IVNA Conference 2011 Presentation
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A presentation by Mike Burke of VIVA (Volunteers in Irish Veterinary Assistance) at the annual conference of the Irish Veterinary Nurses Association on May 21st 2011
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IVNA Conference 2011 Presentation
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- Firstly, I’d like to thank the IVNA for giving me this opportunity to speak to you this evening at your conference. VIVA was founded in 1999 by Longford vet, Brendan Mimnagh to support practical, low-cost, sustainable livestock-based solutions to rural poverty in the Developing World. Since its inception we have worked closely with Bothar and other international partners in Asia, Africa and eastern Europe and at present we have projects in Kosovo, Uganda, Kenya and Nepal. This evening I’m going to briefly look at the role of livestock in the Developing World, visit two of our projects and look at their impact and finally I’ll talk about how you can become involved.
- Over one billion of the world’s poorest people depend on livestock for their livelihoods. In Ireland we tend to see livestock in a one-dimensional way, namely they are killed for meat. However, for these people livestock have many roles. They are used as draft animals for ploughing………
- They are used to transport people and goods…..
- Their dung is used to generate methane gas which can be used for cooking. Here we see a very simple anaerobic digester. The gas is siphoned off and piped into the house. In addition, cattle dung can be used, when dried, as a fuel or as a building material in the daub and wattle method. Livestock also perform important cultural functions as indicators of status and wealth and as dowries. In rural areas where banks, credit unions etc are virtually absent livestock can act as “cash reserves” to be sold when necessary to pay school fees, medical expenses etc.
- While many of these livestock systems may seem very simple to us, they are in fact very efficient and flexible. This pig farmer in the Gambia that I visited a number of years ago had an ingenious system for raising his pigs. The pigs lived in this corner plot at a busy intersection in the capital Banjul. Once a day he released the pigs on to the city streets where they foraged on wasted food from the markets and anything thrown out by the city dwellers.
- Here we see the pigs setting off for the day. In the evening, at sundown, he simply went out on the street and called the pigs attracting them back in with some meal. His feed costs were practically zero so profit was maximised. People simply walked up to the pig pen, picked a pig and he then butchered it for them.
- Now, I’d like to look at two of our projects. In Tanzania, we have worked with our partner, Heifer Tanzania, on a paravet training project. Paravets, also known as Community Animal Health Technicians, “Village Vets” or “Barefoot Vets” provide a basic, low-cost veterinary service in rural areas where there is no veterinary service or if available it is prohibitively expensive. These paravets are all farmers selected by their community for the training who then provide a free service to local farmers. By charging for the medicines used they can buy more supplies. For those outside their community they can charge for their services and generate a small income.
- This is the first class of paravets to graduate following a month long course.
- On graduation they all received a bicycle and small equipment kit. While their training is basic many of their interventions can have a huge impact. For example, worming cattle in a drought situation can add two months to their survival.
- This is Rogate Lukumayi (30) who graduated with this class and now provides a veterinary service to over 50 farmers in her community carrying out husbandry tasks such as castration, treating the livestock for the common tick-bone diseases and deworming livestock. A single parent with three children she farms with her parents and hopes someday to buy some land of her own. We followed up Rogate a year after her graduation to find that her income was being used to pay school fees and buy uniforms for her children and she had also managed to buy 30 chickens for rearing. She now hoped to train as an AI technician as there was a great demand in her area for this service.
- Here we see Rogate with one of her farmers
- For the last three years we have been involved in an animal traction project in Uganda. Working with the Koilei Amora Ican farmers group over three hundred families have been supplied with oxen and ploughs for their farms. Each family receives an ox and four families share a plough. The major advantage of this intervention is that where once it took up to a fortnight to dig an acre of ground using hand hoes this can now be accomplished in a day This allows greater areas to be planted. In addition, with ploughing seeds can be planted at a greater depth where the moisture levels are higher leading to better yields.
- The project takes a holistic approach to rural poverty and participating families also received training in other areas such as sanitation. Each family must build a pit latrine and a simple hand-washing unit like the one here. This has dramatically reduced the incidence of enteric infections in the villages.
- Another development is the building of earthen ovens. The women and children in the villages often suffer from respiratory problems as a result of cooking over open fires in the huts. Cooking in the smoke-free environment that these ovens create eliminates this. These ovens also are more efficient than open fires reducing the amount of firewood is used. This has two benefits, firstly, less time is spent by the women and children collecting firewood and secondly, the amount of deforestation in the area is reduced.
- This picture was taken at the first handover ceremony for oxen which I attended in March 2009. With the increased income the farmers are able to generate for themselves they have to buy an oxen for another family enabling the benefits of the project to be replicated. As a result of this Passing on the Gift mechanism another 300 families will benefit in addition to the original beneficiaries.
- How do we fund these projects? Up to now we have mainly fundraised from vets and the pharmaceutical companies. We raise in the region of €50,000 annually which in conjunction with funding from Irish Aid and partners like Bothar allows us to run our projects. This year we decided to enlist the help of the IVNA and for the first time, last Christmas, many of you would have received our annual newsletter. We are now hoping that in 2011, the European Year of the Volunteer and Vet 250, some of you will join some of our fundraisers in a gesture of solidarity with farmers in the Developing World. Our two biggest fundraisers are the annual golf classic held every August and the VIVA Wheelers cycle held every September. This year the cycle which takes place in Westport on September 10 th is being promoted by Veterinary Ireland as one of its “Vet 250” events. With three routes, a 75km, 100km and 130km, there’s something for everyone and to ensure no-one is left out we have also organised a fundraising hike on the same day on the Great Western Greenway. The VIVA Wheelers have raised over €165,000 for VIVA since their inception. The annual 100km event is a fantastic way to get fit, have fun and see some of the most beautiful scenery this country has to offer. Recent cycles have included the Burren and west Cork. We would love to have some of you along or if you would like to organise your own event we can support you with promotional materials etc. I hope that tonight marks a long and fruitful association between VIVA and the IVNA and I thank you again for having me her.