Livestock farmers surrounding wildlife conservancies benefit from Herd Health management training.

Introduction

One of the biggest challenges to wildlife conservation is the human - wildlife conflict. When human livelihood is threatened by wildlife, people tend to react by looking for ways and means of eliminating the wildlife. We have had cases ranging from poisoning, spear wounds to gun shots as a way of eliminating the problem. When you look at it critically you will realise that, it is due to poverty that make human react like that. The ultimate way to solving human wildlife conflict is through poverty eradication.

As a wildlife veterinarian I strive to contribute positively to the livelihoods of people living near game parks. Many people think I am confined to wildlife, but the veterinary profession has equipped me with skills necessary to train and educate farmers on ways of minimising their problems. Majority of the people living near game parks are pastoralists and depend mainly on livestock farming. Among the challenges they face include; overgrazing, diseases (which they blame wildlife as the source), lack of market for their products.

It is against this background that we organised a livestock farmers training course in collaboration with the Northern Rangelands Trust and Ministry of Livestock, to equip farmers with the necessary skills to tackle their problems.

Target group

We Invited livestock farmers from Ethi, Nandunguro, Sangaa, Manyangalo, Ngare ndare and chumvi areas all neighbouring the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. This is at the Livestock -wildlife interface and animals do easily share diseases(see the photo).

Training was geared towards maximizing production and helping farmers market their livestock product, mainly beef.

Farmers’ response

At the end of the training, we asked farmers to comment on the training, and one had this to say “this is a training of its kind, it was very useful, and you should organize more”. We are now planning to organise the second round of training but this will be subject to availability of funds.

By: Dr. Stephen Chege

Technorati : conservation, livestock, vet, wildlife

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