Abstract:
Background: Food security is critical to achieving sustainable growth, poverty reduction,
and political and economic stability. Livestock have the potential to improve the food
security of smallholder households in developing countries, but livestock productivity is
constrained by disease. The extent to which households adopt innovations such as
vaccines impacts disease control; however, the behavioral and economic drivers
underlying household decisions to adopt or forgo vaccination are not well understood.
We address this gap with a study of adoption of Newcastle disease (ND) vaccines by
chicken-owning households in Tanzania.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 535 households owning
indigenous chickens in Arusha, Singida, and Mbeya regions in Tanzania. We measured
potential predictors of ND vaccine adoption including knowledge, attitudes, and
practices. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors correlated with three stages
of household adoption: awareness of ND vaccines, previous vaccination, and recent
vaccination (within four months) consistent with veterinary guidelines.
Results: Eighty percent of households were aware of ND vaccines, 57% had previously
vaccinated, and 26% had recently vaccinated. Knowing someone who vaccinated
increased the odds of a household previously vaccinating [adjusted odds ratio (AOR):
1.32, 95% CI: 1.1-1.5]. Larger flock size was also associated with higher odds of
previous vaccination (AOR: 1.03 for a one chicken increase, 95% CI: 1.01-1.05). Usage
of traditional medicine decreased the odds of previously vaccination (AOR: 0.58, 95%
CI: 0.36-0.95).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that encouraging the flow of professional-level
knowledge within the community by vaccine adopters is a strategy to increase vaccine
adoption. Enhancing local chicken productivity through increased vaccine coverage
would strengthen a key smallholder household resource for food and economic security.