A NGU trap, one of the various technologies developed by icipe over the years for the control of tsetse flies. The blue colour is used to attract flies. After landing they move on to the black target, and are then, while trying to escape, caught at the top into a plastic container where the heat of the sun eventually kills them.
Background
Over two-thirds of the population in the developing world are small-scale farmers, many are whom are dependent on livestock for their everyday survival. Improvement of livestock health and productivity, therefore, provides a significant opportunity to improve the livelihoods of these poor people and to help them escape the poverty trap. It is also important to improve livestock productivity to meet the increased demand for livestock products and to enhance traction power of oxen for improved agricultural productivity.
Objectives
ICIPE's animal health research aims to improve livestock health and productivity through developing integrated strategies and tools for livestock vector (tsetse and ticks) management, thus leading to greater availability of meat and milk, hides and draught power. Research activities focus on developing simple technologies based on detailed understanding of vector behaviour, population ecology, and vector-host and vector-parasite interactions.
Approach
For over three decades, ICIPE has targeted its work on the management of blood-bleeding insects and other arthropods, many of which transmit debilitating or fatal diseases in livestock and some even in humans. For example, human sleeping sickness, with over 500,000 cases currently, is transmitted by tsetse flies. Research is continuing on a range of activities from strategic to adaptive research, to generate technologies that will enable farmers to undertake sustainable ecological management of major livestock disease vectors and help in intensifying and diversifying smallholder farming systems to generate more cash income and enhanced food security.
The research emphasis has been on developing environmentally safe methods that can be applied together in a tailor-made, site-specific package. Components of such a package might include trapping (enhanced with odour baits), biological control and use of repellents. For long-term sustainability, communities are involved at every stage of control operations, for example from planning and construction of traps to monitoring and evaluation.
ICIPE is one of the few organisations that conduct research into the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases to develop integrated pest- and vector-management approaches that rely on biological control, botanicals, anti-tick pasture plants, repellents and behavioural modification of the cues ticks use to find hosts and mates.
Programmes
Animal health research and development activities are divided into two areas:
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