Impacts of Trypanosomiasis on African Agriculture

African animal trypanosomiasis constrains agricultural production in areas of Africa that hold the continent’s greatest potential for expanded agricultural production. Compared to animals kept in trypanosomiasis free areas, animals kept in areas of moderate risk of trypanosomiasis have lower calving rates, lower milk yields, higher rates of calf mortality, and require more frequent treatment with preventive and curative doses of trypanocidal drugs. At the herd level, trypanosomiasis reduces milk offtake, live animal offtake and the work efficiency of oxen used for cultivation. Herds of trypanosusceptible livestock can be devastated by sudden exposure to high levels of trypanosomiasis risk. Trypanosomiasis also affects where people live, the way they manage their livestock and the number of animals that they keep. In the tsetse-infested areas as a whole, trypanosomiasis reduces the offtake of meat and milk by at least 50%. And by generally constraining farmers from the overall benefits of livestock to farming-- less efficient nutrient cycling, less access to animal traction, lower income from milk and meat sales, less access to liquid capital--trypanosomiasis reduces yields, area cultivated, and the efficiency of resource allocation. It is estimated that a 50 % increase in the livestock population would increase the total value of agricultural production by 10%. The potential benefits of trypanosomiasis control thus appear to be highest in areas where there is good potential for integrating livestock into profitable and sustainable mixed crop-livestock farming systems. This conclusion has clear implications for the development an