Emergency Support for the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Malawi - TCP/MLW/3901
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The agriculture sector in Malawi employs over three quarters of the total population, generating over 80 percent of national export earnings and contributing 23 percent of GDP. Official records from the Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development (DAHLD) indicate that livestock accounts for a significant proportion (around 80 percent) of food for rural families in the country, as well as a livelihood alternative. With commercial traders accounting for only 15 percent of all livestock owners, a large proportion of owners practise subsistence livestock farming, often under communal grazing. In this context, animal diseases have a significant impact upon the country’s rural economies and livelihoods, making it critical to prevent and manage outbreaks. In Malawi, different transboundary animal diseases (TADs) such as Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and African swine fever virus (ASFV) have the potential to affect thousands of small-scale farmers and animal-rearing communities, while having broader repercussions on the country’s economy, trade and food security. Control of TADs requires cooperation and collaboration at different levels and with neighbouring countries, in order to curb risks and mitigate the negative consequences of outbreaks at regional level. In an effort to protect the livestock sector, the DAHLD sought the technical and financial assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to contain the outbreak of FMD caused by serotype O, which had occurred for the first time in Malawi.