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The veterinary service of EthiopiaC.S.M. Hopkirk D.V.Sc. aa Addis Ababa, EthiopiaPublished online: 23 Feb 2011.

To cite this article: C.S.M. Hopkirk D.V.Sc. (1954) The veterinary service of Ethiopia, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 2:1,17-18, DOI: 10.1080/00480169.1954.33141

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00480169.1954.33141

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1954 THE NEW ZEALAND VETERINARY JOURNAL 17-

THE VETERINARY SERVICE OF ETHIOPIA

C. S. M. HOPKIRK, D.V.Sc., Chief of Mission F AO in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, EthiQpia.

Ethiopia is an agricultural and stock-raising country,' some six times t~e size of Italy, and with climates ranging from tropical desert to temperate highlands. Until recently, its isolation was pro­found. A year ago Eritrea was added as a Feder­ated State, and with it came the fine port of Mas­sawa. A road also exists to the coast to the port of Assab, and this in future may be developed into a useful cargo route. The present railway line from Djibouti to Addis is very expensive running, as it goes over much desert country without hope of picking up freight. The people, 18,000,000 in number, are made up of many tribes, the senior being the Amharic, while the religions are mainly Coptic and Moslem. Food customs var.y a little but are simple, mainly consisting of bread made from tef! or dhura, called indjerra, and a highly-spiced and hot stew known as "wott." Feast days are meat­eating days of beef, mutton, goat, and poultry in varying degrees of preparedness and in that order of value.

On the highlands, several species of grain are grown, together with pepper, oil-bearing seeds, beans, peas, and some subtropical fruits. Unfortu­nately, fruits such as the apple do not do well be­cause of the continuous growth of trees without a dormant period. Where land is not suitable for cropping, cattle, sheep, and goats are grazed. In the subtropical areas at a lower altitude, coffee and cotton are main crops, with maize as the best grain crop. In these areas, too, stock are grazed in com­paratively large herds and flocks, while in desert areas camels, sheep, and goats are the mainstay of the l)Omad. Donkeys and mules are the beasts of hurden almost everywhere, but horses can be raised only where African Horse Sickness is not present. Many horses are used in gharries in the large towns and are a source of astonishment in their capacity to run up hills at a height of 8,500 ft., and a con­tinuous source of annoyance and danger to the motorist.

The present population is 18,000,000 human be­ings, 18,000,000 cattle, 17,000,000 sheep (mainly hairy) , 11,000,000 goats~ 3,000,000 donkeys, 1,000,000 horses, 500,000 camels, and 45,000,000 poultry. As no cepsus has ever been taken? these

figures are based On sale of hides and skins and rough estimates of agricultural advisers over the past few years.

While there have been a few coffee concessions for a number of years, it was not until the UNRRA Mission came to the country some seven years ago that a more active interest in agriculture was evinced. UNRRA brought in, rather ill-advisedly, a number of European-type cattle which have since been cross-bred in varied fashion, and also brought in a great deal of agricultural machinery, much of which is still stored in warehouses because of lack of knowledge and the will to use it. The F AO and TCA Missions, however, now working in the coun­try, are gradually getting farmers interested in this material.

Part of UNRRA work was to advise' on the need for control of animal disease and animal breeding. The report on this subject began to be implemented some four years ago with the advent of FAO. A veterinary advisor was brought in and a start made with Rinderpest vaccination, and, later, Con­tagious Pleuro-Pneumonia vaccination. The team now consists of four qualified veterinary .officers belonging to FAO and four displaced persOl1s as veterinary surgeons. Attached also are a number- of graduates of the Ambo Agricultural School assist­ing in labora.tory and field work, while throughout the country some 50 vaccination teams are inoculat­ing cattle. These. come more or less under the supervision of F AO veterinary officers. One of these officers stationed at Gondar is Jack Baker, a New Zealander, who is gaining valuable experience in some of the tropical diseases.

The laboratory, with limited facilities, not only prepares the necessary vaccines but is also trying to carry out diagnostic work in order to summarize the diseases . present in the country. Ethiopia tends to be a reservoir of infectious and contagious stock diseases, and, until it is freed of the worst, export of meat will not readily be carried out.

The laboratory building was first established by the Italians, who saw the necessity for control of stock diseases. It is, however, poprly situated, but never~hel«;!ss h~~ b«;!~Qm~ fairly well equipped ov~:r

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18 THE NEW ZEALAND VETERINARY JOURNAL VOL. 2

the last few years, even possessing an Edwards machine for freeze drying-a necessity for Rinder. pest work.

The major diseas'es in cattle are Rinderpest' and Contagious Pleuro·Pneuinonia, "("ith Fascioliasis a good third in importance. Horses in some areas are taken to the highlands during the wet -season --to escape -th~ disease. Vaccination would be car~~ed out w~re the -pwners willing to accept the serVICe. In camels; Surra is ,quite w~ll known., However, to make an extra shilling, ,the camel owners always try to obtain -Gompensation for deaths, from the Desert Locust ContrQl -for poisoning. their animals. Curative tre~tment cali.' he' -had if they ask and pay for it, and F AO vetednarian~ _ and missionaries do their best to assist. Blackleg and Anthrax are qlore or less corri'zri9n, d~pending.upon the season of the year,~- arid J~ccine is issued to combat them. Quite a lot of' Anaplasmosis is present,' along with o~h~r, tick·borne diseas'es, as one would expect, and lt IS

often the ~ause of deaths foilowirig Rinderpest vac: cinaticm of poor cattle. Consequently, Rin~erpest vaccination needs to be carried out in- areas where food -'is" abundant, the teams moving from -district to district :and followiuO' O'ood food- conditions. o 0 .

Rabies in dogs is bad, arid ar.yone bitten by the too numerous ,dogs of 'Addis Ababa at. once ~epi:tirs to the 'Pa:stelir Institute for a series of injections.

Within the last week or two the American Tech· nical- Co.operative Administration has arranged an acrreement with the Ethiopian Government whereby f:ee vaccination for- Rinderpest is to be carried out. FAO veterinarians are to administer the vaccina· tion scheme. It is hoped that farmers who previ· ously had to pay Is. 6d. per animal for vaccin~tion

will now submit willingly to having all cattle v~ccinated.

Up to now, a team would' enter an area; vacci· nate.l0 to 20 per cent. of the stock, and. pass ~ver ,to a~other district. This _ did not re:sult in proper control of the .disease,_ but often ,,:as an object. lesson when Rinderpes~ showed up III _ t"h~­district. The reason for this was not bec~use farniers 'V'ould not have their cattle vacci.nated but because the -inoculators got a --5 per cent. bonus and thought only in numbers. .

Now the situation must change, for we are gomg to try to eradicate the disease from three areas and then spread out to include others. The north, from Gondar upwards, supplies the' Asmara meat works, the central Shoa Province will supply future wo~ks i~ Addis. and the' Harrar Province supplies _ Dj j. bouti wo~ks. If these_ three areas were free, frozen meat instead. o'f tin~ed meat could readily be sent to the. European ~ark~t., Ho~e:v.er, before good meat can . he .exported, ~'range _ management, better ~rasses and water con"ttol wiH -have to be .intro· duced 'Better feedino- ihlghi decrease the ~verage age of slaughter fro~~i~e "years to, possibly, five years; but this is some years ahead. .

We will have to await the extension service whICh will be manned from the new agricultural colleges before much agricultural progress is _made, but, as the Government is determined to improve exports and is giving foreign investments fair chances, one should see considerable advance in the next five years, particularly in cattle ~reeding, coffee, cott~n, flax culture, and in selection of grain seed to Jm· prove production. . .

Ethiopia is the future bread·basket of the MIddle East.

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