Afghanistan - Kiwis contribute to animal welfare in war-torn country
Livestock are a key part
of the 'wealth' of many
Afghani families
By Dr Virginia Williams
When a country is riven by decades of conflict, it is not only the humans who suffer. Animals can also be a casualty when infrastructure has been torn apart by war. As part of their role in a civilian assistance programme in Afghanistan, New Zealand Defence Force personnel have been helping not only the local population, but also with the health and welfare of the animals that are such an important part of the rural economy.
In New Zealand, the National Animal Welfare Emergency Management (NAWEM) Group has been formed to coordinate responses to disasters affecting animal welfare (see page 18 of this issue). The focus of this group is very much on the regional natural disasters - floods, droughts, volcanic eruptions and the like.
New Zealanders are also doing their bit overseas to restore services in the face of disruption caused by war. For the New Zealand Defence Force's Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT) in the Bamyan province of Afghanistan, there has been a strong animal welfare aspect to this aid.
Last summer, the NZPRT took part in a medical civilian assistance programme (MEDCAP), organised by the American military, which provided free health clinics not only for every man, woman and child in the chosen areas, but also for their livestock. New Zealanders helped the two American veterinarians who oversaw, in the space of a couple of days, the marking, drenching and vaccinating of around 3,000 horses, donkeys, cows, sheep and goats. Many of these animals had been brought from as much as a day's walk away - treatment for saddle sores and other wounds was also provided. At the same time, the medical clinic saw more than 5,500 human patients.
Around three-quarters of Afghanistan's people depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihood. Most farming households use cattle to plough their wheat fields at planting time, while sheep and goats - for many families only a handful of animals - represent their 'wealth'. Animal offspring and products are sold to raise cash in an emergency. The rural economy has therefore been vulnerable to outbreaks of animal diseases, a situation which has been all too common given the breakdown in the veterinary infrastructure caused by years of conflict and neglect.
The number of veterinarians has fallen considerably in Afghanistan. In the past, all veterinarians were state employees: the provision of animal health, including national disease control programmes, food hygiene, emergency disease control and vaccination and treatment of livestock, were all considered a government responsibility. However, as government employees, veterinarians were regarded with some suspicion following the Russian invasion in 1979, and many fled the country once the Russians were gone. Veterinary training has also suffered, and subsequent conflict has prevented the rebuilding of the veterinary infrastructure in many areas, leading to a reduction or absence in preventative health programmes.
While the NZPRT personnel found the general health of the animals was surprisingly good, considering the almost total lack of veterinary care, diseases such as anthrax, enterotoxaemia, sheep pox, blackleg and haemorrhagic septicaemia have become more prevalent. Foot and mouth disease and rinderpest are also threats.
As well as the MEDCAPs provided by the American military, a number of groups are trying to address this situation, both nationally and internationally. With a mission to help return a self-reliant and sustainable life to the Afghan people, the Committee for Rehabilitation Aid to Afghanistan (CRAA) is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit-making organisation that works with groups like the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to foster economic development, agricultural development, and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. Current projects include:
- teaching in construction, including animal shelters
- training paraveterinarians (veterinary assistants) and equipping trainees to work as mobile independent providers
- promotion of humane treatment of draft animals.
The Afghanistan Government is also working to rebuild government veterinary services to address national issues such as foot and mouth disease control. This is complemented by the work of USAID, mentioned above, which is an independent United States federal government agency that supports and provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries. USAID is helping to rebuild Afghanistan's veterinary capacity, focusing on clinical veterinary services, including training of paraveterinarians, now the largest group involved in provision of animal health care services at village level.
The Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA) and the Food and Agriculture (FAO) organisation are also providing aid. The DCA has been helping improve the health and productive output of the local livestock since 1988, in particular through training, extension and the delivery of animal health services at village level. The FAO helps the Afghanistan Government monitor and prevent outbreaks of diseases in cattle, sheep, goats and poultry and to support veterinary field clinics providing vaccinations and treatments.
Meanwhile, New Zealanders will be back in the thick of it when the assistance of the NZPRT will again be enlisted for a repeat of last year's programme this Northern summer.
- Virginia Williams is the Animal Welfare Coordinator for the New Zealand Veterinary Association.
- Photographs courtesy of Committee for Rehabilitation Aid to Afghanistan.
Return to:
Page last updated: 30 April 2008