Impact of tsetse and trypanosomiasis control on poverty: A case of Pate Island of Lamu County, Kenya

Abstract

The livestock rearing households of Pate Island in Lamu County of the Northern Coast of Kenya had been participating in the control of tsetse flies and trypanosomiasis. The objective of this study was to estimate the change in household wealth index resulting from tsetse and trypanosomiasis control. The study was conducted on 254 project households and 282 non-project households in the County. Using structured questionnaires, the study collected data on household characteristics, number of livestock in the household by type, household durable assets and living conditions. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used to construct the household wealth index as an outcome to measure the well-being of households. The results indicated that the proportion of very wealthy households was higher (16%) in the project areas than in non-project areas (3.7%). Propensity Score Matching (PSM) results showed that the mean wealth index for a project participating household was 0.699 (Std. Err. = 0.048 while -0.745 (Std. Err. = 0.077 if the household had not participated in the project denoting an increase of 1.444 in the household wealth index. In conclusion, the study shows that the tsetse and trypanosomiasis control project had brought an improvement in the wealth index of the project participated households. Therefore, it is recommended that governments mobilize resources to control tsetse flies and the disease in infested areas of Africa to improve the well-being of rural households. Key words: Impact, tsetse, trypanosomiasis, wealth.