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Background. Traditionally, poultry is kept and reared by women in extensive production systems. In Kenya and most developing countries, smallholder poultry productivity is constrained by diseases such as Newcastle disease (ND), which is preventable via a vaccine, yet contributes to significant morbidity and mortality among flocks primarily owned and managed by women in villages. Objective. This study aimed to map the Newcastle disease vaccine value chain stakeholders and identify the barriers and opportunities for women's engagement along the Newcastle disease vaccine value chain. Methodology. Qualitative data were collected with 15 key informant interviews and four focus group discussions with a total of 42 poultry farmers in Machakos Town sub-county, Kenya. Results. The majority of the vaccine value chain consumers were women, and limited information was one of the root causes for not vaccinating their chickens. Vaccines were considered expensive and difficult to access as the production areas were remote from the agrovet shops that retail vaccines. Implication. The study showed that women farmers had no financial control to enable vaccine procurement. Conclusion. Based on the results the government using the Extension service providers should train smallholder farmers on how to use the ND vaccine. Furthermore, manufacturers of thermo-stable ND vaccines should furnish Agrovet shops with data to enable its adoption in remote areas where the cold chain is unreliable.

Abstract The health of our planet and humanity is threatened by biodiversity loss, disease and climate crises that are unprecedented in human history, driven by our insatiable consumption and unsustainable production patterns, particularly food systems. The One Health approach is a pathway to synergistically addressing outcomes in term of health and sustainability, but gender issues at the One Health and biodiversity nexus are largely ignored. By examining the roles and responsibilities of Indigenous and Local People, and especially women, in conserving natural resources, and the social costs of living at the Human-Animal-Environment interface under current conservation strategies, we show that women bear a disproportionate health, poverty and climate burden, despite having pivotal roles in conserving biodiversity. To mitigate risks of emerging infectious diseases, food insecurity and climate change impacts, a gender perspective has previously been proposed, but implementation lags behind. Endemic zoonotic diseases, human-wildlife conflict and environmental pollution lack gender-sensitive frameworks. We demonstrate that women can be powerful agents for change at all levels of society, from communities to businesses, and policy-making institutions, but gender inequalities still persist. We develop a framework for mainstreaming a gender-responsive and rights-based One Health approach, in order to heal ourselves and nature. Using a leverage-points perspective, we suggest a change of paradigm, from the pursuit of GDP and over-consumption, to a focus on human well-being and their reconnection with healthy environments, using a One Health understanding of nature and health. We recommend learning from Indigenous People to re-position ourselves within nature and to better conserve biodiversity. We also propose integration of gender equity in leadership, the respect of human rights, women’s rights (access to health care, healthy food, land tenure, natural resources, education, and economic opportunities), and the rights of nature, through the implementation of gender-responsive and rights-based One Health Action Plans, at policy-making level, in the private sector and the civil society. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unveil deep socio-economic inequities in the wealthiest economies and the vital role of nature in supporting our health, we argue to seize this opportunity to build back better and improve resilience and sustainability by using a gender-responsive and rights-based One Health approach.

Livestock diseases are a major barrier to productivity for both male and female livestock keepers in Africa. In Kenya, two of the most devastating livestock diseases are Newcastle Disease (ND) in poultry and Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) in goats. Female livestock keepers tend to own more small ruminants (goats, sheep, etc.) and poultry and their livelihoods are adversely affected if their herds are not vaccinated against these diseases. Livestock farming has gender specific challenges and opportunities, with implications for the empowerment of women smallholder farmers, their household well-being, food security, and livelihoods. There is a need to estimate the level to which women benefit personally, socially, and economically from keeping livestock, yet there are very few studies that can measure if livestock production does in fact empower women smallholder livestock farmers. This study was done to examine linkages between women’s empowerment and access and control over livestock products and vaccines. The Women Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) tool, which was customized to include questions on livestock vaccine access, was used to capture baseline data on empowerment scores for women in Machakos county, Kenya, prior to implementation of animal health and vaccine test models. In total, 400 participants were surveyed in two wards of Machakos County, Kola and Kalama, which were purposively selected. Women’s empowerment was mapped to three domains (3DE): intrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with) measured against adequacy in 13 indicators. Our results indicate that the household structure (female headed or dual headed household), age of respondents and number of members in a household influence the adequacy score. Work balance was the most significant negative contributor to women’s disempowerment. Women contributed the most to livestock productive activities and attained adequacy in this area compared to men, directly impacting the WELI score. Women smallholder livestock farmers report low CCPP and ND vaccination rates, minimal knowledge on livestock diseases, a lack of access to cold chain storage and rarely visited veterinarians. The WELI score was 0.81 indicating a high level of empowerment for women in this community compared to men leading us to conclude that the overall WELI score was not an accurate indicator of women‘s empowerment in Machakos County. However, the decomposability of the index allows us to disaggregate the drivers of change and to examine how individual indicators contribute to disempowerment.

Participatory epidemiology (PE) evolved as a branch of veterinary epidemiology and has been largely employed for the control and early warning of infectious diseases within resource-limited settings. It was originally based on combining practitioner communication skills with participatory methods to facilitate the involvement of animal caretakers and owners (embracing their knowledge, experience, and motivations) in the identification and assessment of animal disease problems, including in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of disease control programs, policies, and strategies. With the importance of understanding social perceptions and drivers receiving increasing recognition by epidemiologists, PE tools are being adapted for an increasingly wide range of settings and endeavors. More recently, PE tools have been adapted for use in food and nutrition security programs, One Health activities, wildlife disease surveillance and as part of mixed-methods research across a range of socio-economic settings. This review describes the evolution of PE (in relation to veterinary epidemiology and briefly in relation to public health epidemiology), the underpinning philosophy and principles essential to its effective application and the importance of gender-sensitive approaches and data triangulation, including conventional confirmatory testing. The article also provides illustrative examples highlighting the diversity of approaches and applications of PE, hallmarks of successful PE initiatives and the lessons we can learn when these are missing. Finally, we look forward, describing the particular utility of PE for dealing with emerging infectious diseases, gaining attention of field-level cross-sector officials who can escalate concerns to a higher level and for continuing to raise the voices of those less-heard (such as women, minority groups, and remote communities with limited exposure to formal education) in defining the problems and planning activities that will likely impact directly on their well-being and livelihoods.

Most rural women smallholder farmers in Kenya generate income from the sale of small ruminant animals. However, diseases such as Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) prevent them from optimizing earnings. A crucial aspect for the control of CCPP is vaccination. In Kenya, CCPP vaccines are distributed through a government delivery mechanism. This study examines gaps and barriers that prevent women smallholder farmers from accessing CCPP vaccines. Qualitative data collection tools used were focus groups discussions, focus meals, jar voices and key informant interviews. Using outcome mapping (OM) methodology, critical partners and stakeholders in the CCPP vaccine value chain (CCPP-VVC) were identified to be the manufacturers, importers, distributors, agrovets, public and private veterinarians, local leaders, and farmers. Respondents highlighted the barriers to be limited access to vaccines due to cold chain problems, inadequate and late delivery of services, lack of information and training on vaccines, and financial constraints. Identified opportunities that can support women’s engagement in the CCPP-VVC are the Kenya Governments two-third gender rule, which requires that not more than two thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender, and positive community perception of female veterinarians. We conclude that more resources and training should be made available to women farmers, and that gender perspectives on policy development related to livestock production and disease prevention are urgently needed to improve livestock productivity and increase agency for women.

Neste artigo são alinhavados olhares das mulheres do eixo Sul-Sul, suas aproximações e distanciamentos, a partir de categorias de análise que têm como marco a soberania e a Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SAN). Argumenta-se nessa reflexão acerca da importância da análise de gênero em perspectiva interseccional em dois cenários diversos. O primeiro cenário é a partir do ponto de vista das mukheristas, nome pelo qual são chamadas as mulheres moçambicanas que fazem o comércio entre Maputo (Moçambique) e Johannesburg (África do Sul). O segundo cenário é constituído pelas mulheres da aldeia Cinta Vermelha-Jundiba, que vivem na região do semiárido, no Vale do Jequitinhonha, no Brasil. Observar-se-á como, a partir de panos moçambicanos e sementes brasileiras, essas mulheres trançam suas sobrevivências.

A autora delineia a sua trajetória de convivência íntima com as violências e com as consequências infligidas na mente e no corpo de todas as pessoas que estão envolvidas nelas. Com exemplo de Moçambique, África do Sul e Ruanda e violências ligadas a guerra, a fome, ao HIV/AIDS e ao gênero ela articula, percorrendo fragmentos de suas experiências, as diferentes camadas e formas de violência que afligem os/as mais desemparados/as. A aproximação da violência física, da violência estrutural, da violência simbólica e das suas várias combinações destroem os seres humanas e, sobretudo, os/as que têm de conviver com a multiplicidade das suas formas. A proposta é de encontrar formas de desenvolver uma nova ética de cidadania, de empatia e solidariedade que procura desarmar estas violências.

Newcastle disease (ND) is a viral disease of poultry with global importance, responsible for the loss of a potential source of household nutrition and economic livelihood in many low-income food-deficit countries. Periodic outbreaks of this endemic disease result in high mortality amongst free-ranging chicken flocks and may serve as a disincentive for rural households to invest time or resources in poultry-keeping. Sustainable ND control can be achieved through vaccination using a thermotolerant vaccine administered via eyedrop by trained "community vaccinators". This article evaluates the uptake and outcomes of fee-for-service ND vaccination programs in eight rural villages in the semi-arid central zone of Tanzania. It represents part of an interdisciplinary program seeking to address chronic undernutrition in children through improvements to existing poultry and crop systems. Newcastle disease vaccination uptake was found to vary substantially across communities and seasons, with a significantly higher level of vaccination amongst households participating in a longitudinal study of children's growth compared with non-participating households (p = 0.009). Two multivariable model analyses were used to explore associations between vaccination and chicken numbers, allowing for clustered data and socioeconomic and cultural variation amongst the population. Results demonstrated that both (a) households that undertook ND vaccination had a significantly larger chicken flock size in the period between that vaccination campaign and the next compared with those that did not vaccinate (p = 0.018); and (b) households with larger chicken flocks at the time of vaccination were significantly more likely to participate in vaccination programs (p < 0.001). Additionally, households vaccinating in all three vaccination campaigns held over 12 months were identified to have significantly larger chicken flocks at the end of this period (p < 0.001). Opportunities to understand causality and complexity through quantitative analyses are limited, and there is a role for qualitative approaches to explore decisions made by poultry-keeping households and the motivations, challenges and priorities of community vaccinators. Evidence of a bi-directional relationship, however, whereby vaccination leads to greater chicken numbers, and larger flocks are more likely to be vaccinated, offers useful insights into the efficacy of fee-for-service animal health programs. This article concludes that attention should be focused on ways of supporting the participation of vulnerable households in ND vaccination campaigns, and encouraging regular vaccination throughout the year, as a pathway to strengthen food security, promote resilience and contribute to improved human nutrition.

Zambian women might doubt whether to stop or preserve labial elongation, which is a female genital modification instructed to the girl child as the first rite of passage into womanhood. We conducted a grounded theory research among Zambian men and women who had immigrated to Cape Town. Twenty women and seventeen men participated. Beliefs and perceptions around womanhood, gender roles and pleasure place elongation as a practice that is highly valued by Zambians in South Africa. Interventions to promote and improve women’s sexual health -such as capacity building of healthcare professionals and design of information, education and communication materials- can be informed by framing and documenting the implications for the Zambian migrant women’s sexual and social wellbeing of this practice.

A partir de uma perspectiva qualitativa, este artigo analisa a forma como as pessoas "negras" na África do Sul esforçam-se por superar e ressignificar as marcas de uma história de repressão e de marginalização "raciais". Seguiremos a trajetória de Mpho, uma mulher "negra" com o objetivo de refletir como "raça" e gênero articulados envolvem situações de negociação, coerção, ressentimento e recusa. Estudaremos como certos indivíduos reorganizaram suas redes de sociabilidade no pós-apartheid, com foco no "campo de possibilidades" disponível para diferentes grupos "raciais".From a qualitative perspective, this paper analyses how "black" people in South Africa strive to overcome and ressignify the marks of a history of repression and "racial" marginalization. We will follow the trajectory of Mpho, a "black" woman, with the objective to reflect on how the intersection of "race" and gender involve situations of negotiation, cohersion, ressentment and refusal. We will study how some individuals reorganize their network of sociability in post-apartheid South Africa with a focus on the "field of possibilities" available for different "racial" groups.

Em Moçambique, o lovolo constitui uma prática importante na sociedade urbana. Isso deve-se ao facto de o lovolo permitir estabelecer uma comunicação entre os vivos e os seus antepassados e a criação ou o restabelecimento da harmonia social. Ele inscreve o indivíduo numa rede de relações de parentesco e de aliança tanto com os vivos como com os mortos. O lovolo faz parte da identidade individual e colectiva, ligando seres humanos e mortos numa rede de interpretações do mundo e num conjunto de tradições em contínuo processo de transformação.In Mozambique, the lobolo or bride-price is a significant practice in urban society. This is because the lobolo enables communication between living people and their ancestors, and helps to create or re-establish social harmony. It embeds the individual in a network of kinship and alliance relationships with both the living and the dead. The lobolo is a part of the individual and collective identity, tying the living and the dead together in a network of interpretations of the world and in a set of constantly changing traditions.

A study on how Zambian migrants living in Cape Town perceive and experience the implications of labial elongation on women’s health was conducted. Labia minora elongation (LME) is a genital modification that some women in east and southern Africa practice. This tradition is not common in Western Cape province (southwestern part of South Africa). The aim of this article is to discuss the methodological choices made in the design and conduct of this study, in which a White European male interviewed the female study participants on the health implications of a practice that is considered a woman’s private issue. Constructivist grounded theory informed by a feminist perspective was chosen as the most suitable methodological approach to enable cogeneration of knowledge with the female participants. The methods and tools used by the lead investigator facilitated access to the participants’ emic views. Grounded theory methodology holds the potential to be an appropriate methodological approach for researchers who seek to erode the power imbalances influencing research processes that aim to explore the associated meanings and health implications of female genital modifications, such as LME, as narrated by the women who practice them.