Cattle eradication and malnutrition in under five's: a natural experiment in Botswana.

BACKGROUND: An outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in the northern part of Botswana in 1996 was contained through eradication of all heads of cattle in Ngamiland district (Ngami East and West) in the period April 1996 to February 1997. This disaster posed a serious threat to those who depended on the livestock sector for sustenance and to the nutrition security of the population, especially the under five's. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the cattle eradication on the nutritional status of children. METHOD: A secondary analysis of existing data from the Botswana National Nutrition Surveillance System enabled us to study the impact of this disaster on malnutrition in the under five's by comparing quarterly malnutrition rates for Ngami East with national figures for the period of January 1995 to March 1998. RESULTS: While the risk for malnutrition among under five's in Ngami East increased from 0.046 to 0.105 during the study period, giving a relative risk of 2.299, the increase in risk for Botswana was from 0.133 to 0.139, giving a relative risk of 1.048. The attributable risk for cattle eradication impact on malnutrition was 4.6% for Botswana and 54.4% for Ngami East. CONCLUSION: The cattle eradication impacted seriously on the food and nutrition security of the under five's in Ngami East, compared with the country as a whole.

At the end of the day. The socioeconomic impacts of eradicating contagious bovine pleuropneumonia from Botswana.

In February 1995, an outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia occurred in the Northwest district of Ngamiland, Botswana. The government of Botswana determined to eradicate the disease by depopulating the entire district of cattle. In total, 320,000 cattle were destroyed. Measures were put in place by government to mitigate the effects of eradication on the affected communities and household monitoring was instituted. This paper reports the major findings of the monitoring exercise. It is observed that although 45% of households said they would rely on arable cropping as a coping strategy, only 29% expected to produce sufficient food for themselves. Use of permanent, male agricultural labor fell by 33%, whereas both permanent and temporary female labor increased substantially. Although eight out of ten respondents planned to rebuild their herds, routine household demands on the generally small cash compensation received suggest that economic recovery for many of Ngamiland's households is likely to be prolonged. It is recommended that relief programmes continue but with improved targeting. Objective indicators are needed to determine when government assistance can be terminated.