RESUMO
Despite large volumes of cattle stocks in the Sahel, most exports of cattle products remain as live animal sales rather than meat. However, there is increased interest amongst donors and governments to increase value-added exports of beef. In this paper, we provide results from a simulation analysis that explores the prospective competitiveness and benefits of exporting beef from Burkina Faso to Ghana rather than live animals. The paper reviews trading patterns in live animals along the corridor and meat imports from overseas destinations to Ghana. Model results highlight limited competitiveness of the main products demanded in destination markets (offals). Market segmentation strategies, infrastructure development, and animal productivity all generate marginal improvements in competitiveness, but not enough to compete with third-country supplies. Only specific, largely external macroeconomic conditions provide for significant improvements in competitiveness. The paper further reveals the relatively modest employment gains associated with increased exports of meat in lieu of live animals. The analysis suggests a re-think on large-scale investments in downstream functions in the value chain, instead illustrating the fundamental role of upstream investments in productivity, animal health, and collective action to promote greater market integration between pastoralists and formal sector buyers.
RESUMO
PPR remains a major challenge to smallholder farmers in Mali. To understand the drivers of low adoption of vaccination by farmers, we analyzed the socio-economic factors influencing farmer WTV during and in the absence of vaccination campaigns. Given that the costs associated with vaccination are largely borne by farmers, we assessed factors that associated with farmer willingness to pay (WTP) more than the current price (150 XOF per dose) by considering two attributes of improvement of the vaccines empirically highlighted as potential leverage points for intervention: access of farmers to vaccines (reducing the distance to the vaccine) and availability of information about the quality of the vaccine (introducing a vaccine viability detector). Data were collected in Mopti and Sikasso regions from 304 producers. Overall (n = 304), 89 percent of respondents vaccinated their herds during official vaccination campaigns. They are associated with receiving information on the campaign calendar more quickly if information is relayed at places of worship and if they have an awareness of the benefits of vaccination, including the protection of third parties. Only 39 percent of respondents vaccinate outside vaccination campaigns. They are positively linked to the credibility of private veterinarians and a recognition of the vital importance of vaccines but are negatively associated with ignorance of vaccination needs and concern about vaccine side-effects. Both distance-effects and quality-tracker effects are associated with farmer willingness to pay more than the current vaccine prices. Farmers practicing semi-intensive production systems are willing to pay 20 percent more than the current vaccine prices, as are users who believe in the beneficial effects of vaccination, users who consider the prices of vaccines as fair, and those who believe that some vaccines are more important than others. Factors that discourage producers from vaccinating or from paying more for vaccination would be more effectively managed with better communication on vaccine benefits through targeted information dissemination campaigns by Malian authorities. Greater price transparency throughout the vaccine production and deployment chain is critical, while timely availability of vaccine tested for viability would increase the willingness to vaccinate while improving access.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: In 2005, the Government of Senegal embarked on a campaign to eliminate a Glossina palpalis gambiensis population from the Niayes area (â¼ 1000 km(2)) under the umbrella of the Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC). The project was considered an ecologically sound approach to intensify cattle production. The elimination strategy includes a suppression phase using insecticide impregnated targets and cattle, and an elimination phase using the sterile insect technique, necessary to eliminate tsetse in this area. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Three main cattle farming systems were identified: a traditional system using trypanotolerant cattle and two "improved" systems using more productive cattle breeds focusing on milk and meat production. In improved farming systems herd size was 45% lower and annual cattle sales were 250 (s.d. 513) per head as compared to 74 (s.d. 38) per head in traditional farming systems (p<10-3). Tsetse distribution significantly impacted the occurrence of these farming systems (p = 0.001), with 34% (s.d. 4%) and 6% (s.d. 4%) of improved systems in the tsetse-free and tsetse-infested areas, respectively. We calculated the potential increases of cattle sales as a result of tsetse elimination considering two scenarios, i.e. a conservative scenario with a 2% annual replacement rate from traditional to improved systems after elimination, and a more realistic scenario with an increased replacement rate of 10% five years after elimination. The final annual increase of cattle sales was estimated at â¼ 2800/km(2) for a total cost of the elimination campaign reaching â¼ 6400/km(2). CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Despite its high cost, the benefit-cost analysis indicated that the project was highly cost-effective, with Internal Rates of Return (IRR) of 9.8% and 19.1% and payback periods of 18 and 13 years for the two scenarios, respectively. In addition to an increase in farmers' income, the benefits of tsetse elimination include a reduction of grazing pressure on the ecosystems.
