Ecological Effect of Control of African Trypanosomiasis

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Abstract
Trypanosomiasis control is not the sole cause of drought in the Sahel zone, but the increase in cattle production is the main feature. The control of cattle trypanosomiasis [by chemoprophylaxis or keeping cattle away from tsetse flies] caused local concentrations of cattle to be built up beyond the carrying capacity of grazing areas in the Sahel and Sudan zones of West Africa. Unless the pressure of grazing on the fragile savannah regions south of the Sahara is eased, greater droughts will occur at more frequent intervals. The possible ecological effects of trypanosomiasis control should be carefully considered before the measures now in operation are intensified; such measures, introduced hastily, could have a profound ecological effect on the continent. Although the relation between overgrazing and climatic change is not proved, its importance cannot be ignored.