Livestock production has remained a challenge for decades in Senegal’s Niayes region owing to the trypanosomosis-carrying tsetse flies, with infection rates at 28% affecting both income and food generation
These pests severely harm cattle productivity, leaving farmers with no choice but to go with low-yield, disease-tolerant breeds. To get rid of the deadly swarm of tsetses, the Government of Senegal launched a long-term campaign with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.
Ongoing for over a decade now, the programme has started showing positive changes with a 99% reduction in tsetse populations in the Niayes. The initiative was carried out in partnership with Senegalese institutions, namely the Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), and national veterinary services, as well as the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), France. Additional financial support was provided to the United States of America and France through IAEA Peaceful Uses Initiative.
Following more than ten years of sustained field activities, two socio-economic impact assessments were conducted, one with the support from FAO and the other from CIRAD, to evaluate how livestock systems and rural livelihoods had changed in the absence of the tsetse fly. The studies were carried out by agro-economists from the Bureau d’Analyses Macro-Économiques (BAME) at ISRA, alongside social scientists and entomologists from CIRAD.
“The assessments provide clear evidence that vector suppression has transformed livestock production systems in the Niayes region, with significant improvements in productivity, income and animal health. Sustaining these achievements will be critical, but the results already show how strategic investments and partnerships can drive long-term change in Senegal’s livestock sector,” said Adji Maréme Gaye, Epidemiologist at the FAO office in Senegal.
With trypanosomosis under control, farmers rapidly adapted their practices. Whereas previously only trypanotolerant local breeds could survive, the absence of the disease enabled the introduction of higher-yield dairy and meat cattle.
Before the intervention, exotic breeds accounted for just 1.5% of herds. Today, they represent more than 27% in some farming systems. At the same time, herd sizes have decreased by up to 49%, reflecting a shift towards more efficient and market-oriented production systems that place less pressure on land and natural resources.
Modern dairy farming has expanded rapidly in parallel. Since 2017, 904 modern dairy farms have been established in the Niayes region, representing nearly three-quarters of such operations nationwide.
This transformation has been accompanied by dramatic gains in productivity, with milk sales in some systems increasing from just 157 litres to over 2,100 litres per cow annually, driven by the growing presence of higher-yield exotic breeds.
“Conventional vector control could suppress tsetse populations, but it was the sterile insect technique that allowed Senegal to push past suppression toward eradication, breaking the cycle of reinfestation for good,” said Chantel De Beer, Technical Officer at the Insect Pest Control Laboratory of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre. “The Niayes campaign shows that with sustained investment and partnership, eradication isn't just a technical possibility, but it is an achievable outcome that transforms entire livestock economies, from household income to herd health to the dairy sector itself.”
