Response to Containment of Tick Resistance and Tick-Borne Diseases in Uganda - TCP/UGA/3702
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
Autores
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
FAO ;
Resumen
Descripción
Agriculture is an extremely important sector in Uganda, employing 66 percent of the labour force and accounting for 53 percent of the country’s exports. Women make up the majority of agriculture workers, at 77 percent. The sector is a key contributor to poverty reduction, and it provides food and nutrition security, as well as raw materials for variousindustries. The sector also accounts for more than 24 percent of Uganda’s national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and nine percent of this total is attributed to a single subsector: livestock. Roughly 2.2 million households work in livestock production, on smallholder dairy farms, and in crop-livestock and livestock-dependent systems. The subsector provides crucial employment opportunities and food to the Ugandan population. For these reasons, it was named as one of the priority development areas of the Government of Uganda, as indicated in the 2015 – 2020 Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan (ASSP). Despite its importance to the economy and food security of the country, the livestock subsector suffers from low rates of productivity, owing in large part to pests and the diseases they carry. Major annual losses of approximately USD 86.3 million are reported, with 70 percent of these losses being caused mainly by ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs). The control of ticks and TBDs causes further economic strain, as it makes up more than 60 percent of spending among farms and businesses that raise and keep cattle. Some of these economic losses come about because of the damage that tick bites can cause to the hides and skins of cattle. If enough ticks prey on an animal by feeding on its blood, that animal can also lose weight and become anemic. The most significant losses, however, are brought about by the transmission of diseases to livestock. Ticks carry protozoan and rickettsial diseases, as well as viruses. It is estimated that they impact about 80 percent of the world’s cattle population. These diseases have a detrimental impact on the livelihoods and nutrition of poor farmers and rural people all over the world.