Africa: Cofinancing Opportunity: Creation of Sustainable Tsetse And Trypanosomiasis Free Areas in Africa

8 April 2005
African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

Tunis — The "Creation of Sustainable Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Free Areas in West and East Africa" is a first phase project of a 37-country programme called the Pan-African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC).

PATTEC is one of the programmes approved by the African Union under the NEPAD Initiative. The programme strategy is based on the concept of Integrated Pest Management and the Area-Wide Approach. It will be implemented in a sustained and continuous manner through phased series of interlinked and coordinated projects. Each phase will involve as many projects at a time as the available finances can support. The choice of countries for each phase will be based on, among other consideration, the criteria of readiness to implement the initiative.

Rationale

Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis is a serious obstacle to poverty reduction and food security, and its removal is ideal at this point in time, when (i) the technology to eradicate it exist. (ii) commitment for co-ordinated and sustained action has been made by the African Heads of State and Government, and the African Union (PATTEC), when they signed the resolution in 2000 and adopted the Plan of Action in 2001; and (iii) the success of Africa's major social and economic development initiatives currently underway, such as NEPAD, could be compromised in the absence of a lasting solution to the tsetse and trypanosomiasis problem. Given the difficulties experienced by people infected in obtaining an early diagnosis due to the lack of access to basic health care in many countries, an integrated approach to screening and treatment will be undertaken.

The Project

Phase I of this programme is a UA54.96 millions (USD80.11 millions) project, which aims to create sustainable tsetse-and-trypanosomiasis-free areas in six countries, namely: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. The project is an intervention in support of the eradication of tsetse and trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa, by integrating suppression, control and eradication technologies while ensuring that the reclaimed areas are equitably, sustainably and economically utilized. The project, which will be implemented over a period of six years, starting in 2005, is jointly financed by the African Development Fund and the participating six countries. At the end of project implementation, 13 million hectares will be freed from tsetse and trypanosomiasis infestation. The project will be implemented under four inter-related technical and support components described below:

i) Suppression and EradicationComponent based on co-ordinated, area-wide, sequential and integrated strategy using a combination of relatively simple and environmentally friendly technologies to suppress fly population to low levels before applying the sterile insect technique (SIT) to clear the remnants of the tsetse populations.

ii) Capacity Building Component, to provide technical skills for the implementation of the project in a coordinated and sustained manner. It will involve establishing an integrated information management system in each of the six Project Coordination and Management Units; upgrading regional and national capacities of professionals to co-ordinate eradication of tsetse flies and trypanosomiasis; strengthening national capacity for environmental audit in each of the six countries; and rehabilitating one training facility at Ecole de Lutte Anti-Tsétsé (ELAT) in Burkina Faso.

iii) Sustainable Land Management Component, involves (a) land use planning, and (b) institutional strengthening, to guide the agricultural intensification and expansion expected as a result of tsetse eradication, so as to improve productivity and sustainability, reduce possibilities for tsetse re-infestation and mitigate any potentially adverse environmental impacts as well as ensure the efficient and sustainable utilisation of the reclaimed land.

iv) Project Coordination and Management Component involves the setting up of a Project Coordination and Management Unit (PCMU) in each participating country; and establishing strategic systems for information exchange and coordination between the national Project Coordination and Management Units, PATTEC "Focal Points" in each country and the AU/PATTEC Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PATTEC Coordination Unit will be responsible for the overall coordination of the first phase as well as the overall programme.

Assurance of Progamme and Project Sustainability

The sustainability of the programme as well as Phase I project is assured because the selection of areas to be cleared of tsetse, takes into account the relative isolation of infested areas with the presence of natural barriers, which will reduce the need for artificial barriers and the risk of re-infestation. In the medium term, sustainability will be assured as the implementation of projects under the overall programme continues with additional phases linked with previous ones to roll out the "carpet" of suppression and eradication in a coordinated sequence to cover the tsetse infested areas in all 37 countries. This will require continued financing of the programme and an increasing coordinating role for PATTEC.

Financing the Programme

Following the request by the African Union and the NEPAD Secretariat, the African Development Bank took the first step to finance the first phase project, after ensuring that other key technical organizations had supported the technical design of the programme, in terms of its strategic approach, technology used and assurances for sustainability. The assurance of potential financing from other institutions was also a key factor taken into consideration. During the Phase I project, the capacity of PATTEC will be built. Once strengthened, PATTEC will be in a position to better mobilize resources while it coordinates the implementation of the programme. With the Bank Group taking the lead in the programme, it will continue to provide financial support to the programme and actively undertake resource mobilisation activities especially through co-financing arrangements with other development partners. Donors have expressed interest in financing follow up phases once the programme has been fully developed.

Media contact :

Mr. Sami Zaki Moussa, Division manager - Tel.: +216 71 10 21 43 - s.moussa@afdb.org

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