Field report on the Participatory Training of smallholder pig farmers on biosecurity measures for the control of African swine fever (ASF) in Masaka and Lira districts of Uganda
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Date
2015
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International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
Abstract
African swine fever (ASF) is among the major production constraints for smallholder pig farmers in Uganda (Atuhaire et al., 2013, Dione et al., 2014). There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease. The only control measure is implementation of biosecurity along the pig value chain. However, adoption and implementation of biosecurity measures is challenging in the current context of pig production, because of the nature of the production systems which are characterized by poor housing, husbandry practices and hygiene during pig handling and slaughtering process. Low level of knowledge and awareness of value chain actors about the ways to control the disease is also a big constraint (Dione et al., 2014) . Following an ASF outbreak, farmers operate “panic sales” and slaughters in order to avoid financial losses attributed the death of the pigs. Such practices contribute to the spread of the diseases within and outside their community. However, farmers complain about lack of knowledge about pig management and biosecurity (Dione et al., 2014);yet implementation of proper biosecurity measures requires farmers to be well equipped with a minimum package of knowledge on how to apply these measures. In order to address this knowledge gaps, ILRI and partners developed a training of trainers (ToT) manual on biosecurity for the control and prevention of ASF, which module is tailored to smallholder pig keepers in Uganda. To test the efficiency of this tool, a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) was designed in two districts namely Masaka and Lira. A second version of the training manual was established to meet the training requirements. The later version was in a form of Participatory Training (PT) module. It is in this context that the pig farmers in villages of Masaka and Lira were trained using a PT tool. This report highlights observations and discussions with farmers of the treatment groups during the training sessions.
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Dione, M. M., Lule, P., & Opio, F. (2015). Field report on the Participatory Training of smallholder pig farmers on biosecurity measures for the control of African swine fever (ASF) in Masaka and Lira districts of Uganda.