IMPROVING MESSAGES FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS OF PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH IN WEST AFRICA Susan Zimicki January 23, 2008.

IMPROVING MESSAGES

FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONSOF PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH IN WEST AFRICA

Susan ZimickiJanuary 23, 2008

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KEY RECOMMENDED INTERVENTIONS

WHO/FAO/UNICEF Expert meetingMarch 2006:

Report Separate Wash Cook

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OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

UNICEF West Africa Regional Office wanted to develop communication/community mobilization interventions to reduce the negative impact of AI

Needed to know The problem in context How communities identify problems and determine

appropriate courses of actions Feasibility of recommended messages

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APPROACH

UNICEF partnered with AED to carry out community-based participatory action research (PAR).

To capture diversity, three locations:Burkina FasoLagos State, NigeriaKano State, Nigeria

In each location, one urban/peri-urban and one more rural site

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PAR TOOLS

Community mappingTransect walksSeasonal calendarsFlow diagramsBean heaps

Focus group discussionsIn-depth interviewsMatrix rankingForce-field mappingVenn diagramsCausal flow mapping

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ORIGIN AND CAUSES OF AI IN BIRDS

BURKINA FASOPredominantly natural

Wind and dust

Migrating and wild birds

From foreign birds brought by traders and travelers

Contamination:

Backyard garbage disposal

Drinking contaminated water

Eating dead birds

NIGERIARecurring theme: external sourceMigrating birdsDeliberately introduced by western

countriesRumors about the rich wanting to

take over the poultry business (away from the middle and low income earners)

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USES OF CHICKENS and POTENTIAL IMPACT OF AI

ConsumptionUsually at feasts, except for well-off

Little direct impact on food security but shift to beef and fish raised prices; loss of income=lower access to staple foods

Commerce (monetary and barter)Money used for school fees, farm inputs, health care costs

Livelihood impact of falling prices, closed commercial farms

CeremoniesChickens play an essential role in rituals

No imaginable substitutes

Gifts to maintain and strengthen social ties Substitutes available

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MESSAGE CONTENT GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Existing information, including both “true” and “false”Not a blank slate Many rumors

Different views about source of AI affect credibilityBiomedical AND supernatural explanationsConspiracy explanations

Gap between communicated and perceived riskMost people who eat dead birds have no bad consequences

Seasonality of poultry movement & of risk

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“REPORT” BARRIERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Lack of recognition of AI

No longer a problem in Nigeria or Burkina; might be during first outbreak

Mistrust of authoritiesAdvocacy for improved/continuing transparency

Lack of a surveillance system; confused/delayed response Advocacy for better response

Problems with compensationAdvocacy for a well-thought-out, fair and timely policy

As part of the process, dialogue with farmers to establish a policy

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“SEPARATE”BARRIERS

Most difficult set of behaviors to change because of the custom of letting birds roam free

Contributing factors:Cost of caging materialsCost of feeding caged birds (biggest impediment)Belief that commercial birds are more susceptible or can be a source of

infection

Not much scope for communication intervention; need to address underlying factors

Possible undesirable consequence – greater exposure of children to feces (cleaning cages)

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CHILDREN AND CHICKEN HOUSES IN BURKINA FASO

Many people fear thieves… so chicken houses are built with very small doors

Only children 6-8 years old can get through the doors to clean the chicken houses

Fear of thieves is the underlying factor for childrens’ exposure to infection

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“SEPARATE”WHAT CAN BE DONE

Temporary quarantine

Most feasible to initiate (because temporary)Quarantine of new stock for 2 weeks before introducing to flock

Communication should focus on Information about transmission of infection

Modeling how to do it

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“SEPARATE”WHAT CAN BE DONE

Disposing of dead birds

Food insecurity is the key factor underlying consumption of dead birds

In the short term, address the problem of slaughtering and eating potentially infected birdsFocus on safe practices for slaughter and food preparation

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“WASH”BARRIERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Not using soapPossibly related to price, but also just habit

Motivation for washing (with water) - smell and bad feel of hands

Build on this in communication - Emphasize how hands smell better after washing with soap and encourge people to “wash often”

No perception that handling birds is contaminatingInformation problem (communication solution)

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“COOK”BARRIERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Main consumption of undercooked meat is:

Children cooking for themselves, or

Associated with rituals

In both cases, problem is impatience, not preference

Focus communication efforts on children and traditional practitioners

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CONCLUSIONS

Even the simplest and most sensible messages may not be credible or feasible

Important to know the context

Can be done rapidly – in each site these PARs took less than a month

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THANKSMr. Neil Ford, UNICEFM. Misse Misse, UNICEFDr Serigne Diene, Burkina Faso ManagerDr Eleonore Seumo, Nigeria ManagerDr Umar Auwal Muhammed, Kano State team leaderMs Ayodele Adeyoola Iroko, Lagos team coordinatorDr Daniel Thieba, Burkina Faso Team leaderDr Christophe Coulibaly, Burkina Field Coordinatorand all the research and community facilitators

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.avianflu.aed.org