V. Dzingirai, Centre for Applied Social Science, University of Zimbabwe

Amon Murwira, Dept of Geography, University of Zimbabwe

W. Shereni, Tsetse Control Branch, Ministry of Agriculture, Zimbabwe

Ian Scoones, IDS, Sussex

Neil Anderson, University of Edinburgh

Patches, Tsetse and Livelihoods

in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe

Context of study

Focus on eradication:

Wildlife elimination

Chemical spraying

Vegetation clearance

But…. yearly outbreaks affecting people and livestock

Why and who exactly gets exposed to tsetse and tryp ?

Hurungwe case study

Rich biodiversity - wildlife

Long history of tsetse and trypanosomiasis

People with competing, diverse livelihoods

Changing land use, after land reform

Methodology

Cross-disciplinary team (social science, GIS/geographers,

entomology, veterinary science)

Mixed methods: surveys (of flies, people, animals, parasites)

Participatory analysis – linking local understandings with

scientific insights

But…. Collaboration is very hard!!

Finding 1: Residual patches

• Environmental change:

– increased human settlement, farming (in-migration)

– cash cropping, supported by the state and agribusiness

– demand for fuelwood.

.Less woodland/forest cover, but patches still exist (rivers,

valleys, escarpment, hills, and ‘buffer’ areas with national

parks)

Change of suitable habitat between

1986 and 2008

Finding 2: Tsetse in patches

Community mapping - patches as zones of tsetse and tryps

Entomological and blood sampling surveys confirmed this.

Finding 3: who is exactly exposed?Just as tsetse finds patches attractive to tsetse, so too are they

to the following social groups:

• Hunters =wildlife

• Migrants, squatters = agriculture

• Cattle owners and herders = grazing and water

• Foragers =fruits, insects

• Pilgrims = sacred hills

Social difference – wealth, gender, age

Seasonality – times of year

•Tsetse and trypanosomiasis persist in Hurungwe

on account of residual patches.

•Exposure varies by occupation/livelihood,

gender, age, and time (season).

Conclusion

Recommendations

• Concentration of control efforts in patches: get

scale right

• Disease monitoring and surveillance: targeting

with insights from social analysis

• Working with people on the ground