COMMUNITY-BASED ANIMAL HEALTH & PARTICIPATORY EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIT (CAPE) PO Box 30786 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254-2) 226447/334550/240591 Fax: (254-2) 253680/226565 PAN AFRICAN PROGRAMME FOR THE CONTROL OF EPIZOOTICS ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (OAU) INTER- AFRICAN BUREAU FOR ANIMAL RESOURCES (IBAR) Proceeding of a workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia November 15th to 17th, 2001 Edited by Andy Catley and Jeffrey Mariner Contents Summary i Abbreviations ii Acknowledgements ii Introduction 1 Session 1 Overview of the origins, principles and methods of participatory epidemiology 2 Participatory Epidemiology: Setting the Scene 2 Livestock Keeping and Indigenous Knowledge in the Horn of Africa: Personal reflections on 25 years experience 6 Session 2 Issues affecting the wider use of participatory epidemiology 10 Issue 1 - Qualitative versus quantitative methods 11 Issue 2 - Methodological features of participatory inquiry 13 Issue 3 - Training and learning in participatory epidemiology 16 Session 3 How can participatory epidemiology assist the Pan African Programme for the Control of Epizootics? 18 Participatory Disease Modelling 18 Participatory Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance 18 Experiences with assisting and quantifying disease surveillance information for small ruminants as obtained through the Nomadic Animal Health Auxilliary System (NAHA-System) in Central Rangelands of Somalia 19 Disease surveillance and community-based animal health: experience of the Operation Lifeline Sudan Southern Sector Livestock Programme 22 Participatory Disease Searching 23 Participatory Epidemiology in Veterinary Research and Education 26 Session 4 National PACE Programme Working Groups 27 Tasks for Working Groups 27 Presentations by Working Groups 27 1. Lessons learned during the workshop 27 2. Ways to use Participatory Epidemiology in National PACE Programmes 28 3. Training needs 30 Annex 1 Workshop timetable 32 Annex 2 List of participants 34 Annex 3 Participants’ evaluation of the workshop 37 Participatory Epidemiology: Lessons Learned and Future Directions Summary The Pan African Programme for the Control of academics and researchers in the Horn of Africa Epizootics (PACE) aims to complete the final Region, and explore how PE might assist national eradication of rinderpest from Africa and improve PACE programmes to achieve their objectives. control of other epizootics diseases such as The workshop comprised a mix of presentations, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia and foot discussion and working groups on key topics, and mouth disease. Experience has shown that and informal networking and exchange of disease control is particularly problematic in experiences and ideas. more remote arid and semi-arid areas inhabited by pastoralist communities. In regions such as Recent developments in the use of PE by the Horn of Africa, logistical and resource veterinarians with pastoralist communities in the constraints are compounded by insecurity and in region included studies of the reliability and some cases, limited government presence. validity of participatory methods, and the development of a disease model for rinderpest Within the PACE Programme, the Community- based on field data derived from PE. These based Animal Health and Participatory experiences were useful for showing how PE can Epidemiology (CAPE) Unit supports the be combined with and complement conventional development of primary-level veterinary services epidemiological approaches. in pastoral areas. The focus is on privatised, community-based delivery systems that are The main outcomes of the workshop were: enabled through appropriate policies and • Improved understanding of the potential roles legislation. CAPE also aims to complement of PE in veterinary epidemiology conventional livestock disease investigation and • Raised awareness of important methodological surveillance methods through the wider issues affecting best practice of PE application of “participatory epidemiology” (PE). • Widespread support for the wider use of PE in Participatory epidemiology has evolved from the national PACE programmes principles and methods of Rapid Rural Appraisal • Interest from veterinary schools for and Participatory Rural Appraisal, and provides incorporating PE into either undergraduate or opportunities to make best use of pastoralists’ postgraduate teaching, and research activities considerable indigenous knowledge on animal • Identification of PE training needs for veterinary health while also encouraging community and livestock workers at central and field levels participation in disease control. During 2002, the CAPE Unit will follow up training However, participatory approaches and methods needs in national PACE programmes and support are not widely used by epidemiology units within teaching and research on PE in veterinary schools State Veterinary Services. This workshop was and research institutes. The contents of an organised by the CAPE Unit to present recent introductory training course on PE were presented developments in PE to senior veterinarians, and discussed during the workshop. Participatory Epidemiology: Lessons Learned and Future Directions i Abbreviations ASF African swine fever CAHW Community-based Animal Health Worker CAPE Unit Community-based Animal Health and Participatory Epidemiology Unit CBPP contagious bovine pleuropneumonia FMD foot and mouth disease IIED International Institute for Environment and Development ND Newcastle disease OAU/IBAR Organization of African Unity/Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources PACE Pan African Programme for the Control of Epizootics PARC Pan African Rinderpest Campaign PAVE Participatory Approaches to Veterinary Epidemiology Project PDS Participatory Disease Searching PE Participatory Epidemiology PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal RVF Rift Valley fever TOT Training of Trainers Acknowledgements The workshop Participatory Epidemiology: Lessons Learned and Future Directions was opened by Ato Belay Ejigu, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Woizero Hadera Gebru, Head, Animal Resource and Fisheries Development Department. The workshop was made possible by funding from the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom to the CAPE Unit, PACE Programme, OAU/IBAR. The CAPE Unit gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Dr.Sileshi Zewde, National Coordinator, PACE Ethiopia and communications staff from PACE Ethiopia. CAPE also appreciates the assistance of Maximilian Baumann (Freie University of Berlin), Berhanu Bedane (PACE Programme), Bryony Jones (VSF Belgium), John McDermott (International Livestock Research Institute), Micheal Thrusfield (University of Edinburgh), Tony Wilsmore (University of Reading) for assisting with facilitation of working group sessions. ii Participatory Epidemiology: Lessons Learned and Future Directions Introduction Background Although many veterinarians are now using participatory methods, a number of issues remain Veterinarians in Africa have been using open to discussion and further development. For participatory approaches and methods since the example, while organizations such as IIED late 1980s. Initially, experiences were largely recommend training and field-level practice before derived from community-based animal health using participatory methods, few veterinarians projects where PRA-type methods were used have been trained. Consequently, numerous during project design. Soon after, ‘participatory methods are labeled ‘participatory’ but the disease searching’ evolved in the Pan African principles and best practice of participatory inquiry Rinderpest Campaign (PARC) as a means to trace are often overlooked. Another constraint is the rinderpest foci in remote areas. Over time, pressure for academic researchers to publish in participatory methods have attracted increasing scientific journals, but the qualitative nature of interest from veterinarians and are now used by a participatory research is thought to prevent this. wide range of organizations. A survey of vets And finally, what are the opportunities for conducted with OAU/IBAR assistance in 1999 combining participatory methods with more indicated that participatory methods were useful conventional veterinary investigation and for developing good relationships with epidemiological methods in national PACE communities, understanding local knowledge and programmes? priorities, and were relatively inexpensive and flexible. Workshop objectives Within OAU/IBAR, two recent developments with The objectives of the workshop were as follows: the use of participatory methods are: 1. Obtain an overview of experiences with the use • The Participatory Approaches to Veterinary of participatory approaches and methods by Epidemiology (PAVE) Project was implemented veterinarians in the Greater Horn of Africa with the International Institute for Environment region. and Development (IIED) from 1998 to 2001, and 2. Identify specific aspects of participatory focused on the reliability and validity of methods in need of further research from a participatory methods. This research compared methodological perspective. data derived from participatory inquiry with that 3. Define opportunities for the use of participatory obtained from conventional veterinary methods by the Pan African Programme for the investigation methods, and also looked at Control of Epizootics. options for quantifying ‘participatory data’. 4. Make recommendations regarding ‘best Three studies were conducted in pastoral areas practice’ use of