Context

Animal health

The situation of animal health in the Saharan area is worrying. Every year, there is at least one epidemic which devastates cattle. Generally, before the news gets to everybody, a lot of animals are dead. However, there is an effort from governments, attempting to launch a vaccination campaign against the most dangerous diseases every year. Nonetheless, due to the high price of vaccines, most of the herders prefer to turn to herbal cures for their cattle.    

Nutrition and human health

Almost all nutritionists have agreed on the importance of meat consumption because of its calorie content. Meat eating is very important to the growth of children. It gives them energy and works for the quick rehabilitation after they are weakened by infections. It is the most important source of proteins, which are vital to the organism. Apart from the proteins, it offers valuable nutrients including iron, zinc and vitamins.

The body needs proteins to build healthy muscles, bones and skin, as well as producing hormones and synthesize vitamins. Meat provides you with heme-iron, a type of iron that is easier for the body to absorb than the type of iron found in non-meat sources such as vegetables and beans. Zinc helps the immune system function properly, while the vitamin B group helps regulate the nervous system and release energy.

Meat consumption and health

As in every Islamic area, the rate of meat consumption in the Saharan region is high. The average meat eating per week for a Senegalese family is one meal. That rate is good for both their health and the health of the environment, given that studies demonstrate that a reduction in the consumption of animal products would reduce human pressure on the environment. According to some research, lowering the meat consumption may free up one million square kilometers of crop-land and 27 million square kilometers of pasture that could be used to store large amounts of carbon as the vegetation regrows. Regular and well balanced meat also lowers the risk of obesity and heart attack due to an important rate of grease in the organism. 

Useful studies

• Livestock and region market in the Sahel and West Africa
  http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/10/8/41848366.pdf
• Human and animal health in nomadic pastoralist communities of Chad: zoonoses, morbidity and health services
  http://edoc.unibas.ch/57/1/DissB_6478.pdf
• Nicholson Sharon E., Sahel, West Africa,
  dweb.met.fsu.edu/people/nicholson/papers/sahel95.pdf,  Florida State University, Academic Press, Inc., 1995.
• Richerson, Pastoral Socieities, UC Davis, http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Richerson/BooksOnline/He5-95.pdf