Climate Change, Land Use, and the Decline in Traditional Fulani Cattle Practices: Drivers of Antimicrobial Resistance in Kwara, Nigeria

Jennifer Cole (), Mutiat A. Adetona, Afisu Basiru, Wasiu A. Jimoh, Somrat Abdulsalami, Rodhiat O. Ade-Yusuf, Karimat A. Babalola, Victoria O. Adetunji, Akeem O. Ahmed, Ismail A. Adeyemo, Abiola M. Olajide, Abdulfatai Aremu, Ismail A. Odetokun and Mahmoud Eltholth
Additional contact information
Jennifer Cole: Department of Health Studies, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
Mutiat A. Adetona: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Afisu Basiru: Department of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Wasiu A. Jimoh: Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Somrat Abdulsalami: Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Rodhiat O. Ade-Yusuf: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Karimat A. Babalola: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Victoria O. Adetunji: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventative Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 200005, Nigeria
Akeem O. Ahmed: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Ismail A. Adeyemo: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Abiola M. Olajide: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Abdulfatai Aremu: Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Ismail A. Odetokun: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
Mahmoud Eltholth: Department of Health Studies, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK

Challenges, 2024, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: This paper presents a case study of Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria, whose traditional ethnoveterinary practices risk being lost as the country transitions to more intensive and enclosed livestock practices. We use a planetary health framing to make visible the value of indigenous practices that are less damaging to the environment, animal welfare, and human health. Through ethnographic observation, focus group discussions (FGDs), and key stakeholder interviews, we show that the Fulani use a complex system of herbal medicines and traditional herding practices to maintain herd health, and to manage and treat animal disease when it arises. However, their traditions often sit uncomfortably with commercial farming practices. As traditional Fulani grazing lands are eroded, dispossessed Fulani take employment from businessmen farmers. Both parties’ inexperience with shed hygiene, artificial feed, and less environmentally resilient crossbreeds leads to an increased incidence of infectious disease. This, in turn, drives the higher use of antibiotics. There is, thus, a ‘causal chain’ of underlying drivers that lead, through poorer environmental, animal, and human health, to the increased use of antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance that emerges from this chain threatens human health now and in the future. Through a planetary health framing, we advocate for a deeper understanding of the knowledge held by Fulani herdsmen and their traditional ethnoveterinary practices as an alternative to increasing antibiotic use (ABU).

Keywords: ethnoveterinary; indigenous knowledge; antibiotics; antibiotic resistance; cattle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/15/4/41/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/15/4/41/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jchals:v:15:y:2024:i:4:p:41-:d:1503477

Access Statistics for this article

Challenges is currently edited by Ms. Karen Sun

More articles in Challenges from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().