Raising livestock in resource-poor communities of the North West Province of South Africa - a participatory rural appraisal study

A participatory research model was used in six village communities in the Central Region of the North West Province of South Africa in order to achieve the following broad objectives: to obtain information on the challenges owners face in raising livestock in these areas and to evaluate the livestock owners' level of knowledge of internal parasites in their animals. Information obtained at participatory workshops clearly indicated a need for improvements in water supply, schools, job creation, and health services. Lack of pasture for grazing livestock was also cited as being important. Other most frequently mentioned livestock problems included 'gall sickness' (a vaguely defined condition not necessarily referring to anaplasmosis), parasites (both external and internal), chicken diseases and ingestion of plastic bags discarded in the environment. When livestock owners were questioned during individual interviews, most were able to identify the presence of parasites in either the live or dead animal. However, it seems likely that this is limited to the identification of tapeworms. It was found that most livestock owners use a combination of treatments, ranging from traditional to folklore to commercial. There were some difficulties in using the participatory methods since it was the first time that the facilitators and the communities had been exposed to them. Many communities had difficulty in dealing with the concept of finding solutions within the community, which is such an integral part of participatory methods.