Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden
In Zambia, goats have an as important role for the wellbeing of humans as humans have for the goats they care for. Infectious diseases are common and can have devastating effects for the animals and thereby their owners and all others that benefit from these goats. Improved animal husbandry and b...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | sueco Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2022
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17643/ |
| _version_ | 1855572929327136768 |
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| author | Martineau, Gry |
| author_browse | Martineau, Gry |
| author_facet | Martineau, Gry |
| author_sort | Martineau, Gry |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | In Zambia, goats have an as important role for the wellbeing of humans as humans have for the goats
they care for. Infectious diseases are common and can have devastating effects for the animals and
thereby their owners and all others that benefit from these goats. Improved animal husbandry and
basic infection control measures could therefore be key for farmers of both small and large herds
and help maintain and improve animal health and welfare.
Sweden is a rich country, in both an economical aspect as well as in educational level. The goat
industry is small, most goat farmers are smallholder farmers and only a few farms of larger scales
exist in the country. There are many laws that regulate how one should take care of one’s animals
and there are many seminars and lectures that farmers can attend to increase their knowledge and
further improve their animal husbandry and thereby improve the productivity of their animals.
Based on the literature, quarantine routines for new or sick animals, stable hygiene, feed hygiene
and parasite control are important areas to protect one’s herd from infections. Maintaining a good
general health in the herd by providing a correct diet, clean drinking water in sufficient amounts,
shelter from the weathers and a stress-free environment are other important factors.
The aim of this study was to describe the animal husbandry in Zambia and Sweden; what is alike
and what differs? How do farmers know what to do and how to manage their goats? Are there any
lessons that can be learned and implemented in either country? Answers to these questions were
sought by conducting semi-structured interviews with goat farmers from both countries.
Ten interviews with Zambian goat owners with farm size ranging between 7 and 35 goats, and five
interviews with Swedish goat owners with between 8 and 64 animals took place over Zoom, Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp during October and November 2021. The interviews were recorded and
then transcribed in English, the same day or shortly after. Themes in the answers were sought within
these transcriptions.
The interviews indicated that the health situation of goats is better in Sweden, and it was less
common for animals to die of infections than in Zambia. The general biosecurity appears higher
than compared to Zambian goat farms, despite Zambian farmers having received goat specific
training in higher extent than the Swedish farmers. The cause for the difference in biosecurity measures implemented is not clear, but the level of knowledge or difference in available funds and means
might be conceivable reasons.
A similarity in the goat husbandry, however, is that farmers in both countries have apparent problems costs for veterinary care. In Sweden, the lack of goat specific knowledge amongst veterinarians was another factor for the reluctancy of contacting veterinarians and several farmers preferred
conducting their own research, mainly by reading information online, when their goats fall ill. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU17643 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Swedish Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU176432022-04-01T01:02:08Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17643/ Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden Martineau, Gry Development economics and policies Animal husbandry In Zambia, goats have an as important role for the wellbeing of humans as humans have for the goats they care for. Infectious diseases are common and can have devastating effects for the animals and thereby their owners and all others that benefit from these goats. Improved animal husbandry and basic infection control measures could therefore be key for farmers of both small and large herds and help maintain and improve animal health and welfare. Sweden is a rich country, in both an economical aspect as well as in educational level. The goat industry is small, most goat farmers are smallholder farmers and only a few farms of larger scales exist in the country. There are many laws that regulate how one should take care of one’s animals and there are many seminars and lectures that farmers can attend to increase their knowledge and further improve their animal husbandry and thereby improve the productivity of their animals. Based on the literature, quarantine routines for new or sick animals, stable hygiene, feed hygiene and parasite control are important areas to protect one’s herd from infections. Maintaining a good general health in the herd by providing a correct diet, clean drinking water in sufficient amounts, shelter from the weathers and a stress-free environment are other important factors. The aim of this study was to describe the animal husbandry in Zambia and Sweden; what is alike and what differs? How do farmers know what to do and how to manage their goats? Are there any lessons that can be learned and implemented in either country? Answers to these questions were sought by conducting semi-structured interviews with goat farmers from both countries. Ten interviews with Zambian goat owners with farm size ranging between 7 and 35 goats, and five interviews with Swedish goat owners with between 8 and 64 animals took place over Zoom, Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp during October and November 2021. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed in English, the same day or shortly after. Themes in the answers were sought within these transcriptions. The interviews indicated that the health situation of goats is better in Sweden, and it was less common for animals to die of infections than in Zambia. The general biosecurity appears higher than compared to Zambian goat farms, despite Zambian farmers having received goat specific training in higher extent than the Swedish farmers. The cause for the difference in biosecurity measures implemented is not clear, but the level of knowledge or difference in available funds and means might be conceivable reasons. A similarity in the goat husbandry, however, is that farmers in both countries have apparent problems costs for veterinary care. In Sweden, the lack of goat specific knowledge amongst veterinarians was another factor for the reluctancy of contacting veterinarians and several farmers preferred conducting their own research, mainly by reading information online, when their goats fall ill. I Zambia har getter en betydande roll för människors väl och ve, men samtidigt är människan väldigt viktig för getternas hälsa. Infektionssjukdomar är vanliga och påverkar getternas förmåga till produktion och därigenom påverkas alla de som har nytta av det getterna bidrar med. Mer kunskap inom djurhållning och smittskydd kan därför ha stor betydelse för både små som stora besättningar och kan bidra till att förbättra djurvälfärd och därigenom förbättra människors liv. Sverige är ett förhållandevis rikt land, både när det gäller ekonomi och kunskapsläge. Getindustrin är dock väldigt liten och endast ett fåtal stora kommersiella besättningar finns. Djurhållning är strikt reglerad av lagar och regler och det finns många organisationer där medlemmar får kontinuerlig tillgång till nya råd och rön, samt ofta veterinärkonsultation. Baserat på tillgänglig litteratur är karantänsrutiner för nyinköpta och sjuka djur, stallhygien, foderhygien och parasitkontroll viktiga områden för att skydda besättningen från infektioner. Likaså är det viktigt att bibehålla getternas generella hälsa genom att erbjuda en korrekt diet, rent dricksvatten i tillräcklig mängd, skydd från väder och vind samt en allmänt stressfri miljö i så stor utsträckning som möjligt. Målet med denna studie var att beskriva hur gethållningen ser ut i Sverige och Zambia; vilka likheter och skillnader finns det? Hur vet getbönderna vad de ska göra och hur de ska hantera sina getter? Finns det lärdomar från ettdera landet som kan implementeras i det andra landet? För att besvara dessa frågor genomfördes semi-strukturerade intervjuer med getbönder från respektive land. Tio intervjuer med zambiska getbönder med mellan 7 och 35 getter, och fem intervjuer med svenska getbönder med mellan 8 och 64 getter genomfördes via Zoom, WhatsApp eller Microsoft Teams under oktober och november år 2021. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades på engelska snart efter att intervjuerna ägt rum. Olika teman bland de transkriberade svaren söktes. Intervjuerna indikerade att den generella gethälsan är bättre i Sverige och det var ovanligare att djur dog på grund av infektionssjukdomar än i Zambia. Biosäkerhetsrutiner implementerades i högre grad i de svenska besättningarna, trots att fler av de zambiska getbönderna hade fått getspecifik träning. Vad skillnaden i biosäkerhet beror på är sannolikt multifaktoriellt, men skillnader i kunskapsläge, tillgång till resurser eller något annat är tänkbara faktorer. En likhet mellan gethållning i de två länderna är att getbönder i båda länder har problem med veterinärpriser. I Sverige lyftes även problematiken med veterinärers brist på getspecifik kunskap som en faktor till motviljan att kontakta veterinär. Flertalet av de svenska bönderna föredrog att själva leta efter information och svar (samt har resurser för att göra det) istället för att kontakta veterinärer när djuren insjuknar. 2022-03-30 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf sv https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17643/4/martineau-g-20220126.pdf Martineau, Gry, 2022. Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden : a comparative qualitative interview study. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: (VH) > Dept. of Clinical Sciences (until 231231) <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-715.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-17643 eng |
| spellingShingle | Development economics and policies Animal husbandry Martineau, Gry Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden |
| title | Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden |
| title_full | Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden |
| title_fullStr | Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden |
| title_short | Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden |
| title_sort | biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in zambia and sweden |
| topic | Development economics and policies Animal husbandry |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17643/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17643/ |