Reducing malaria transmissions in Uganda: ZEF co-organized workshop
January 10, 2013.
Reducing malaria transmissions in Uganda with the help of environmental management options
ZEF co-organized a workshop with stakeholders and researchers in Uganda to develop more effective strategies for the fight against malaria in Kampala, Uganda, in December 2012.
Uganda has the highest incidence rate of malaria in the world. According to the national Ministry of Health, malaria is not only the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Uganda, but also of up to 40% of all outpatient visits, 25% of all hospital admissions, and 14% of all hospital deaths. Overall malaria-specific mortality is estimated between 70,000 and 100,000 child deaths annually. The Ugandan health sector’s approach to combat malaria includes distributing insecticide treated bed nets and indoor residual sprays plus applying a cocktail of drugs after infection. These treatments, heavily subsidized by international donors, have proven to be crucial but yet insufficient to stop malaria in Uganda.
Given this ongoing health crisis, researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn (ZEF), and the Department of Extension and Innovation Studies at Makerere University organized a one-day stakeholders’ workshop in Uganda on December 13, 2012 to discuss options for improved health management in the country. Around 35 international representatives from science, as well as from the national health and agricultural sectors joined the workshop held at the Makerere University in Kampala, capital of Uganda.
The workshop enabled participants from the Ugandan health and agricultural sectors to exchange experiences and ideas, which they found a useful occasion for reciprocal learning. They agreed that the health sector-driven strategies to fight malaria definitely have had some impact so far, but - to be more effective - should be complemented by measures in the agricultural realm such as management of water bodies and structures, crop choice and management, pest management, and livestock management.
ZEF researchers have been conducting research on exactly this topic: agricultural parameters and their linkages to malaria in Uganda. This research was conducted in the framework of a CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems. The project’s researchers have identified a number of agricultural parameters linked to the high malaria incidence in the country, such as management of maize, cassava, groundnut, sweet potato and tree crops; and rearing pigs versus cattle.
Based on this research, the ZEF and IFPRI project teams together with Makerere University introduced their assessment of the prospect of joint health and agricultural interventions to the workshop’s participants.
The ‘Farmer Field School’*) approach (see Wielgosz et al., 2012), which has been successfully promoted by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) in the country, was identified as a useful conduit given its wide coverage. The pro-poor focus of the FFS interventions, the structure of the field schools, which includes recording and reporting of the variables studied and—most importantly—the community empowerment generated by these schools were considered additional strengths. The workshop participants confirmed the role these Farmer Field Schools can play in strengthening communities to combat malaria, improve human health and agricultural productivity – for example by delivering information about malaria stressors and agro-ecology management options.
After the project team will have completed the study in early 2013, Ugandan agriculture and health experts hope to be able to put joint assessments into practice through pilot studies in selected districts of Uganda.
*) Farmer Field Schools are farmer to farmer learning schools, facilitating interaction among farmers on a voluntary basis.
References:
Wielgosz, Benjamin, Margaret Mangheni, Daniel Tsegai, and Claudia Ringler. 2012. Malaria and agriculture: A global review of the literature with a focus on the application of integrated pest and vector management in East Africa and Uganda. IFPRI Discussion Paper, International Food Policy Research Institute: Washington DC, December 2012. www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01232.pdf
Acknowledgements:
This workshop was carried out as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land & Ecosystems and with the financial support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany.
Email: dtsegai@uni-bonn.de
