Multidisciplinary study of landscape in tsetse area, Angurai, Teso District (Western Kenya). M1E

Due to the rampant trypanosomosis epidemics in Africa, international organisations developed a Programme Against African Trypanosomosis (PAAT). The Farming in Tsetse Controlled Areas (FITCA) project in Kenya, which was launched in July 2001, is a component of PAAT. Its major objective is to control the tsetse fly populations in selected zones. The tsetse fly is the vector of the pathogen causing trypanosomosis. The selected zones have shown an important rate of trypanosomosis and a high level of tsetse population, which have significant adverse effect on animal production and therefore on agricultural production. Located in Western Kenya, Angurai is one of the selected zones for the project implementation. A tsetse control mechanism expected to increase livestock and therefore agricultural production has been established in the area. The benefits from such mechanisms can however in the long terms lead to serious adverse effects on the environment. If the utilization of natural resources after such tsetse control mechanism is not properly monitored, ecological imbalance between the human population and the environment might occur. The Environmental Monitoring and Management Component (EMMC) of the FITCA programme was developed to monitor these potential changes and anticipate potential negative effects. In order to achieve the above objective, there was a need to establish a database. The selected method to establish the database was a thorough study of the landscape. This was done through a multidisciplinary approach involving all the factors, which could have an impact on environmental changes. The factors monitored included; changes in crop and livestock production, vegetation cover, biodiversity (plant and animal), soil erosion and fertility as well as the control of potential trypanosomosis infections and tsetse fly populations. The establishment of a database was not only necessary to facilitate the monitoring of environmental changes but also to carry out an agro pastoral-ecosystems’ comparative study between the various zones of the FITCA project. The first zones compared included the Angurai in Kenya and the Tororo district in Uganda. Although the Malaba river only separates the two zones, they have numerous differences such as in Angurai there is a relatively low level of trypanosomosis occurrence, lower land area under cultivation and a higher number of habitats favourable to tsetse fly proliferation. The tsetse fly habitats in Angurai are mainly Lantana camara and Tithonia diversifolia shrubby savannah, which proliferate from abandoned fallows or on riverbanks. Glossina pallidipes and Glossina fuscipes are the two major tsetse fly species for which the ecological conditions are favourable to their proliferation. The presence of tsetse flies in an area inhabited by human population is conducive to the spread of trypanosomosis. (Résumé d'auteur