trypanosomiasis-affected areas. The overall goal is to improve the livelihood of rural people in the tsetse-affected countries of SSA (http://www.fao.org/aga/againfo/programmes/en/ paat/about/html).

Like other parasitic diseases, control/eradication of tsetse flies or trypanosomiasis is a difficult, if not impossible task. The snags encountered in making an effective parasitic vaccine, the widespread distribution of the vectors and the presence of so many alternative wild hosts make it a painful and nearly impossible venture. However, efforts need to be made to reduce the impact of tsetse and trypanosomiasis to at least economically acceptable levels.

Bovine tuberculosis. At the livestock/wildlife/human interface, M. bovis infection is of particular importance in SSA because of recent initiatives to establish transfrontier conservation areas. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), as maintenance host, plays a major role in the spread of infection to wild animal species including lion, leopard, warthog, kudu and baboon and also poses a distinct risk of infection to cattle and their owners.

In Africa, bovine tuberculosis was most probably introduced with imported dairy and Bos taurus type beef cattle during the colonial era. This disease is now widespread and prevalent in 80% of the African member countries of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Bovine species are natural hosts to the disease, but a wide spectrum of domestic and wild animals, as well as man can be infected (Ayele et al., 2004).

Effective control and eradication of bovine TB can be achieved through conventional procedures of test and removal (slaughter), under mandatory national bovine TB programs. While the procedure has worked successfully in developed countries, control and eradication has not been achieved in SSA because member countries cannot afford the control program and compensation for slaughtered animals. The presence of wildlife reservoirs also makes bovine TB control even more difficult (Ayele et al., 2004). Strategic vaccination of susceptible domestic animals in endemic areas is a feasible option for Africa, where control of bovine TB is a much more acceptable and practical measure than eradication (Daborn et al., 1996).

Advancements in AKST have resulted in the development of molecular biological techniques, like DNA sequencing, for efficient detection and differentiation of M. bovis isolates, to enable effective control. Unfortunately, widespread adoption of the method in SSA has been curtailed by issues such as potential costs and difficulties in technology transfer (Ayele et al., 2004).

Newcastle disease. Newcastle disease (ND) is a viral infectious disease of poultry and a major constraint to the village poultry sector in Africa. The village poultry sector has evolved to be robust and sustainable and is a source of dependable income in most countries in SSA (Alders and Spradbrow, 1999). Since pre-colonial times, traditional veterinary medicine has been practiced to treat ND (Bizimana, 1994; Kambewa et al., 1997). During the colonial era, commercial poultry farming was introduced. The introduction of commercial poultry farming resulted in the
introduction of previously nonexistent poultry diseases.

This era therefore saw the introduction of new drugs and vaccines to control the emerging diseases (Sakaguchi et al., 1996). Due to the important role of local chickens for local people, the control of ND remains an important issue. An effective, affordable and thermostable vaccine (I2 vaccine), has been developed to control ND in indigenous chicken. This vaccine has revolutionalized rural poultry keeping and raised the socioeconomic status of poultry farmers in several SSA countries (Wambura et al., 2000; Riise et al., 2005). If the I2 vaccine is introduced to all rural poultry farmers, the socioeconomic status, particularly of women and children, who in most cases are owners of indigenous chickens, would be improved.

Importance of wildlife and livestock diseases control on poverty alleviation, food security and improved nutrition. The population of SSA is growing. Between 1975 and 2005, it more than doubled from 335 to 750 million people and is projected to increase to 1100-1200 million by 2025 (UNFPA, 2007). With such a large population and diminishing resources, the importance of food security in SSA cannot be overemphasized. Apart from the artificial boundaries created by colonialists, most countries in SSA within similar agroecological zones share similar climatic conditions. Such countries therefore have similar livestock and wildlife species and, hence, similar pests and diseases. Improved livestock and wildlife industries can work to ensure sustainable food security and improved socioeconomic status, particularly of the resource-poor farmers in SSA, through holistic and regional pest and disease control strategies.

2.3 Forestry, Agroforestry and Forest Products

2.3.1 Forest genetic resource management and biodiversity potential
Natural forests are being cleared (deforested) while the extent of plantation forests is increasing (FAO, 2007). In 2000, total world forest resources were estimated to be 3.8 billion ha with forests in Africa comprising 650 million ha (MA, 2005). Globally, forests comprised about 30% of the world’s land area in 2007 (FAO, 2007). According to current estimates, 9.4 million ha of world forests are converted to other land uses (i.e., deforested) every year in the 1990s (FAO, 2001; UNHCR, 2004; MA, 2005). Tropical forests cover less than 10% of earth’s land surface yet contain at least 50% of all species, with the Amazon Basin having the richest biota on Earth (Ervin, 1988; Myers, 1988; MA, 2005). Tropical forests are being depleted faster than any other ecological zone and the loss of biodiversity has been well documented. Some have claimed that the earth is in the opening stages of an extinction crisis (Raup and Sepkosky, 1984; Myers, 1986; Raven, 1987; Wilson, 1988). Net annual forest losses are calculated between 7.3 and 9.4 million ha-1, with the African continent contributing close to 50% of these losses (MA, 2005; FAO, 2007).

Human-induced deforestation of tropical forests increases every year, with a subsequent increase in poverty. Rapid population growth from immigration among communities of small-scale cultivators, displacement due to conflicts/wars, shifting cultivation, agricultural practices,