SHEEP and goats are emerging as critical economic assets for millions of African households, providing food, income, savings and financial security, but the livelihoods built around them face a major threat from Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR).
The European Union has pledged an additional €50 million towards the second phase of efforts to eradicate PPR in Africa, with potential to mobilise a further €40 million through blended finance.
The announcement was made during a high-level PPR side event in Rome on the margins of the FAO Global Conference on Agrifood Systems Transformation through One Health and Transboundary Animal Disease Prevention, Control and Eradication.
Speaking at the same side event, EU Ambassador Martin Selmayr said PPR was not only an animal-health and trade problem but also a social and economic threat to livestock-dependent communities.
“PPR is certainly an economic and trade problem, but it is first and foremost a social problem,” Mr Selmayr said.
He said the disease causes estimated global annual losses of between US$1.3 billion and US$2 billion and can destroy livestock populations, reducing household revenues and increasing replacement costs.
More than 70 countries have confirmed PPR, while others remain at risk of introduction. Together, these countries account for about 1.7 billion sheep and goats, representing approximately 80 percent of the global population.
Although PPR does not infect humans, its economic effects can undermine food and nutrition security, rural employment, household purchasing power and livestock trade.
Mr Selmayr said the EU funding should support more than vaccination campaigns by helping attract greater domestic and international investment in animal-health systems.
“We should not just finance another vaccination campaign. We should do that as well, but this should not be everything,” he said.
He said the EU contribution would serve as a catalyst under its Global Gateway partnership approach, encouraging countries to increase domestic resources while attracting financing from development banks and international financial institutions.
Director of the African Union-Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Dr Huyam Salih, said Africa needed sustained investment and stronger coordination to translate its political commitment into action.
She said the continent needed stronger veterinary services, surveillance, vaccination systems and regional and cross-border cooperation.
FAO Assistant Director-General and Chief Veterinarian Dr Thanawat Tiensin also stressed collective action, saying the One Health approach recognises the links between animal health, food systems, livelihoods and economies.
For Zambia, which has not reported PPR cases, preventing the introduction of the disease remains important because of cross-border livestock movements and regional trade.
The Pan-African PPR Secretariat says effective and affordable vaccines are already available, but reaching remote and mobile livestock-keeping communities requires reliable vaccine supplies, cold chains, trained personnel and effective surveillance.
A 2016 global benefit-cost study estimated that a 15-year PPR eradication programme costing about US$2.26 billion could generate approximately US$76.5 billion in discounted economic benefits.
Investment in PPR eradication could also strengthen preparedness against other transboundary diseases, including foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever and highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The Pan-African PPR programme is coordinated through AU-IBAR, AU-PANVAC, FAO and WOAH and funded by the European Union.
The Rome dialogue called for governments, financial institutions and private-sector partners to convert political commitments into sustained financing to protect livestock, livelihoods, food security and regional trade.
