At the End of the Day: The Socioeconomic Impacts of Eradicating Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia from Botswana

Abstract

In February 1995, an outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia occurred in the Northwest district of Ngamiland, Botswana. The government of Botswana determined to eradicate the disease by depopulating the entire district of cattle. In total, 320,000 cattle were destroyed. Measures were put in place by government to mitigate the effects of eradication on the affected communities and household monitoring was instituted. This paper reports the major findings of the monitoring exercise. It is observed that although 45% of households said they would rely on arable cropping as a coping strategy, only 29% expected to produce sufficient food for themselves. Use of permanent, male agricultural labor fell by 33%, whereas both permanent and temporary female labor increased substantially. Although eight out of ten respondents planned to rebuild their herds, routine household demands on the generally small cash compensation received suggest that economic recovery for many of Ngamiland's households is likely to be prolonged. It is recommended that relief programmes continue but with improved targeting. Objective indicators are needed to determine when government assistance can be terminated.