Veterinary Project

Dr. Maina Kibata

Norwegian People’s Aid began veterinary activities in 1994 in Yirol County and expanded to Kajo-Keji County in 1999.

Norwegian People’s Aid began veterinary activities with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Norway support in 1994 in Yirol County and expanded to Kajo-Keji County in 1999.  NPA had begun working on the East Bank of the river Nile with the FFP Relief Food Distribution Project and OFDA supported Agriculture Project, but as FFP and OFDA asked NPA to concentrate on the West Bank from 1997, so the MFA supported Veterinary Project could broaden activities using common administrative and logistical support.

The Veterinary Project was part of the overall Food Security (and Rural Livelihoods) Programme and fell under the overall goal of “Contribute to the right of the rural poor communities of South Sudan to have improved livelihoods.” For the period 2000 – 2007 NPA with donor support from FFP, OFDA and MFA Norway were able to manage an integrated package of appropriate interventions ranging from provision of relief food to targeted communities; basic agriculture support; and rural livelihood development in order to lead towards achievement of this goal.

The higher proportion of the rural population in Southern Sudan obtains its income solely from subsistence farming, and a majority of them are agro-pastoralists with livestock being the core assets for their livelihoods. Livestock, particularly cattle, are used as a foundation of social networks and maintaining kinship ties provides a traditional safety net in difficult years. Livestock contribute to food security as a critical source of meat, milk and blood, with consumption increasing dramatically during times of drought and other stress. Livestock assets of rural households need to be protected through provision of animal health services and the NPA Veterinary Project has endeavoured to do this through a Community Based Animal Health Care approach.

The NPA Veterinary Project recognises that livestock diseases are fundamentally important both socially and economically to the livestock producers because they reduce productivity.  The factors that vary the scale of the loss are numerous, ranging from the type of diseases, to the age of animal, nutritional status of the animal and access to treatment by the owners. An indication of just how important livestock diseases are in terms of production can be gauged by the fact that livestock owners themselves will always rank livestock diseases within the top challenges they face in life.  Livestock diseases for them can mean the difference between food security and surplus (life), and insecurity (death).

The Veterinary Project throughout the reporting period of 2000 – 2007 has made a serious commitment to improve animal health status in the areas where it works by addressing the diseases through a community based approach whose key component is the training of selected   community members in the treatments and vaccinations of endemic and epidemic livestock diseases. The main project areas have been Yirol and Kajo-Keji Counties with support to ox plough work in Yei and Juba Counties, and a partnership in later years with Vetworks Trust in Terekeka County.

 The objective for the Veterinary Project during this period was “improved animal production” and this was to be achieved through the following goals:

• The project will protect animals from immunisable diseases through vaccination
• The project will have knowledgeable and competent community based animal health   workers through training
• Reduce livestock mortality and improve health
• Increase community awareness through regular dialogue workshops
• Improve household food security through improved nutrition from consumption of animal products
• Establish a sustainable community based animal health care project
• Support privatisation of veterinary services in areas with notable potential
• Support the NPA Agriculture Project in oxenisation by ensuring the bulls are in good health for optimum output.

Other donors to the Veterinary Project over the period have been FAO with vaccines, cold chain and technical support, and VSF Belgium through technical advice on Rinderpest eradication and training of animal health workers.

The project implementing partners have been the SRRC, local government and increasingly Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries, the wider livestock owning community.