioritise which interventions are most likely to have the greatest impact in the short or medium term."

The authors add: "The review also highlights the need for multi-country studies that evaluate targeted or multifaceted interventions aimed to improve the delivery and uptake of IPTp and ITNs.

MALNUTRITION: Nepal: Why livestock matters

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Nepal has one of the highest livestock densities in the world

BELDANGI, 24 July 2013 (IRIN) - Outside his rural home in eastern Nepal, Krishna Prasad Dangal knows all too well the importance of livestock. “These animals mean everything to me,” said the 36-year-old father of three. “Without them, I can’t support my family.” 

His entire livelihood is based on two buffaloes, two oxen, a cow, and six goats, along with whatever he can harvest from his field. He earns 6,000 rupees (US$62) a month. 

He is not alone. According to the government, 87 percent of the country’s 27 million people keep some form of livestock at home. 

“Livestock is closely aligned with Nepal’s very livelihood,” Nar Bahadur Rajwar, director-general of livestock services within Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture Development, told IRIN in Kathmandu. “Without it rural families cannot sustain themselves.” 

With 5.8 heads of livestock and poultry per household, Nepal has one of thehighest ratios of livestock to humans in Asia.

But despite its importance, it is a sector in decline. 

Agricultural productivity in Nepal is one of the lowest in South Asia and has been stagnant in recent years, the result of failure to achieve adequate productivity from the animals, maintain their health, and ensure access to resources for farmers raising livestock, studies show. 

Low productivity of animals

According to the 2012 Nepal Agricultural Development Strategy (ADS), a joint project of Nepal’s ministries of finance and agriculture development and more than a dozen donor agencies, “the core problem of the livestock sub-sector is low productivity of animals.” 

At the same time, given the local tradition of equating wealth with the number of animals one has, many farmers keep animals that are less than productive - despite the obvious cost implications of taking care of them. 

Experts attribute low productivity to historically weak livestock practices by farmers, the genetic inferiority of local breeds, and weak government policies. For example, according to ADS, while breed improvement programmes started more than 50 years ago, a draft breeding policy remains “under review”. 

Farmer behaviour can also impact livestock productivity, they say. 

Photo: Trisha M Shears/Wikimedia Commons

The kids are all right

“Many Nepali farmers have been using the same livestock husbandry practices for generations without thinking systematically about labour costs and inputs, or potential economic benefits from the animals,” said Keshav Prasad Sah, animal wellbeing programme manager at the Nepal office of Heifer International, an organization that provides livestock and technical training to farmers. 

As a result of poor productivity from local animals, each year Nepal imports thousands of stronger breeds from India.

While official figures put goat imports from India at about 500,000 per year, Sah estimates it is closer to one million, given the frequency of undocumented or informal goat trading across the 1,690km porous border. 

“People prefer Indian goats because they have more meat on them. They are a better breed,” Sah explained, saying that while the genetics are a strong factor, a small part of the disparity can be attributed to how the animals are raised. 

Aiming to curb goat imports by up to 30 percent, Heifer runs a month-long training programme for Nepali farmers and community animal health workers (CAHWs) featuring topics ranging from how to find forage and shed construction, to identifying the symptoms of common diseases. 

“Well-managed livestock can change the lives of farmers, their families, and their entire villages and district. It just depends on higher and more stable productivity,” Sah stressed. 

According to government estimates, only 10-20 percent of all livestock are commercially managed - the rest are owned by small farmers. Only poultry figures are higher at 40-45 percent. 

Most villages cannot access vets


Access to health services for livestock remains a major problem for farmers and animal disease has resulted in millions of dollars of economic losses in recent years. 

The problem is compounded by the lack of proper breeding and animal husbandry practices. 

Government agricultural extension service offices have been established in all 75 districts of the country,  but it is estimated they reach only 15 percent of farming households.

And while the Nepal Veterinary Council has registered 698 veterinarians in the country to date, nearly 73 percent of villages remain without government-supported services.

“We’ve made progress, but huge challenges remain. We’re still not in a position to provide services in all areas,” the government’s Rajwar said. 

Most of the more than 5,000 “village animal health workers” (government employees) report being technically ill-equipped and under-utilized by local farmers. 

“We’ve seen farmers who get a new goat and then six months later complain that it’s too skinny and not producing milk. When we visit the farm, we see the goat has no shed and is freezing at night,” said Heifer’s Sah, who is a veterinarian.  “It’s these little details about livestock care and identifying when an animal is sick that we have to bring with the animals we provide,” he said. 

Farming cooperatives - originally touted for helping smallholder farmers access markets - can also pave the way the way for access to veterinary care. 

“Cooperatives are a two-way street: farmers come and report their livestock issues, so a vet can advise during regular visits, and development partners can track trends in what these farmers are complaining about so we can design training programmes effectively,” said Sujan Piya, head of the Agriculture, Food Security and Markets Programme at Practical Action Nepal.

“It’s a much cheaper option for farmers than calling a vet from a city to come to their farm. The difference can be in some cases a farmer paying 50 rupees (50 US cents) instead of several thousand rupees to find out what is wrong with his cow,” Piya explained. 

Land crunch

Nepal’s widespread poor road conditions can limit market access and livestock feed delivery to rural areas, which means farmers have to rely on local fodder products to feed their animals. 

Such isolation can spell danger for livestock holders in rural areas. 

While experts say isolation can be partially mitigated by small-scale animal husbandry, local resources are now being stretched thinly by land inheritance fragmentation practices. 

“The way families divide up land here means every generation has less to work with,” explained Sah, adding that for some communities this can mean migration for grazing becomes necessary, while the land crunch leads others to give up livestock. 


According to the 2012 ADS, “without forage development, livestock production and productivity cannot be increased efficiently.” 

Forage management vital

Farmers turning to local feed sources for their livestock face the historical stigma of grazing being associated with widespread forest degradation, a problem various forestry programmes have been trying to alleviate for decades.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Most rural Nepalese keep poultry at home

“Not too long ago farmers were told by forestry experts that their animals were a problem, that they needed to keep them out of the forests,” explained Shrawan Adhikary of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, “now they’re told goats are good, goats will help them not be poor, so we have to be clear that it’s a full package involving proper forage management.”

And animals’ roles in sustaining farms in rural areas must not be understated, experts warn. 

“Every year there is a call for chemical fertilizer, but what is less visible because the fertilizer often doesn't make it up [into the hills and mountains due to bad roads] is how the depletion of livestock leads to nutrient depletion in the soil as well,” ADS project director Shyam Poudyal explained. 

“When animal numbers go down in these areas, the soil suffers, as does all related farming,” he said. 

At the same time, the degree of isolation some farmers in Nepal’s hills and mountains face, experts say, means their future in farming might rely even more on the animals they raise. 

“Bad roads and other weak infrastructure in remote locations mean mechanization of farming isn’t possible in the foreseeable future,” said Practical Action’s Piya. 

“In many ways, this makes livestock - for their labour and manure - even more important to farmers.” 

Two-thirds of citizens rely on agriculture for their economic well-being and,according to the World Bank,  the sector contributes 40 percent of the country’s GDP. 

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MALNUTRITION: The 'invisible' farmer and the global hunger debate

New agriculture methods may improve efficiency and sustainability.

Last Modified: 21 Jul 2013 11:18


William G Moseley
Prof William G. Moseley is a human-environment and development geographer at Macalester College in Saint Paul.
James M. Lindgren
James M. Lindgren is a student of geology and geography at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. He spent time in Bangladesh while working for a rural development NGO.


Garment workers who survived deadly tragedy with lifelong injuries fear they will never work again. [Al Jazeera]


International development organisations have increasingly sought to incorporate small-scale farmers into the global cash economy as a means to improve household food security and alleviate hunger. Experts argue that greater monetisation of agriculture allows farmers to purchase fertilisers and pesticides (known as inputs), boost productivity, and sell surplus crops.

Such an argument fails to recognise the plethora of farming activity that occurs outside of the market. This non-monetised agriculture may be less risky, often stands a better chance of improving nutrition, and goes completely unrecorded.

Organisations such as the Gates Foundation, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), USAID’s Feed the Future Initiative, and the G8’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, all see greater monetisation of agriculture and the development of so-called ‘value chains’ (links between input suppliers, farmers and markets) as the way forward for alleviating global hunger. While most small-scale farmers clearly need cash to cover household expenses and can benefit from the sale of a small portion of their crop, this is significantly different from a fully monetised farming operation where all inputs and outputs are bought and sold on the market.
'Value chains'
Our experiences on the ground in Mali and Bangladesh illustrate this difference and contradict the new, dominant view on how best to augment food security for the poorest of the poor.

There is no denying that small-scale farmers in southern Mali need cash. They need it to buy medicine, to pay school fees and to travel to the city. In fact, the need for cash drove farmers in southern Mali to grow cotton for the past several decades even when they knew it was bad for the soil and profits were minimal.

Climate brews trouble for Bangladesh tea

Now development experts want to establish stronger value chains for food crops in southern Mali, branching out from the long-standing input and output markets for cotton. Such an approach could be a win-win for small-scale farmers in Mali because it would allow them to earn money and move away from environmentally problematic cotton production. The initiative’s flaw is that it fails to differentiate between the needs of different types of small-scale farmers.

In southern Mali, the top 15 percent - of small-scale farmers - those that cultivate about 20 hectares - do benefit from access to credit, the ability to purchase fertilisers and pesticides, and access to markets. It is this type of farmer whose operations will expand at the expense of neighbors as a result of the renewed push to incorporate small-scale farmers into the global marketplace.

Unfortunately, increasing access to credit and growing dependence on purchased inputs is not as advantageous for the remaining 85 percent of Mali’s poorer small-scale farmers. These farmers frequently fall into debt when they buy inputs on credit, produce less than expected due to inadequate rainfall, and are unable to financially weather a bad year. The result may be a gradual loss of land to larger farmers, migration to the city where jobs are severely lacking, or working for a wealthier neighbor for limited wages. Some economists present this as an inevitable trend of economic progress, as more people are incorporated into the wage workforce and national farm productivity statistics improve.

In contrast to those poor, small-scale farmers that have heeded the advice of development experts and entered the market for purchased inputs, the most successful of this group are those that use agroecological techniques to boost productivity, such as an increased use of compost, the mixing of complimentary crops to manage pests and maintain soil fertility, and the planting of trees in fields to minimize erosion. These farmers have foregone the risk of loans for inputs, yet still produce enough food to feed their families and sell a surplus for cash needs.
Sustainable agriculture
A similar dynamic at play takes place in rural Bangladesh. In Pirojpur, one of the poorer districts of the country, federal agricultural and rural development statistics suggest that this is one of the least developed areas where minimal progress is being made. Here farmers are largely subsistence (or self-provisioning) oriented, selling only a small portion to earn money. These farming communities operate almost entirely outside of any monetized agriculture trade - but are a constant target for market globalisation.

Floods force Bangladesh kids into floating classroom
The Bangladeshi government and NGOs working in the area have stressed improved crop management and storage methods as a way to help farmers better their household food security. Pairing community capacity building with targeted agriculture training, such as the facilitation of farmer groups and multi-cropping systems, has resulted in soaring farm productivity, especially in regions recently ravaged by natural disasters. Improved storage techniques have also helped farmers sell less at harvest time when prices are lower and save more for consumption, or for sale at higher prices, at a later date. These initiatives have allowed struggling communities to simultaneously improve their food security and resiliency in the face of climate change and natural disasters.

Building resilient livelihoods in Bangladesh is critical given that it is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, especially sea level rise. Case studies collected in this district suggest that it is when development actors began to embrace subsistence agriculture as a valid livelihood that families and communities began to experience upturns in other indicators of prosperity, such as gender equity, access to education, affordable healthcare, and quality of life.

The irony is that much of real progress described above for the poorest farmers, both in Mali and Bangladesh, is not captured in the official government statistics used so widely in development circles - because very little of it involves recorded cash transactions. Until agricultural experts and development programs fully understand this measurement drawback they will continue to push for forms of rural development that may actually be counter-productive for the poorest of the poor.

William G. Moseley is Professor, Chair of Geography, and Director of African Studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. He may be found on twitter @WilliamGMoseley

James M. Lindgren is a student of geology and geography at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. He spent time in Bangladesh while working for a rural development NGO.

The views expressed in this article are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

MALARIA: U.S. to support Nigeria malaria prevention, control initiative with $73m

JULY 19, 2013 BY NAN
The acting U.S. Consul-General in Lagos, Mrs Dehab Ghebreab, on Friday said the U.S. Government would support the malaria prevention and control initiative in Nigeria with $73 million (about N11.3 billion).

Ghebreab said this at the launch of “Counterfeit Anti-Malaria Medication Awareness Campaign” in Lagos.

The consul-general said that the gesture was to assist Nigeria in malaria prevention and control.

“The U.S. Government realises that malaria is becoming a major public health problem in Nigeria, where it accounts for more cases and deaths than in other countries.

“There are an estimated 100 million malaria cases with over 300,000 deaths per year in Nigeria.

“Given its devastating impact on the lives of the people, the U.S. Government is, therefore, providing 73 million dollars to support the Nigerian Government’s initiative on malaria prevention and control,’’ she said.

POVERTY: Jordan: Vandalism hampers sanitation efforts in Za’atari camp

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN

Syrian refugees gather around the water tank near their tents when water is delivered once a day in Za'atari camp in northern Jordan

ZA’ATARI CAMP, 19 July 2013 (IRIN) - Supplying adequate drinking water, toilets and washrooms to this huge and rapidly growing camp for Syrian refugees in the Jordanian desert, in the middle of summer, is proving to be a challenge.

Created in a rush for an expected 10,000 people, Za’atari’s population is now more than 10 times that. 

“All the service providers are trying to catch up with this increasing demand,” said Kitka Goyol, a water and sanitation specialist with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN agency responsible for water and sanitation in emergencies. 

New cases of waterborne and water-related diseases are appearing in the camp on a weekly basis, including diarrhoea, scabies, leptospira, rotavirus and hepatitis A. Other communicable diseases related to hygiene conditions have also been reported, including acute jaundice syndrome, chicken pox, lice and measles. While these diseases are often seasonal or endemic in the region to begin with, and are normal for the camp’s population size, there have been alerts issued for measles - one case of which constitutes an outbreak - and the higher-than-usual levels of jaundice, scabies and lice. 

Clinics in the camp say mothers have also been reporting a rise in bloody diarrhoea cases since the beginning of May. According to Za’atari’s disease surveillance report, official tests conducted in early June found watery diarrhoea affected 15 percent of the camp’s population, with 9.7 new cases per 1,000 people in the first week of June. Bloody diarrhoea had a morbidity rate of 1 percent, and an incidence rate of 0.4 new cases per 1,000 people in that week - both below the alert threshold levels and on a downward trend from earlier levels.  Upper respiratory tract infections, meanwhile, affected 20 percent of the camp's population, and its incidence, while decreasing, remained high, at 12.8 cases per 1,000 people that week. 

These diseases have largely been treated and controlled, and in the last two weeks, no alerts have been issued. But with the hot summer temperatures - this is the first full summer at Za’atari camp - these diseases pose a constant threat.

Layout

Aid workers acknowledge that in older parts of the camp, the layout of water and sanitation facilities was poorly planned.

“There were missed opportunities from the way this camp was set up,” Goyol told IRIN. At a new camp being built in Jordan, he said, UNICEF is intending to create more, but smaller, water and sanitation blocks that would serve fewer people in family compounds. 

In addition, Za’atari lies on top of an aquifer, making the construction of a sewage system impossible. 

Every day nearly four million litres of water are pumped out of the shrinking aquifer, in one of the most water-poor countries in the world, and dispatched to the camp.

Contracted drivers truck in the water - enough for 35 litres per person per day - to some 2,000 public tanks spread across the camp’s 5sqkm, the size of about 600 football fields. They often find refugees already waiting to fill their buckets, sometimes in rowdy crowds where elderly women scream at young boys to wait their turn. 

“Some people get water; some don’t,” said one woman.

Vandalism, theft

But providing water and sanitation in the camp also means fighting theft, vandalism, aggression and, in some cases, violence.

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN

Drivers are sometimes threatened or have their trucks hijacked

Drivers trucking water are intimidated on a daily basis, say aid workers. About once a month, their trucks are hijacked - sometimes causing injuries - and redirected to tanks that refugees have stolen or purchased for private use in or near their tents and trailers. (According to a recent assessment by the NGOs REACH and ACTED, 8 percent of households have private water storage). 

Those drivers that do make it to public tanks may find them damaged or destroyed after a riot, sometimes leaking water.

Taps are vandalized daily, Goyol says, so even if the tank is intact, the tap may be broken or missing, with water leaking even more (refugees say they remove the taps so that the water pours faster). In some cases, they are removed or stolen within 20 minutes of their installation at the public bathrooms. Water specialists have had to try using different types of taps to see which will last the longest. 

Refugees say the water is not clean and has made their children sick. Aid workers often drink the water themselves to prove to refugees that it is safe. Rather, they say, the problem is unsafe hygiene practices. 

Not enough bathrooms
On this front, refugees say there are not enough bathrooms (toilets and washrooms) for the number of residents in the camp. Some say they have to walk up to 2km to get to a bathroom and wait in line for up to an hour, only to find no water in the taps.

A refugee named Marwan Ali told IRIN he built his own latrine (whether using materials stolen or purchased on the black market is unclear) because he did not want his daughters walking to the public toilets.

“Where is a woman’s dignity if she has to carry a bucket of water and walk between tents each time she wants to use the toilet?” he said. 

One female refugee told IRIN she worried about potential harassment while walking alone in the dark. (Solar panels have since been added to bathrooms so they are lit at night).


The number of latrines does meet the SPHERE standard - the most widely used humanitarian standard - of one latrine per 50 people in the first phase of an emergency. “Progressively, we are working towards” the standard of 1 latrine per 20 people for stable camp conditions, Goyol said. 

He estimates nearly one-third of refugees have built their own toilets next to their tents, the majority of them stealing metal sheets and cement blocks from the public bathrooms to do so. UNICEF estimates it has lost US$1.5 million in damage to its water and sanitation facilities. 

“We all have individual needs,” says Goyol, “but there is the common good.” 

Some refugees erect their own makeshift bathrooms just metres from the public toilet and washing blocks. Black pools of water seep out of their tents, forming swamp-like conditions - ideal breeding grounds for flies and other disease vectors.

Bashar’s bathrooms

One man, Ibrahim el-Baridi, who described himself as a member of one of the camp’s refugee committees responsible for bathrooms, said many public bathrooms were unusable, with large rocks thrown into toilet bowls. He blamed supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who he said had infiltrated the camp to cause trouble. 

If the condition of some latrines is “appalling”, as one aid worker put it, even the best of the functioning public bathrooms leave something to be desired, with only one functional tap, faeces on the ground and flies abuzz. Baby nappies block the sewage pipes. 

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN

Dirty water seeps out of a make-shift washroom attached to a refugee's tent in Za'atari camp for Syrians, northern Jordan. These soak pits pose health risks and could pollute underground water aquifers.

Many of the refugees, accustomed to high standards of sanitation and hygiene, have struggled to adapt to very different conditions in the camp. Some have requested that aid workers educate them on hygiene promotion.

Community mobilization

As part of a community mapping program, households are visited on a weekly basis to monitor disease outbreaks. 

In June, UNICEF trained 125 volunteer health workers in the camp about safe hygiene practices. The refugees then led an eight-day campaign [ http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/jordan_69721.html ], walking tent to tent across the entire camp to raise awareness of these practices.

“We do this work because we consider the camp as one home and the children as our own,” Mohamed Homsi, one of the health workers, told UNICEF. “When there’s a crack in a ship, the ship will sink.” 

The NGO ACTED also sends community mobilizers across the camp to promote good hygiene. 

UNICEF now recognizes this kind of community mobilization is essential to engage the refugees, involve them in project development, and give them a sense of ownership in the process, making them less willing to destroy what they themselves have built. 

As such, instead of paying individual refugees to clean the bathroom facilities through cash-for-work projects, it has created refugee committees responsible for operating and maintaining the facilities. Aid workers provide the brushes and detergents, and refugees rotate the cleaning duties among themselves. 

In some cases, this “ownership”, as Goyal puts it, has led to better treatment of the facilities. In others, the damage continues. 

In a pilot project in one part of the camp, Oxfam has started to pipe water from a central tank to the bathroom taps. UNICEF is also in the process of connecting pumping equipment for two existing boreholes to the public power supply (currently, the only option is to run the pumps off expensive generators), and has plans for a camp-wide network of pipes to carry the water.

In addition to these plans to improve the efficiency of water delivery, UNICEF is trying to promote water conservation, because, as Goyal says, “it’s not how much water you deliver. It’s how you use it.” 

Click here for more IRIN reporting on how a lack of access to water, sanitation and proper hygiene is threatening Syrians and others across the region. 

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