| dc.description.abstract | Livestock keepers namely, pastoralists in the arid and semi-arid land areas (ASALs) of Kenya
face many marketing constraints. The imposition of livestock movement restrictions by the
veterinary authorities as a strategy for livestock diseases control is one of them. There a number
of life-threatening livestock diseases that are endemic in the ASALs of Kenya such as
Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CBPP) that justify the case for livestock diseases control,
A CBPP Control Quarantine Line (CQL) that is intended to help prevent the spread of the CBPP
from the arid districts of north-eastern Kenya to the rest of the country has been in existence in
Kenya since the colonial (pre-1963) times. However, this CQL has been of great concern to the
pastoralists from the arid north-eastern Kenya because they view it as an impediment to their
main source of livelihoods. Available literature indicates that there is a dearth of information on
the economics of livestock diseases control and the impacts of this control on the welfare of the
pastoralists in the ASALs of Kenya. Therefore, this article attempts to narrow down that
information gap by examining the efficacy and economics of livestock diseases control in the
ASALs of Kenya, using the CQL as a case study. The study is based on the review of relevant
literature and interviews with key stakeholders in the livestock industry in Kenya. Data analysis
included modelling disease, risk and cost-benefit. A key finding of the study is that there is a
widely held view among the pastoralists and livestock traders that CBPP is not a serious problem
despite some officially recorded evidence that CBPP is a major threat to the cattle industry,
especially in the arid border districts of Kenya. To contain the CBPP menace in Kenya, the
government incurs a fairly high annual expenditure in excess of Kenya Shillings (KShs) 287.5
million on CBPP surveillance and control in the arid north-eastern districts of the country, in
addition to the costs of operating and maintaining the CQL. This study finds that Isiolo still
remains the main base for the CQL and that the majority of the cattle traded out of the Isiolo
District are sold under permissive conditions that allow cattle to cross the CQL without
observing the laid down CQL regulations. The CQL stipulations are further weakened by the fact
that there is no CBPP testing at all for the cattle destined either for slaughter in the Mombasa
market or for fattening in the Coastal region ranches that are traded along the Mandera-Wajir-
Garissa-Ijara-Tana River-Malindi stock route. Therefore, this study concludes that the current
CQL requirements in Kenya are characterized by operational difficulties and inefficiencies. It
would be more cost effective to shift the current CQL from Isiolo to the international borders of
the arid districts of north-eastern Kenya. | en_US |
