Evaluation of Community-based Animal Health in the Horn of Africa

This project is a collaboration between Feinstein and Vetwork UK to evaluate community-based animal health worker (CAHW) services in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Through a field-level assessment of CAHW projects, key informant interviews, and a national workshop, this evaluation investigates the effectiveness of different practices and policies regarding CAHWs. Researchers also assess communities’ animal health service providers based on their quality of work, accessibility, availability, affordability, and acceptability.

The project was commissioned by the US Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).

Community-based animal health worker (CAHW) services evolved in east Africa in the late 1980s, especially in more remote pastoralist areas where conventional veterinary services were limited or absent. Although controversial, CAHWs became recognized as a critical approach for rinderpest eradication in conflict-affected areas such as South Sudan and the Afar region of Ethiopia.

During the early 2000s, Tufts worked with the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources to collect evidence on the impact of CAHWs and a range of issues affecting the quality and financial sustainability of services. This process contributed to  various types of institutional and policy support to CAHWs internationally and in some countries.