Economic Impact of Trypanosomosis on Camels (Camelus Dromedarius) in North-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Desert encroachment accelerated by global warming threatens the lives and livelihood of scores of farming families. However, camels can withstand the harsh climatic conditions and provide draught power thereby supporting subsistence agriculture and other economic activities. This study aimed to investigate the economic-impact of camel Trypanosomiasis (Surra) in two communities in North-West, Nigeria using structured questionnaires. All the 99 respondents interviewed were males and over 30 years of age with majority of them having Islamic/Quaranic education. The economic impacts identified include death (42%), poor milk production (38%) and reduced draught power (38%). The mean prices of live camels differ between the two study areas; ₦301,928.57 vs. ₦128,100.00 and ₦184,377.55 vs.₦82,100.00 for healthy adults and young camels in Kano and Katsina states, respectively. About 38−54% loss in value of live camels estimated at ₦114,581.63−₦164,755.09 in Kano and ₦48,850−₦76,100.00 in Katsina was attributed to Surra. Similarly, Surra is believed to account for over 90% loss in milk production in camels, where an estimated daily loss of over ₦7,000.00 was recorded. Although the estimated impacts were based on the opinion of a few randomly selected respondents, the huge financial cost associated with Surra is alarming and deserves attention. It is evident that this disease threatens food security and impedes the achievement of sustainable development goals. These findings bring to fore the socioeconomic importance of Surra in the study area and call for the formulation of cost-effective control measures.