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Abstract


Tsetse-transmitted animal trypanosomiasis is a complex disease that directly and indirectly has an impact on Africa’s crop and livestock agriculture. Over the past decade awareness of this fact has generated a drive and political will towards solving the problem at the continental scale. In this paper the authors use state-of-the-art spatial tools to study how, for West Africa, the variety of agro-ecological settings may have an impact on decision support towards that goal.

First, the authors describe an approach towards selecting priority areas for area-wide tsetse and trypanosomiasis (T&T) control, based on the mapping of:

Priority areas are identified in the northern band of the tsetse belt where:

Second, three case studies are discussed: the Togo national study (FAO project GCP-TOG-013-BEL), and two studies in Burkina Faso - the Sideradougou pastoral area (Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement [CIRAD] - Centre International de Recherche-Développement sur l’Élevage en Zone Subhumide [CIRDES]) project) and the Mouhoun river basin (FAO project GCP-RAF-347-BEL). These three studies aimed at developing decision-support tools for the planning and implementation of integrated T&T control, based on holistic data sets on the spatial epidemiology of T&T (vectors, pathogens, hosts) and the impact of T&T on people, their environment and their livestock production systems. The studies are complementary, and therefore highly relevant to this paper, with regard to:

It is clear from the results of the case studies that any decision support towards T&T management in West Africa must consider the fact that the epidemiology of tsetse-transmitted trypanosomiasis varies with varying climatic settings and land-use patterns. Therefore, the sustainable management of this major threat to animal health will have to be systematic, stepwise and pragmatic. Based on the experience gained in Togo and Burkina Faso a list of the data inputs needed to achieve such a high level of integration is given in Figure 15 (page 45).

It is concluded that an integrated T&T management approach relies on the quality of an extensive list of field data (vector, pathogen, host, livestock system, agro-ecological setting) and the detailed knowledge of geo-epidemiological patterns. We must remain cautious when making choices and avoid being lured into choosing overly simple solutions for complex problems.

Although in West Africa elimination of the fly and the disease may be achievable in the drier parts at the northern limits of the tsetse belt, several crucial assumptions remain to be validated through field research. These include investigations on fly fragmentation, population isolation and fly dispersion (e.g. Mouhoun model).

In the more humid parts, the most viable option remains an integrated approach combining:


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