Tsetse and trypanosomosis control in the Okavango Delta, c. 1930s-1970s

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Periodical article

Title:	Tsetse and trypanosomosis control in the Okavango Delta, c. 1930s-1970s
Author:	Bolaane, Maitseo M.M.
Year:	2007
Periodical:	South African Historical Journal
Issue:	58
Pages:	91-116
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Botswana
Subjects:	trypanosomiasis wildlife protection cattle health policy
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582470709464746
Abstract:	This article examines the historical relationship between tsetse fly control, the cattle industry and game policy in northern Botswana. It locates the Botswana case in the context of contemporary tsetse and trypanosome research in sub-Saharan Africa and illustrates some of the major factors influencing tsetse and trypanosomosis control policy in the Okavango Delta. It also provides an overview of the development of Western scientific thinking about tsetse control in Botswana. It analyses the complex epistemologies employed in Western scientific accounts of the history of the area and emphasizes the exceptionality of the Botswana context where tsetse and trypanosomosis control proceeded down a bumpy road of trial and error until late into the 20th century. Although there seems to have been little attempt to incorporate indigenous knowledge about tsetse fly on the part of the colonial authorities, it is also interesting to note that, in the Botswana context, Africans also made sustained efforts to observe the fly environment and to experiment with its control. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]