Project Partner, South Africa

P9 Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Departments of Veterinary Tropical Diseases and Large Animal Production, 0110 Onderstepoort, South Africa
Represented by: Dr. Jan van Wyk and Prof. Gareth Bath

The main role of the Departments of Veterinary Tropical Diseases and Large Animal Production of the South African Faculty of Veterinary Science is development of TST systems for controlling helminths in small ruminants in a subtropical environment, and for devising methods of technology transfer for developing countries.
The Departments are pioneers in the TST approach to worm control, concentrating on prevention and control of infectious and parasitic animal diseases to improve sustainable socio-economic development in the subcontinent. About 40 international postgraduate students are employed at present. Due to the wide range of tropical infectious diseases and inimical conditions for small ruminant production in the region, the Departments are very well placed for research in this field. Their dynamism can be judged from production of more scientific papers in refereed journals than the total of the rest of the Faculty. With a staff of about 50 persons (40% academic), they are well equipped for modern research, including cutting-edge research on molecular biology on tropical diseases and parasitology, and are renowned for their wide-ranging international teamwork which includes joint funding (e.g. a present EU grant for external parasites, coordinated from The Netherlands). The research team has extensive experience in the field of parasitology (particularly epidemiology, anthelmintic resistance and sustainable Integrated Parasite Management - IPM) and knowledge of the sheep industry. The instigators and developers of the original method for targeted selective treatment (TST) for haemonchosis (FAMACHA method) and pioneers as regards using body condition scoring (BODCON) for TST, they were the first to report resistance of nematodes to closantel, rafoxanide, disophenol and nitroxynil and the first case of a helminth population resistant simultaneously to all five the available activity groups. The present global focus on the phenomenon of refugia in relation to selection for anthelmintic resistance and sustainable helminth control was also largely stimulated by inputs from this research team.

P14 National Wool Growers’ Association, P.O. Box 2242, Noordeinde, 6056 Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Represented by: Leon de Beer

The NWGA, under general management of Mr Leon de Beer, is an SME with a strong infrastructure and the prime function of technology transfer to all walks of farmers in South Africa. Particularly dramatic results have already been obtained with the limited funds at their disposal, in uplifting a large number of resource-poor farmers in the East Cape Province by improving wool production through the provision of infrastructure like wool shearing sheds, training of the farmers concerned in animal breeding, in wool classing and handling, and in marketing of the finished product. This is underlined by recent funding, after a comprehensive investigation of the NWGA, from the prestigious ComMark Trust (DFID South Africa, for the poor, with the declared dictum: “Translating research into action”).
The NWGA has a long record of close collaboration with the two departments of the South African Faculty of Veterinary Science.