Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices about Tsetse Control among Communities Neighboring Serengeti National Park,Tanzania
Tsetse flies are vectors of blood parasite of the genus Trypanosoma, which causes African trypanosomiasis to both human beings and animals. Large losses due to nagana have been reported; and this indicates the importance of tsetse control to avoid estimated losses. This study assessed the knowledge of tsetse and control practices, attitudetowardscontrolpracticesagainsttsetse,andtheactualcontrol practices used by the local communities in Serengeti District near the Serengeti National ark(SENAPA).Dataforthisstudywerecollectedusingvarious methods. An interview schedule was administered to 70 randomly selected households, 12 focus group discussions with men and women farmers ,and four key informantinterviewswithtechnicalstaffwereheld.Thedatawereanalysed using largelydescriptivestatisticsandcontentanalysismethod.Thefarmershad inadequate knowledgeoftsetsesuchthattheyconfusedthemwithothersimilar flies. Ontheotherhand,theydemonstratedknowledgeoftsetsecontrolmeasures, and theseincludedsome,whichwerenotamongthoserecommendedbythe extension staff.Whiletheattitudetowardscontrolmethodswaspositivemostof the farmers did not use there commended methods largely due to the cost associated with them.This suggests that the positive attitude towards a recommendation by itself is not sufficient to influence its use.Besides,poor management of dipping facilities for tsetse control and inadequate supervision by district staff impacted on the quality of services offered. Thus enabling local community members to have clear knowledge of tsetse flies is an important starting pointformobilizingthemtotakeappropriatecontrolmeasuresagainst tsetse. Also,district authorities need to take an active role in monitoring the performance of the dipping facilities in the district by taking up appropriate measures toensurequalitycontrolofservicesoffered.Moreover,thereisneedfor the districtauthoritiesandthecentralgovernmenttoaddressthechallengeswhich privatization of veterinary services posed to animal health and the well being of people who depend on livestock for their livelihood.
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