Indonesia has moved another step closer to eradicating costly livestock diseases such as lumpy skin disease (LSD) and foot-mouth-disease (FMD) with the help of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture (FAO) and Australia.
The FAO and the Australian Government are collaborating to support the Indonesian Government in containing and controlling the spread of these high-impact cattle diseases, according to a written statement issued by FAO Indonesia on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
Eventually, the collaboration between the FAO, the Australian Government, and the Indonesian Government will be realized in a program called “Reducing the Impact of Food and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) Outbreaks and Building the Response Capacity to These Outbreaks in Indonesia,”, and will be implemented over a period of one year.
Thanks to the Australian Government contribution of US$792 thousand, FAO is working together with the Indonesian Government to increase the capacity of livestock officials and farmers to help them prevent and control outbreaks of LSD and FMD, while strengthening communications among targeted high-risk groups, the statement said.
“We are very pleased to assist with efforts to stop the further spread of foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease within the region. These efforts require significant resourcing, technical expertise, and collaboration, and we will continue to work together to support each other and share knowledge,” Australia’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry, Murray Watt, said.
On the same occasion, FAO Representative in Indonesia Rajendra Aryal stated that livestock is a crucial component of many rural economies, providing food, income, and livelihoods for millions of people. Therefore, according to Rajendra, controlling and eradicating disease such as FMD and LSD is essential to protecting these livelihoods and ensuring a sustainable future for rural communities.
Livestock disease and its potential impact to economic losses
Indonesia had remained free of livestock disease like FMD for more than 30 years, but in September 2022, the government reported an FMD outbreak in 24 out 34 provinces in the country. Since then, three more provinces have been affected by the outbreak.
While not a threat to human health, livestock diseases such as LSD and FMD are highly infectious viral diseases that affect cattle and other livestock.
More than 600,000 animals in Indonesia have been infected with FMD and more than 11,000 thousand have died, while farmers have been forced to slaughter another 15,000 animals so far, according to the FAO.
Meanwhile, LSD has infected more than 22,000 animals in 13 provinces in Indonesia, and the outbreaks have continued.
The FAO stated the potential annual economic losses from an FMD outbreak could be as high as IDR 1 trillion (US$6.6 billion). This estimate was based on the costs of treatment, reduced productivity, and the mortality rates of infected cattle.
These diseases can also affect dairy production, which lead to reduced milk production, lower milk quality, trade restrictions, and reduced consumer confidence, as well as resulted in significant economic losses for dairy farmers.
A study published in the Journal of the Indonesian Tropical Animal Agriculture estimated the economic losses due to LSD in the Indonesian dairy industry to be around US$27.2 million per year.
