Press Release
14 May 2007
Launch of £3.9 million research programme to develop better ways of controlling avian flu
A £3.9 million study launched today by the International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, will help some of the world’s poorest farmers tackle avian flu and safeguard their livelihoods in the face of further outbreaks.
The DFID-funded research programme focuses on Africa and Southeast Asia and will examine the best ways to control avian flu but also how to reduce the impact of the disease on poor peoples’ livelihoods, for example through farmer compensation schemes.
The research marks a new approach as previous work has largely focused on eradicating Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) from poultry populations and preparing for a potential human pandemic.
Hilary Benn said:
“As well as claiming lives, avian flu - and the measures taken to control it - are damaging the livelihoods of farmers in the developing world.
“It is important to investigate how best to protect them when avian flu strikes. This pioneering research will help find ways of helping the poor while also ensuring appropriate control measures are followed so that farmers do not hide, slaughter or eat infected birds.
“The first results of the study are expected within a year and will be discussed with policy makers in Africa and Asia.”
The potential impact on agriculture of the continuing spread of HPAI and the fear of this developing into a human pandemic are very great. The World Bank recently estimated that a pandemic could reduce the world’s GDP by five per cent, with a higher proportional loss in developing countries.
Many poor people in the developing world keep poultry and their flocks are an important source of protein, as well as being an economic investment. In Viet Nam about 70% of rural households – numbering eight million in total - own chickens. The average flock size is about 16.
Notes to editors:
1. HPAI infections have claimed more than 170 lives in 12 countries since 2003 and, in South East Asia, led to the culling of more than 140 million birds with a total estimated economic loss to the region of more than $10 billion.
2. In Africa the research will be managed by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the International Livestock Research Institute. In Southeast Asia the research will be managed by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, the Royal Veterinary College and the University of California at Berkeley.
3. Initial research will be conducted in Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali and Nigeria.
4. For further information, contact Nic Fearon-Low on 020 7023 0533 (e-mail nic-fearon-low@dfid.gov.uk) or 020 7023 0600, e-mail pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk or call our Public Enquiries Point on 0845 300 4100.
DFID News is available on our website at www.dfid.gov.uk
