Factors Leading To Livestock Losses and Its Influence on the Psychosocial Wellbeing of Livestock Farmers in Two Districts in Ghana

Abstract

Introduction Against the backdrop of the Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2 and 3, which aim to improve global health, food security, and reduce poverty, agriculture for most is crucial to achieving self-sustainability in Africa. However, the increased occurrence of adverse events including droughts and conflicts, with losses to farmers, threatens efforts to achieve the set goals. These losses can affect livestock farmers’ psychosocial wellbeing and productivity. Identifying, therefore, the drivers of livestock farmers’ wellbeing is essential to meeting the set goals, in areas most affected by climate change including Ghana. This study assesses the sources of livestock losses to farmers and its influence on livestock farmers’ psychosocial wellbeing. Methods This was a cross-sectional survey of 287 randomly selected livestock farmers and in-depth interviews with 19 purposively selected key informants, in the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo and Kwahu Afram Plains Districts in Ghana. The mental health, resilience, quality of life, and food security, of the livestock farmers, were assessed as dimensions of psychosocial wellbeing, using four standardized questionnaires. Psychosocial wellbeing was estimated as the mean of individual dimension scales’ percentage scores. Descriptive analyses were done, and general linear models fitted to identify the predictors of psychosocial wellbeing. Values of α<0.05 were statistically significant. The interview transcripts were coded deductively, using NVivo software. Results An average livestock farmer was 46.9 (SD = 11.7) years old and had 50 head of cattle. About 85% (240/287) of the farmers lost cattle within one year. Of these affected farmers, the leading sources of livestock loss were from animal diseases (91%), theft (50%) and pasture shortages (27%). About 55% (154/287) had a poor quality of life and 41% were severely food insecure. Although 70% of the livestock farmers were highly resilient, 60% had poor mental health. Psychosocial wellbeing was poor in the majority (55%) of the farmers and was predicted positively by a farmers’ age, level of education and experience with raising livestock. The number of adverse events experienced, the proportion of livestock loss, number of support sources and a farmers’ self-described illness status, were negatively associated with psychosocial wellbeing [F(6,280) = 26.51, p<0.001, R2 = 0.36]. Qualitative findings revealed a limited access to veterinary services, and irresponsibility of some farmers, who buy veterinary drugs from unlicensed sources to self-treat sick animals, as key contributors to livestock losses. Some affected farmers often sell diseased cattle for meat in the market, to recover some losses. Conclusion The major sources of livestock losses to farmers are from livestock diseases, theft and, pasture shortages. The majority of the farmers have poor psychosocial wellbeing that is affected negatively by the adverse events they face. The practice of self-treatment, and sale of diseased animals by farmers could be an adaptive strategy to cope with the lack of access to veterinary services. Further research is required to evaluate the performance of veterinary services in Ghana, to work on reducing livestock losses, psychosocial problems and risk to human health due to potential high-risk meat from diseased cattle entering the food chain.