Dataset Information

Investigating the Socio-Economic and Livelihoods Impacts of African Swine Fever in Timor-Leste: An Application of Spatial Group Model Building.

ABSTRACT: Small-scale pig farming is highly important to the economic and social status of households in Timor-Leste. The presence of an African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak in Timor-Leste was confirmed in 2019, a major concern given that around 70% of agricultural households practice pig farming. This research used a virtual spatial group model building process to construct a concept model to better understand the main feedback loops that determine the socio-economic and livelihood impacts of the ASF outbreak. After discussing the interaction of reinforcing and balancing feedback loops in the concept model, potential leverage points for intervention are suggested that could reduce the impacts of ASF within socio-economic spheres. These include building trust between small-scale farmers and veterinary technicians, strengthening government veterinary services, and the provision of credit conditional on biosecurity investments to help restock the industry. This conceptual model serves as a starting point for further research and the future development of a quantitative system dynamics (SD) model which would allow ex-ante scenario-testing of various policy and technical mitigation strategies of ASF outbreaks in Timor-Leste and beyond. Lessons learned from the blended offline/online approach to training and workshop facilitation are also explored in the paper.

SUBMITTER: Berends J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8636599 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Investigating the Socio-Economic and Livelihoods Impacts of African Swine Fever in Timor-Leste: An Application of Spatial Group Model Building.

Berends Jared J Bendita da Costa Jong Joanita J Cooper Tarni Louisa TL Dizyee Kanar K Morais Olavio O Pereira Abrão A Smith Dominic D Rich Karl M KM

Frontiers in veterinary science 20211118

Small-scale pig farming is highly important to the economic and social status of households in Timor-Leste. The presence of an African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak in Timor-Leste was confirmed in 2019, a major concern given that around 70% of agricultural households practice pig farming. This research used a virtual spatial group model building process to construct a concept model to better understand the main feedback loops that determine the socio-economic and livelihood impacts of the ASF outbr ...[more]

PMID: 34869709

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Project description:BACKGROUND: The island of Timor lies at the south-eastern edge of Indonesia on the boundary of the Oriental and Australian faunal regions. The country of Timor-Leste, which occupies the eastern part of the island, is malarious, but anopheline faunal surveys and malaria vector incrimination date back to the 1960 s. Over the last decade the malaria vectors of south-east Asia and the south-west Pacific have been intensely studied using molecular techniques that can confirm identification within complexes of isomorphic species. The aim of this study is to accurately identify the Anopheles fauna of Timor-Leste using these techniques. METHODS: The survey was carried out over the period February to June 2001. Standard entomological techniques--human landing collections, larval collections and CO2 baited light traps--were used to collect anophelines from the main geographical regions: coastal plains, inland plains, and highlands. Specimens were processed for identification by morphology and genotyped for the ribosomal DNA ITS2 by restriction analysis and/or DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic relationship of Anopheles sundaicus and Anopheles subpictus individuals was also assessed using DNA sequences from the ITS2 and mitochondrial cytochrome-b. All specimens, other than those from larval surveys, were processed to detect the presence of the Plasmodium parasite circumsporozoite protein by ELISA for vector incrimination. RESULTS: Of 2,030 specimens collected, seven species were identified by morphology: Anopheles barbirostris, Anopheles aconitus, Anopheles annularis, Anopheles maculatus, Anopheles peditaeniatus, An. sundaicus and Anopheles vagus. These were confirmed by molecular analysis with the addition of Anopheles flavirostris and an unidentified species designated here as An. vagus genotype B. This latter species was morphologically similar to An. vagus and An. subpictus and is likely to be the An. subpictus described by other workers for Timor. However, genetically this species showed strong affinities to the An. sundaicus complex. Anopheles vagus was the most common species but was rarely collected coming to bite humans; An. barbirostris and An. vagus genotype B were the two most common species collected in human landing catches and both were found positive for CS protein. CONCLUSIONS: The anopheline fauna of Timor-Leste is of Oriental origin with no evidence of elements from the Australian Region. The existence of species complexes will make the use of morphological markers problematic in the country. Using molecular analysis a number of issues regarding the anopheline fauna of Timor-Leste were resolved and nine putative species of Anopheles were identified; two species: An. barbirostris and An. vagus genotype B, were incriminated as malaria vectors.

Project description:Fieldwork conducted throughout Timor-Leste in September 2004 and July 2009 resulted in a collection or recording of 263 herpetological specimens (100 amphibians, 163 reptiles), comprising at least seven species of frogs and toads, 20 species of lizards, seven species of snakes, two species of turtles, and one species of crocodile. Among the amphibians, the most frequently encountered species were toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), rice paddy frogs (genus Fejervarya), and rhacophorid treefrogs (Polypedates cf. leucomystax). All three variants of rice paddy frogs encountered represent undescribed species similar to Fejervarya verruculosa from neighboring Wetar Island. Records of Fejervarya cancrivora and Fejervarya limnocharis for Timor Island are apparently errors based on misidentification. We obtained voucher specimens for a total of 147 lizards and voucher photographs only for four specimens of Varanus timorensis. Aside from geckos frequently associated with human habitations (e.g., Gehyra mutilata, Gekko gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, Hemidactylus platyurus), we discovered an as yet undescribed species of bent-toed gecko, genus Cyrtodactylus, in the Same valley. Our specimens of Hemidactylus platyurus are the first record of this species from Timor-Leste. Commonly encountered skinks included four-fingered skinks (genus Carlia), wedge skinks (genus Sphenomorphus), and night skinks (genus Eremiascincus). Notable among the 15 snakes collected was the frequency of pitvipers (Cryptelytrops insularis), which amounted to over 25% of all snakes. Our specimen of the wolfsnake Lycodon subcinctus is the first record of this species for Timor-Leste. Based on these findings, it appears that the biodiversity of amphibians and reptiles in this remote corner of Wallacea is much greater than previously thought, particularly with respect to scincid lizards. The detail we provide in the species accounts is designed to allow the use of this report as a preliminary field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Timor-Leste. However, survey work is ongoing.

Dataset Information

Investigating the Socio-Economic and Livelihoods Impacts of African Swine Fever in Timor-Leste: An Application of Spatial Group Model Building.

Publications

Investigating the Socio-Economic and Livelihoods Impacts of African Swine Fever in Timor-Leste: An Application of Spatial Group Model Building.

Similar Datasets

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