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The objective ofthis thesis is to expand on the literature of animal health economics by the development of a system of economic models capable of assessing the wider economic impacts of livestock diseases (part I) and to apply the theory ofdamage control to the use ofveterinary inputs (Part II). The first part ofthis thesis examines the wider economic impact of 35 livestock diseases in Great Britain. Besides the costs of disease losses, treatment and control, it also covers their consequences for animal welfare and human health. A uniform framework was developed to calculate these wider economic effects. The information was compiled using a combination of secondary data, originating from veterinary literature and government statistics, and several surveys. Also, disease effects were valued at the margin given their marginal impact on domestic .' . and international markets of livestock products. Spreadsheet models were built based on the developed framework and using the collected data, which enables comparison of the economic importance of different livestock diseases. The thesis presents two examples ofhow this framework can be used to (1) find the optimal level of disease control for a particular disease control measure, and (2) set priorities for government expenditure on research, disease control, education and/or surveillance. The second part ofthis thesis presents the first known application of damage control theory to livestock disease. This theory distinguishes between damage abatement inputs (such as veterinary inputs) and produ<;tive inputs, as their role in the production process differs. The combination oftechnical/economic information (Farm Business Survey) and disease incidence information (National Milk Records; mastitis in dairy herds) created a unique new dataset. It was found that this application was reasonably successful, given the expeCted high variation in disease incidence and control measures, as well as the quality ofthe data. With respect to policy implications, the results suggest that there is a general overutilisation of veterinary inputs in dairy systems in England compared to the economically optimal level, but also in relation to the use ofother inputs. Unlike the spreadsheet-based models, applications of damage control theory require more detailed epidemiological, economical and farm management information.

Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa liberalised their agricultural commodity markets and privatised agricultural parastatals in the 1980s and 1990s with an objective of improving the quality of governance. In Kenya, the smallholder tea sub-sector was one of those liberalised culminating in the privatisation of the Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) and formation of a private entity, the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA Ltd) in 2000. The KTDA Ltd manages 57 autonomous smallholder tea factory companies and brings them together as one business. However, there are concerns that these reforms have not significantly improved the quality of governance and in particular improved the livelihoods of small-scale tea farmers. Various studies have analysed the impacts of privatisation programmes but the majority have focussed on performance and efficiency with little or no focus on social and institutional variables that make a critical difference to the outcome of privatisation. Few studies have been conducted at a micro level with a focus on accountability to and empowerment of those they seek to serve. Using a case study of smallholder tea operations in Gucha, Kenya, this thesis examines the influence of the liberalisation policies and other initiatives on downward accountability and empowerment of small-scale tea farmers. Actor analysis methods were used in this study to analyse forms of interaction among smallholder tea farmers, their managing agent KTDA Ltd and other stakeholders within the smallholder tea sub sector in relation to both privatisation policy development as well as its outcomes. The research employed focus group discussions; key informant and other semi structured interviews; observations; document analysis and finally the results from a series of interviews and focus groups were used to inform the design of a questionnaire survey of 116 smallholder farmers. This process served to compare findings with those from the qualitative research and explore the extent to which there is agreement and disagreement within a larger population. The study finds that although the farmers' representatives were involved in the privatisation policy development process, their interests were not genuinely represented. The result was KTDA retaining its monopoly of managing smallholder tea factories. Nevertheless, decentralised governance structures have emerged which have been associated with quicker decision making and accessibility of the farmers to the factory companies that serve them. This has led to increased sense of ownership and a higher efficiency in operations.

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The aim of this study was to develop policy lessons for effectively and cost-efficiently reducing waste discharges and stream water pollution from livestock in developing countries in Asia.  A major focus was to quantify links between potential pollution sources and stream water quality within a watershed framework in two case-studies sites in the Philippines.  This led to the development of a bio-economic model to analyse policy options for reducing waste discharges and stream pollution from piggery enterprises. The study demonstrated that piggery and domestic outputs were significantly correlated with stream pollution throughout both study sites and were the dominant source of stream pollution in urban and peri-urban areas.  The potential welfare impacts of piggery pollution were overwhelming. The heterogeneous geographical and sub-sectoral distribution of pollution sources, causes and impacts had important policy implications. The evidence showed that pollution control policies should be specifically tailored and targeted to the geographic areas, production zones, industry sectors and enterprise production scales where the greatest improvements in environmental quality and social benefit (effectiveness) are achieved at the lowest economic cost (cost-efficiency).  Policy makers therefore require detailed information about the environmental, economic and social costs and benefits of pollution abatement and policy approaches.  However equity and ethical considerations also need to be considered.  The efficiency benefits of economic instruments such as charges, taxes and subsidies make these attractive policy alternatives to uniform environmental standards. However policy compliance instruments aimed at reducing diffuse pollution from livestock need to be based on easily measured proxies of waste discharges.  It was also clear that water regulation and pricing reform are also a high priority.

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