Participatory study

The table, which illustrates some of the results of this exercise, shows five diseases (trypansomosis (in two forms as described by Orma herdsmen − gandi and buku), foot and mouth disease, pneumonia and rinderpest) and five clinical signs (weight loss, animal seeking shade, diarrhoea, coughing, reduced appetite). The villagers were asked to score the clinical signs for each disease by distributing a pile of 20 stones amongst them. The more important they felt a particular sign the more stones they put in the pile.

The method was replicated with three groups of individuals within each of four villages. The table shows the average numbers of stones (from a total of 20) placed alongside each disease.