Author: team galvmed

Empowering Women Livestock farmers through technology

Posted on by team galvmed

Gender gaps in men and women’s access to resources, inputs and services mean their work in agricultural value chains falls far short of their potential in terms of scale, productivity, and output, causing huge costs to their households. We sit down with Dr Tom Osebe, GALVmed’s Senior Manager for Commercial Development in Africa to discuss how digital tools can empower women livestock farmers and enable them to be active decision makers in the management of livestock production in their homes and communities.   

What are some of the challenges facing women when it comes to adopting new technology in animal health?

Typically in Africa, the animals kept in the household are owned by the husband or significant male, leaving women and their children responsible for offering husbandry services. Adopting technology here suggests exercising management decisions which in many cases does not rest with them. There is also an aspect of penetration of internet services and cost where it is available. Where women don’t handle the income, financing this may be a limiting factor.

What can be done to empower more women to adopt technology in the animal health sector?

Advocacy and education can play a huge role to influence management mandates on the farm to be progressively delegated from men to women. Educating women in farm management practices and entrepreneurship could contribute to more women having a strong influence in growing their mandate in livestock production in their homes. There is also need to institute women friendly financial solutions that are relevant for livestock production to grow their investment capacity.

In your opinion, what would be the results of more women adopting technology in the sector?  

Women tend to juggle many balls in the home beyond livestock keeping. They have to ensure meals are made, water fetched, tend to the children, visit the market and so on. Technology would be a big help in allowing them to stay on top the livestock production aspects when away from home or while undertaking other tasks. Adopting technology will also allow them to manage the farm remotely when they are not able to, due to situations like childbearing or illness. And finally, technology will make work efficient and effective which will directly lead to an increase in productivity of the livestock impacting the wider wellbeing of the family.

What are some of the market technologies GALVmed is working on that might benefit women livestock keepers and how?

GALVmed and some of our partners are working on a number of technologies that will add value to the livestock heath sector. One of them is the Telehealth platform which allows for livestock keepers including women to source for animal health service providers, enjoy remote care of their animals, maintain medical records among other features. On this, we are working with our partner VetNOW – a Digital Health Technology Company focused on driving the global transformation of veterinary healthcare – in consortium with The National Animal Disease Information Service (NADIS) and Africa veterinary technicians’ association (AVTA).

The other platform is the Market Intelligence Platform (MIP). GALVmed has partnered with AgNexus Africa -a Kenya based market research company- on a pilot basis, to develop an integrated MIP with current market size reports and market simulation components for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania- which is envisaged to support animal health companies to increase their investment in Africa. The MIP is being implemented alongside the agrodealers digitization and professionalization initiative to automate the collection of retailer-based market data and offer training to agrodealer through bespoke International Finance Corporation agrodealer training material. Better managed agrodealer stores will ensure women access a diverse portfolio of high quality products, for use at the farm.

We are striving to be inclusive in these digital platforms so that women can also benefit.

Anything else you’d like to add?

In many cases, there is a good understanding of value in the household. If women are helped to thrive in their livestock keeping, it strongly contributes to empowering them in the home. They progressively will exercise management responsibilities which will contribute to growing the general welfare of the home and the community.

This blog has been written by Beatrice Ouma as part of the International Women’s Day 2025

Digital inclusion: Increasing access to animal health digital technologies by women

Posted on by team galvmed

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the digitisation of agricultural value chains is enabling access to markets, assets and services for small-scale producers. Digital solutions such as online platforms providing access to farm inputs create efficiencies for both agribusinesses and farmers in the last mile. For example, in animal health, digital procurement solutions can also be bundled with digital advisory services that provide farmers with vital information on livestock disease management.

Women make up at least 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, but they are restricted by social norms and lack of access to resources which may enable them to benefit from digital services. Even though there has been an increase of mobile phone and internet adoption by women, the mobile gender gap is still relatively low at 8%. Women farmers working in agricultural value chains still lack the basic means to access digital services than men, reducing their likelihood of accessing and using digital agriculture solutions. And yet, most of these value chains are increasingly going digital, hindering even more women’s opportunities of progression. So how do we address this challenge and make the technologies more  inclusive?

Key to getting more women to adopt digital technologies is digital literacy training. Digital technology providers and projects need to increase both skills and functionality of these technologies for women farmers so they can use them efficiently, safely, and to their full potential.   

Projects also need to assess which services can best accommodate women farmers and women-led agribusinesses – and it is essential to work with women when rolling out these technologies. For example, information on small animal disease management and poultry could be one area that women are more likely to be interested in and benefit from.

Improving the user experience for female farmers, whether that’s by providing content in a variety of languages or creating a ticket system where female farmers can report difficulty using the services, will also significantly improve adoption by women.

Additionally, including other family members in digital literacy training and adoption, and providing engagement opportunities for male farmers to understand the value of women’s inclusion in digital agriculture services is also important.

GALVmed and partners are working on some crucial animal health digital platforms including a Market Intelligence Platform which is an online platform to address the lack of market data in Africa, and a tele-medicine/digital services app specifically catering for African small scale livestock producers. The telemedicine app will enable remote livestock care, and another complementing app for clinical sign recognition uses images of livestock diseases and symptoms to increase the accuracy of diagnosis.

As we move closer to rolling out these platforms and apps for use by small-scale producers, it is important to be gender aware of how they can be targeted to include female livestock producers, so no one is left behind. As the world works towards building more sustainable and resilient food systems, it is essential to include and empower women farmers to play their critical role in feeding the world. Digital technologies can empower women and promote gender equality in the agricultural sector and inclusion is very crucial now more than ever.

This blog has been written by Beatrice Ouma as part of the International Women’s Day 2025

Photo credit: Agnexus/Envato

Celebrating Success: A Look at GALVmed Achievements

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For small-scale livestock producers in the global south, a goat, cow, or flock of chickens are not just animals – they are the foundation of their livelihoods. Livestock provide food, income, and security, and losing them to preventable diseases can be devastating.

In a world where over a billion people depend on livestock, improving animal health is critical not only to protect individuals but also to ensure sustainable agricultural systems, food security and safety, and entire community’s well-being and progression.

GALVmed continues to collaborate with partners and key public and private stakeholders to transform the lives of small-scale producers across Africa and South Asia through improved animal health. Our approach remains the same: enhancing the availability, accessibility, awareness and adoption of high-quality veterinary medicines to reduce productivity and animal losses from preventable diseases. And how does this translate into tangible actions?

  • Improving availability: By researching, improving and developing much needed animal health products and solutions suited to the needs of small-scale livestock producers.
  • Increasing accessibility:  By easing barriers in the regulatory and policy environment ensuring the needed products reach the markets and are accessible and affordable to small-scale livestock producers.
  • Increasing awareness and adoption: By using appropriate channels to reach the last mile providing information and veterinary medicines to small-scale livestock producers.  
  • Increasing understanding: By providing practical data and information from the small-scale livestock producer field to measure impact and facilitate data-driven decisions.

Over the years, GALVmed through its partners, has implemented impactful programmes across Africa and South Asia, leading to significant achievements:

  • 2.9 billion livestock vaccines, therapeutics and other animal health products sold to small-scale customers across Africa and South Asia, of which 1.3 billion doses were vaccines and the remainder therapeutics, parasite treatments and supplements (2014-2023).
  • Approximately 6.2 million estimated cumulative annual customers served (2014-2023).
  • 38.7 million livestock deaths averted saving the sector approximately of $359 million (2014-2023).
  • Approximately $126 million in poultry deaths averted from Newcastle disease, excluding benefits derived from the project PREVENT (2014-2023).
  • 16 animal health products taken to full development since 2010.
  • A total of 17 products registered under the Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP) to date.
  • Over 100 publications disseminated.

GALVmed will continue to work closely with partners to make effective animal health products accessible across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, advancing our mission to safeguard livestock health to consequently improve human lives.

How to bridge the divide across Africa’s fragmented veterinary medicine sector

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This blog was written by GALVmed CEO, Carolin Schumacher and published by CNBC-Africa.

From backyard chicken raising to the grazing cattle of nomadic pastoralists, across much of rural Africa, animal diseases travel faster and wider than veterinary medicine.

An estimated 800 million people keep chickens, goats and cattle across the continent as valuable sources of food, income, fuel and fibre. Yet across Africa, the most prominent livestock diseases cost an estimated $9 billion every year – roughly 6% of the total value of the continent’s livestock sector.

Protecting and treating animals across such a vast and disparate population and geographic expanse is complicated and costly. Getting vaccines and medicine to livestock in remote areas of Africa is often limited by a lack of knowledge, manpower, funding and reliable refrigerated transport. Even when resources exist, they are typically spread too thin to systematically protect animal health and, by extension, the incomes of livestock keepers.

With a rapidly growing population and demand for animal-derived protein, enabling the veterinary sector to address the diverse needs and challenges of small-scale producers is not only possible, but also critical to Africa’s sustainable development.

Entrusted with the safeguarding of national herds, government veterinary services have historically focused on the most detrimental diseases affecting large-scale livestock operations, leaving many small-scale farmers behind.

Efforts in the past have successfully dealt with damaging infectious livestock diseases, including eradicating the deadly cattle disease rinderpest in 2011 through an integrated global campaign. Yet existing government-led efforts to manage other contagious livestock diseases are now lagging.

Facing rising economic pressures and a significantly broadened mandate, many African governments can no longer achieve sufficient vaccination coverage and deliver “last mile” services that saw volunteers across the continent contribute to rinderpest’s eradication even in the most remote communities.

Comprehensive livestock health management today requires governments and other livestock health organisations to think holistically and consider the infectious diseases limiting small-scale livestock producers’ potential. This includes foot and mouth disease, lumpy skin disease and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in cattle, as well as peste des petits ruminants (PPR), sheep and goat pox and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) in sheep and goats.

Meanwhile, the global veterinary medicine industry has traditionally focused on addressing livestock health issues of the Global North, where the profitable markets justify the high cost of investments in research and development of new products.

Small-scale producers of large and small ruminants – cattle, sheep, and other grazing animals – in the Global South have not benefitted from such investment. A commercially viable market for ruminant vaccination does not currently exist. Where it does, it can be regularly undermined by free mass vaccination by governments, non-governmental organisations and development agencies. Simply put, there are not enough private veterinary vaccination efforts supporting small-scale livestock producers.

In recent years, the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) and several private animal health companies have succeeded in developing and bringing to market a more complete portfolio of affordable animal vaccines and medicines for small-scale livestock producers in the Global South. Further, combined efforts in the poultry sector have demonstrated that governments and businesses sharing responsibility can foster a functioning veterinary service sector and vibrant, locally adapted veterinary medicine infrastructure and industry that caters to the specific needs of small-scale producers.

In practice, this means creating demand through increased awareness about livestock diseases while providing uninterrupted access to affordable veterinary products at the farm level. Adequately addressing the needs of the continent’s tens of millions of small-scale producers requires opening the ruminant vaccines market for private sector development, particularly for vaccine suppliers, local supply chain actors and private veterinary service providers.

Improving product registration and distribution will also help to equip farmers across Africa with the tools needed to preserve their animals’ health and support food security and economic growth on the continent, including their own.

Together with our partners, GALVmed has delivered more than 1.2 billion vaccines and other animal health products to farmers across Africa and South Asia, preventing the deaths of more than 23 million livestock – and the associated impacts this has on farmers’ incomes and food security.

Currently, GALVmed’s partners are developing a suite of combination vaccinations that address multiple infectious livestock diseases with a single intervention. These new vaccines promise to facilitate and improve vaccination access for farmers. Preventing multiple diseases at a lower cost will protect their livestock and livelihoods more completely and for the long term.

The vision of a food-secure, resilient African continent is well worth the efforts of removing the barriers to the functioning of the African small-scale livestock-producing sector. When governments, policymakers, veterinarians and veterinary medicine developers put the needs of small-scale producers first, they can help fill the gaps of the fragmented livestock health sector. Today, most tools are available but stakeholders will have to work together to deliver them to the farmers who need them most, for the benefit of Africa’s small-scale livestock-producing sector and society at large.

Photo credit: GALVmed/Buta Photography. A woman selling veterinary medicines in Ghana, 2022.

How Clinical Diagnostics Could Help the Global Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance

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This blog was written by Thembinkosi Ramuthivheli (GALVmed), Marie-Elodie Le Guen (Ceva), and Dr. Pierre-Marie Borne (Ceva). Originally published by Farming First.

The misuse of antibiotics in both human and animal health has created an urgent health emergency globally. The resistance of microbes to antibiotics that are constantly used to combat them makes infections harder to treat, creating an antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis directly responsible for up to 1.27 million global human deaths as of 2019.

In developing countries, the challenges created by AMR are even more pronounced. Many small-scale producers, desperate to treat their infected livestock, turn to and misuse the most readily available antibiotics, further exacerbating the resistance to antibiotics while increasing losses due to death. As a result of the increasing threat of this phenomenon, AMR has become one of the priorities of the quadripartite agreement and the 2024 UN High-Level Meeting aimed at ramping up global action.

Essential diagnostic tools have also been initiated in several cities to aid in selecting the right antibiotics for specific livestock infections. Diagnostics have the potential to aid veterinarians in assisting farmers to identify specific disease-causing bacteria, allowing for the rationalised use of antibiotics. However, these tools are not easily accessible to small-scale producers in rural areas, setting the world several steps backwards in efforts to effectively combat the growing threat of AMR​.

Combating antimicrobial resistance with the OneLab Initiative

Small-scale producers generate about one-third of the world’s food supply and bear a significant brunt of the risks of AMR. To address the access gap between them and essential diagnostic tools to tackle microbial infections, Ceva Laprovet’s OneLab Initiative, in partnership with GALVmed, is supporting with a solution that brings clinical diagnostic services closer to small and medium-sized commercial farms. Traditionally, small-scale producers in poultry areas have faced difficulties accessing diagnostic tools, as laboratories that have them are often located far away and primarily in big cities. The long distances, challenges of transportation and delays in results have prevented farmers from getting the timely help they need when their poultry or livestock fall ill​.

OneLab technicians performing tests in one of the diagnostic centers, Senegal, 2023. . Credit: GALVmed/Mediaprod

The OneLab Initiative seeks to bridge this gap by setting up small laboratory units with diagnostic tools at veterinary clinics in poultry areas. Accessing diagnostics in these clinics allows for quick detection of bacterial infections which helps veterinarians recommend the most appropriate treatment for infected flocks, ensuring farmers use the right antibiotic while reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance in their livestock.

The first tool introduced under the initiative is the orientation antibiogram, a practical diagnostic test that provides results in less than 24 hours. This enables veterinarians to determine not only if antibiotics should be used, but also which specific antibiotic will be most effective. This rapid feedback is critical in reducing the time farmers would otherwise spend on trial-and-error treatments, minimising losses due to disease​ and also ensuring overall reduction of the use of antibiotics.

Getting results in Senegal

In Senegal, the OneLab initiative has successfully calculated the level of resistance to antibiotics from different bacteria in the poultry sector. In 2023, the initiative was responsible for conducting up to 530 tests representing a total flock of 6.5 million birds across commercial poultry farms​. The data collected from these tests has provided valuable insights into the general level of resistance to antibiotics in the region as well as clinical information and evidence to accurately track their occurrence.

For instance, more than half of the bacteria tested were found to be resistant to most of the antibiotics commonly used by farmers in the region​. Without the diagnostics, veterinarians were blind to the sensitivity of different bacteria to specific antibiotics, often leading to the prescription of antibiotics that do not work. Farmers were also unaware of drug-resistant infections and effective measures to combat them before they led to unnecessary deaths among their flocks.

Poultry farmer feeding his flock in Senegal, 2023. Credit: GALVmed/Mediaprod

With diagnostic tools at their disposal, farmers who previously had to rely on a trial-and-error approach could now make informed decisions with the guidance of local veterinarians to reduce the losses of their livestock. This also helps them save significant sums of money by avoiding the purchase of ineffective antibiotics.

Moreover, the OneLab Initiative has sparked broader discussions about AMR within the veterinary community in Senegal. Annual meetings with veterinary authorities have raised awareness of drug-resistant microbes and the importance of diagnostics in combating their threat to animal lives. This growing awareness is essential to changing the mindset of both veterinarians and farmers when it comes to the advantages of the rational use of antibiotics​.

Clinical diagnostics as a path forward

Introducing diagnostics to veterinary clinics in poultry areas ultimately changes the paradigm of livestock management for both veterinarians and Small-scale producers. Livestock farmers in rural areas could have access to better antibiotic treatment options whenever a microbial infection is detected. This reduces the need for cycling through different antibiotics, as diagnostics offer a precise understanding of the infection.

Reducing poultry producers’ reliance on antibiotics helps to curb the further spread of drug-resistant microbes​. This change in approach, supported by diagnostics, also provides veterinarians with the ability to offer more accurate diagnostic services, improving the overall treatment of livestock. Farmers, in turn, are encouraged to adopt healthier practices that improve the health of their livestock while reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance in them – a perfect win-win situation​.

The OneLab Initiative has demonstrated that more precise diagnostics can play a vital role in helping farmers rationalise their use of antibiotics to reduce the risks of antimicrobial resistance in their livestock. In Senegal, the number of diagnostics to get accurate solutions to bacterial infections in poultry has steadily increased since the initiative was launched. With this success, it is evident that introducing diagnostics in local veterinary clinics offers a scalable model that can be implemented in other regions suffering from similar challenges​. Initiatives bridging farmers’ access to diagnostics tools ultimately need worldwide support and visibility in order to increase their adoption as a viable solution to combat the growing antimicrobial resistance threat.

Header photo credit: ©2023 GALVmed/Mediaprod

Modelling and field studies: Essential M&E tools to understand our impact

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Healthy livestock are the cornerstone of many communities’ economies and well-being, making access to high-quality, safe, and effective animal health solutions critical to secure small-scale producers livelihoods and avoid substantial economic losses in Africa and South Asia.

At GALVmed, we partner with commercial, governmental, and non-governmental actors to increase the availability and accessibility of vaccines and essential animal health products to small-scale livestock producers (SSPs) in Africa and South Asia. However, it is equally important to ensure that these products are purchased and used by farmers to prevent or treat livestock and poultry diseases. Adoption of animal health medicines goes beyond a simple purchase; it triggers a cycle that improves animal health, boosts productivity, and enhances the wealth and well-being of these producers and their communities.

Understanding how adoption translates into economic and other benefits for SSPs is central to our mission. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) gives us a structured way to assess these outcomes. It is not just a check box or data collection exercise; it is about understanding the difference we are making in SSPs’ lives.

Given the vast scope and scale of our work across multiple countries and contexts, modelling is one of our key tools for understanding adoption and impact. Modelling refers to the use of mathematical and statistical methods, using epidemiological and economic data, to simulate and evaluate the potential effects and outputs of a programme or intervention. This is a powerful tool that helps organisations make informed decisions. Modelling allows us to process veterinary product sales data and estimate the resultant economic benefits for SSPs. This helps us to see and quantify how our interventions are impacting small-scale producers.

For example, in 2023 we partnered with Supporting Evidence based Interventions-Livestock (SEBI-L) to apply the model to GALVmed PLSHL 2 initiatives between 2014 and 2017. The model estimated a total NEB of $105.1M in economic benefits to the 3,664,114 estimated customers reached.

To complement our modelling work, we also conduct field studies to gain deeper insights into the changes in SSPs’ lives. These field studies allow us to gain contextual understanding to better understand the context within which our initiatives are embedded. They also allow us to dive deeper into the changes occurring in the lives and livelihoods of SSPs. By combining modelling with on-the-ground research, we get a more holistic understanding of our impact, ensuring that we can learn from  both our successes and areas where we can improve.

Ensuring the availability and the adoption of veterinary products is central to sustainable and resilient agricultural practices. From a systems perspective, GALVmed ‘s transformational market systems change framework will help us to understand the systems changes driven by our partnerships and efforts to improve access to and adoption of veterinary medicines. This framework will help us see where and how our work is contributing to long-term, systemic change, ensuring that we make a lasting impact on those who need it most.

This blog was written by Katharine Tjasink, Senior Manager, Impact, Evaluation & Learning, as part of the campaign ”M&E: Designing for Impact”.

Monitoring and Evaluation: Designing for impact

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At GALVmed, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is not an afterthought. It is integrated from the very start of the development of new projects and programmes. This approach ensures that our projects are designed with a clear vision of impact. It also ensures that we, and our funders, have realistic expectations on what can be achieved within a project’s lifetime.

There are three key areas where we provide early input:

  1. Modelling the prospective impact of an initiative: Whenever possible, we forecast the potential economic benefits of a project for small-scale livestock producers (SSPs) before it even starts using a prospective modelling approach. This forward-looking method provides insights into the potential economic returns, in terms of animal lives saved and productivity regained, for SSPs purchasing critical livestock vaccines and other animal health products. Before a project begins, stakeholders and funders can understand the investment potential, and this helps decision making on where to allocate resources.
  2. Creating a Theory of Change: The Theory of Change is an important part of our process. It clearly outline the changes we want to see, how the project will lead to those changes, the expected timelines for impact, and the key assumptions we are working with. This clarity ensures that everyone involved in the project has a common understanding. The Theory of Change also helps us identify potential risks and challenges early on so we can course correct to keep our initiatives on track.
  3. Developing an evaluation framework: A framework that clearly defines the OECD DAC evaluation criteria we will use, along with the associated evaluation questions, indicators, data sources, sampling methods, timing, and data analysis approaches, ensures that we establish a clear plan from the beginning on how we will assess and measure the impact of our initiatives. This framework facilitates a shared understanding of our evaluation process.

By integrating M&E from the early stages of project design and implementation, our initiatives are strategically designed to maximise impact for the small-scale livestock producers we serve.

This blog was written by Katharine Tjasink, Senior Manager, Impact, Evaluation & Learning, as part of the campaign ”M&E: Designing for Impact”.

Breaking new ground in the regulatory environment: the EAC Mutual Recognition Procedure expands its product scope to include veterinary ectoparasiticides

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Preventable animal diseases pose serious risks to livestock health, productivity, national economies, and people’s livelihoods. Access to safe and high-quality veterinary products is crucial for protecting livestock, and by extension, farmers and communities depend on quality veterinary products. However, if the regulatory systems responsible for bringing these products to market are inadequate, small-scale producers may miss out on vital animal health solutions and suffer avoidable setbacks.

In sub-Saharan Africa, obtaining approval to sell veterinary medicines in the market requires applying for a marketing authorisation separately in each country where the product is to be sold. This is often a lengthy, resource-intensive process that discourages private sector investment, hence limiting the sustainable supply of veterinary medicines.  

Since 2010, GALVmed and its partners, AU-PANVAC and HealthforAnimals, have been supporting the East African Community (EAC) to implement a mutual recognition procedure (MRP) in the EAC Partner States that allows for simultaneous application of marketing authorisations in multiple countries. This saves time and allows countries and applicants to use their resources more efficiently.

In 2022, GALVmed contracted a consultant to conduct a landscape analysis of veterinary ectoparasiticides (pesticides) regulation in six Partner States (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, south Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania). The analysis reported several areas of divergence in the region in the regulation of these products. This informed the need to harmonise the veterinary ectoparasiticides regulation and in order to implement the EAC Council of Ministers directive, EAC secretariat with support from GALVmed, TradeMark Africa (TMA)  and The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) developed working documents under the MRP initiative to harmonise regulation.

 As of June 2024, this novel initiative has been extended to also include registration of veterinary ectoparasiticides, thereby allowing companies to submit these products for registration through the MRP system. The draft guidelines and other key technical documents have been approved, and current efforts are aimed at capacity building related to initial training of veterinary ectoparasiticides dossier assessors.

An initial six days workshop took place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on 18th-24th July to build institutional capacity and application of best practices for the evaluation and registration of veterinary ectoparasiticides to safeguard human health, animal health and the environment. This will enhance capacity of veterinary pesticides assessors on risk assessment and dossier evaluation to improve public trust in the MRP process, which will attract submission of safe, quality and efficacious veterinary pesticides in the region.

The meeting was attended by MRP members from veterinary medicine regulatory authorities drawn from Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan. The training was conducted by representatives from Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority and EAC Secretariat.

MRP represents a key advancement in harmonising and strengthening veterinary product registration by reducing the time, costs, and resources needed to bring these medicines to market. By streamlining approvals and extending to new product categories like ectoparasiticides, this initiative enhances availability and access to essential animal health solutions, supporting animal health, livestock production, strengthening the livelihoods of farming communities, and contributing to sustainable development.

Stronger regulations would bolster food security and livelihoods in Africa

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Originally published by S&P Global. Written by Lois Muraguri, Senior Director of Enabling Environment & Partner Engagement.

Across the African continent, livestock are one of the leading sources of food security and resilient livelihoods. Livestock production contributes 30-80% of the continent’s total agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) and provides jobs and nutrition for millions. Yet, Africa’s livestock sector faces several growing challenges – not least the spread of diseases, which threaten to disrupt the incomes and livelihoods of rural communities.

Diseases like foot-and-mouth disease, Newcastle disease and peste des petits ruminants cause widespread animal and productivity losses across the continent. In total, more than 20% of the world’s animal production is lost to animal diseases, with the burden exceptionally higher in regions like sub-Saharan Africa.

In most cases, veterinary medicines and vaccines are a vital solution to these challenges, helping to safeguard the livelihoods and food supply that livestock provide. Yet, across Africa, the regulatory frameworks by which new veterinary medicines can be registered and approved to address these challenges are either outdated, ineffective or simply non-existent.

In the last decade, great strides have been made to improve regulatory frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa. There have been various initiatives aimed at improving the regulation of veterinary medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these, such as initiatives under HealthforAnimals, have focused on improving capability of regulators through training and offering technical assistance on specific areas. Others, such as the UK’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s sub-Saharan Africa program, have looked at options for regulatory harmonization. These, plus efforts by the WOAH and others, have raised awareness and increased understanding of the need for improving regulatory frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa. 

With climate change and accelerating continental trade hastening the spread of livestock diseases, Africa needs a functioning regulatory environment for veterinary medicines. An efficient regulatory framework benefits all players – regulators, product manufacturers and ultimately, livestock producers and farmers. In the last decade, great strides have been made by regulators. A functioning regulatory framework will help to equip livestock producers with quality products, supporting them to protect their livelihoods and their vital contributions to continental food security.

To begin with, a functioning and harmonized regulatory environment for veterinary medicines can unlock further private-sector investment, which has been constrained across the continent. At present, animal health companies are discouraged from registering their products in some countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Global and local companies alike face significant regulatory and commercial barriers. This is in part because of unclear and unpredictable regulatory frameworks, which are often driven by limited capacity to assess the safety and efficacy of veterinary medicines.

Creating a functioning environment for regulating veterinary medicines will begin to address private sector concerns, enabling animal health companies and manufacturers to invest and register new products that are subsequently adopted by Africa’s livestock keepers.

Regulation of novel and cutting-edge technologies requires experienced regulators to assess the next generation of innovations. Africa’s regulatory agencies often lack the necessary expertise and resources to efficiently regulate novel, innovative veterinary products thereby reducing the likelihood of these products’ availability in African markets. Similarly, for emerging diseases, the lack of a long-term market and clear regulatory pathway inhibits the development of vaccines.

Void for vet meds

The lack of safe, quality, effective veterinary products creates a void that is currently being filled by poor-quality counterfeit products, which do not offer benefits to livestock producers and whose ineffectiveness may instead undermine confidence in the effects and benefits of livestock vaccination. Similarly, regulators in sub-Saharan Africa facing inefficient regulatory systems encounter numerous challenges that affect various aspects of public health, animal welfare and the economy. The prevalence of substandard, counterfeit products is not an issue for livestock producers and private sector only – these products hamper regulators’ disease control efforts. Inefficient systems discourage private sector investment which leads to potential loss of revenues from registration fees and taxes. Ineffective regulation can adversely affect livestock health leading to lower productivity, higher mortality rates and economic losses for farmers ultimately resulting in lower national productivity.

By unlocking greater investment from animal health companies through a functioning regulatory environment, we can also deliver multiple benefits for the African continent’s millions of livestock producers. Due to the inadequate existing regulatory framework, Africa’s livestock producers typically do not have adequate access to medicines or cannot be sure of their quality, with many therefore choosing not to vaccinate their animals.

Yet we know losses from livestock diseases can be preventable – if only farmers can be made aware and assured of the quality of these medicines. A more predictable and clear registration process for new veterinary medicines can therefore improve the availability of quality veterinary medicines, whose use can prevent livestock disease, improve livestock production and boost producers’ incomes.

A well-functioning regulatory system provides immense benefits to regulators as well. It ensures only safe and effective veterinary medicines reach the market, protecting both animal health and public health, thereby preventing zoonotic diseases. It ensures medicines are manufactured to high standards reducing the risk of substandard or counterfeit products. The economic benefits that flow from a functioning regulatory framework, such as improved market access, increased investment and trade facilitation, are compounded at national level contributing to rural economies and GDP. Regulators also have a stake in improved disease control; effective regulation ensures timely availability of veterinary medicines for the prevention and control of animal diseases directly contributing to countries’ disease control efforts.  

Ultimately, facing evolving disease threats because of climate change and global trade, the animal health private sector and livestock producers need a greater say in the development of Africa’s regulatory system in order to deliver much-needed improvements to its efficiency. Improving regulatory frameworks requires regulators, the private sector and livestock producers to come together to develop an accessible and time- and cost-effective regulatory system for veterinary medicines.

GALVmed work

Parties like GALVmed, for example, can be an invaluable convener. GALVmed is already supporting the implementation of the East African Community Mutual Recognition Procedure project, which is helping to harmonize registration requirements for veterinary medicines across eight countries in East Africa. By allowing companies to seek approval for multiple countries simultaneously, rather than bilateral applications at a national level, this project incentivises animal health companies to seek licences in multiple countries, thereby increasing their market.

This creates more choice and support for livestock producers and offers a model for harmonizing regulations for veterinary medicines across the continent, working hand-in-hand with the private animal health sector.

GALVmed is also working in collaboration with WOAH, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the East African Community on a new project called Improving Access to Quality Veterinary Products via Better Regulation. This will support regulatory agencies across Africa to identify their capacity-building needs and how they could be addressed, helping to improve the regulation of veterinary medicines at scale.

Ultimately, the inadequate and inefficient regulatory system for veterinary medicines that prevails across most of Africa causes negative impacts throughout the value chain – for regulators, animal health companies, livestock farmers and the continent’s food security at large. The momentum from past and current efforts by various parties must be accelerated. Well-functioning regulatory frameworks will lead to increased investment, confidence in the system, resulting in availability of more safe and effective veterinary medicines in the market. 

Achieving this goal will help ensure Africa’s livestock producers have quality veterinary medicines that address the rising disease challenges they face while safeguarding their contribution to the future of food security in Africa.

Creating an enabling environment for the regulation of veterinary medicines in Africa

Posted on by team galvmed

In sub-Saharan Africa, bringing safe and high-quality veterinary products and vaccines to market often involves navigating complex, time-consuming, and resource-intensive regulatory processes.

This challenging process presents a significant barrier to private sector investment and undermines the sustainable supply of high-quality, safe, and effective livestock health products. This situation adversely affects regulators, product manufacturers, and ultimately, small-scale producers by limiting their access to high-quality veterinary products that are essential for the care and treatment of their livestock. This in return compromises food security and safety, diminishes animal health and productivity, and impacts farmers’ livelihoods.

An improved policy and regulatory environment that facilitates the successful transformation of research products into sustainable animal health solutions for small-scale livestock producers is crucial to achieving GALVmed’s mission and ensure availability of safe and efficacious veterinary products in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since 2011, the East African Community (EAC) with support from GALVmed, and HealthforAnimals have been implementing the EAC’s Mutual Recognition Procedure system (EAC MRP), which simplifies the registration process by allowing applicants to apply simultaneously for licences in multiple countries. Now, a new project to be implemented in collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the EAC, and the UK Veterinary Medicines Directorate  (UK-VMD), and with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), is set to further improve the regulatory systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Challenges of Veterinary Medicines Regulation in Africa

The Better Regulation Project Vision

GALVmed & Partners

The Better Regulation project will support the establishment of a long-term governance structure for cooperation between veterinary regulatory agencies. It will further develop and promote the adoption of a self-assessment tool to help regulators strengthen their capacities. Additionally, the project will improve the efficiency and sustainability of the EAC MRP. All these activities are expected to create a more effective regulatory environment for veterinary medicines.

Improving the regulatory systems for veterinary medicines across Africa will ensure that quality, safe, and effective veterinary products are available on the continent in a timely manner. This will contribute to improved animal health, livestock production, and livelihoods.