Gender roles in ruminant disease management in
Uganda and implications for control of peste des
Jane Namatovu1, Peter Lule1,2, Marsy Asindu1,3, Zoë A. Campbell1, Henry Kiara1, Bernard Bett1, Kristina Roesel1,
Emily Ouma1
1International Livestock Research Institute; 2University of Nairobi; 3Christian Albrechts Universitat zu Kiel
Introduction
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and Rift Valley fever (RVF) are viral diseases that negatively impact the livelihoods of livestock
keepers. Social and gender dynamics influence the use of livestock innovations, including disease control practices, with variation by
production system. There is limited understanding of the disease management roles within households to prevent and control RVF and
PPR. This study used key informant interviews (KIIs) with animal health professionals and focus group discussions (FGDs) with women
and men livestock keepers in three production systems in Uganda with the goal of informing disease control and prevention strategies.
Pictures
Corresponding author: Jane Namatovu
j.namatovu@cgiar.org
ILRI c/o Bioversity International
P.O. Box 24384, Kampala Uganda
+256 392 081 154/155
This document is licensed for use under the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International Licence. September 2022.
22 September 2022
ILRI thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.
• There was generally limited knowledge and awareness about
PPR and RVF. No specific preventive and control measures were
mentioned for RVF.
• Vaccine side effects and cost of veterinary services were the
most mentioned concerns in all production systems.
• Men were more concerned with side effects of vaccines and
more responsible for decisions regarding the treatment and
vaccination.
• Women were more concerned about limited knowledge yet
responsible for identification of diseases, isolation of sick
animals, and farm sanitation.
• More within farm and between farm preventive and control
measures were mentioned as compared to community level
measures.
• Clinical signs and local disease names were often used for
identification. PPR was confused with other diseases.
Pastoral Agro-
pastoral
Mixed crop-
livestock
Total
Total # of KIIs 9 11 12 32
Total # of FGDs 28
Men 4 6 4
Women 4 6 4
Methods
Quote from the field
“Unless we are sensitized about the diseases, we will assume
our animals are not infected with the diseases. Training or
sensitization through videos showing disease signs could
enable us to visualize the diseases.”
Women FGD, agropastoralsystem, 28th April 2021.
Contribution to Uganda’s livestock development agenda
The study identified one of the key constraints in the control of PPR and RVF; lack of knowledge of the two diseases. While developing
veterinary extension materials, there is need to emphasize visuals showing clinical signs for PPR and RVF and their differentiation.
Conclusions
Livestock keepers’ awareness of and ability to identify PPR and
RVF is a starting point for their prevention and control. Roles and
factors influencing disease control vary by production system and
gender.
Figure 1: Factors influencing uptake of disease control options
Findings
A woman guiding returning livestock to the kraal , Napak (photo credit ILRI/Jane Namatovu)
petits ruminants and Rift Valley fever