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The Nairobi pork food system is a growing livestock sub-sector which serves as a source of food and livelihood to its inhabitants. The study aimed to map Nairobi's pork value chains, assess their governance, operational challenges and their impacts on food safety risks and management practices. Qualitative data were collected in seven focus group discussions and 10 key informants' interviews on animal movements and product flows, stakeholders' interactions, perceptions on system governance and challenges, and on their potential impact on food safety management. Quantitative data were obtained to show the importance of flows, business operations and market share. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify themes that provide understanding on the governance, challenges and food safety practices in each profile. The predominant chains identified were [1] The "large integrated company" profile which accounted for 83.6% of pork marketed through abattoirs, and was based on a well-structured supply system, with owned farms (representing 50% of their supply), contract farms and semi-contract farms and [2] Local independent abattoirs, accounting for 16.4%, are privately owned small-scale production, supplied mainly (70%) by small farmers from the immediate neighboring areas. The main challenges associated with governance themes included; (i) Inadequate/lack of enforcement of existing regulation (ii) Negative effect of devolution system of governance (iii) Pig traders' dominance (iii) Lack of association at all system nodes, and (iv) Male dominance across the pig system. The main challenges reported included; (i) Lack of capital to upscale (ii) Poor infrastructure (iii) Pig shortage (iv) Excessive regulation (v) Lack of training (vi) Diseases (v) Lack of knowledge (vi) Unfair competition. Food safety themes were associated with (i) Inadequate slaughter facilities forcing traders/farmers to undertake home slaughter (ii) Lack of knowledge on disease management (iii) Lack of training on hygienic practices in the slaughterhouse and (iv) Lack/insufficient capital to purchase equipment's to ensure proper hygiene e.g., boilers. The study provides insights into the structure of the pork system supplying Nairobi, the governance issues important to the stakeholders, challenges and food safety issues. The framework obtained can be used by policy makers and researchers to investigate and develop pork industry and for food safety and disease control programmes.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: An estimated 59,000 people die from rabies annually, with 99% of those deaths attributable to bites from domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). This preventable Neglected Tropical Disease has a large impact across continental Africa, especially for rural populations living in close contact with livestock and wildlife. Mass vaccinations of domestic dogs are effective at eliminating rabies but require large amounts of resources, planning, and political will to implement. Grassroots campaigns provide an alternative method to successful implementation of rabies control but remain understudied in their effectiveness to eliminate the disease from larger regions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report on the development, implementation, and effectiveness of a grassroots mass dog rabies vaccination campaign in Kenya, the Laikipia Rabies Vaccination Campaign. During 2015-2017, a total of 13,155 domestic dogs were vaccinated against rabies in 17 communities covering approximately 1500 km2. Based on an estimated population size of 34,275 domestic dogs, percent coverages increased across years, from 2% in 2015 to 24% in 2017, with only 3 of 38 community-years of vaccination exceeding the 70% target. The average cost of vaccinating an animal was $3.44 USD with in-kind contributions and $7.44 USD without in-kind contributions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The evolution of the Laikipia Rabies Vaccination Campaign from a localized volunteer-effort to a large-scale program attempting to eliminate rabies at the landscape scale provides a unique opportunity to examine successes, failures, and challenges facing grassroots campaigns. Success, in the form of vaccinating more dogs across the study area, was relatively straightforward to achieve. However, lack of effective post-vaccination monitoring and education programs, limited funding, and working in diverse community types appeared to hinder achievement of 70% coverage levels. These results indicate that grassroots campaigns will inevitably be faced with a philosophical question regarding the value of local impacts versus their contributions to a larger effort to eliminate rabies at the regional, country, or global scale.