Alliance for Sustainable Livestock (ASL) with Funding support from South Centre carried out an Antimicrobial Resistance awareness campaign during the 2023 World AMR week (WAAW’23). Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) are strong advocates for antimicrobial stewardship.
Our project hence focused on building the capacity of CAHWs on antimicrobial resistance and the role they play in its prevention and awareness.
After the capacity-building session, the CAHWs now understand their crucial roles in preventing AMR and have become advocates for positive change in their communities.
Our CAHWs, spanning 19 communities in Kaduna state, then began step-down rural community advocacy, spreading vital information about AMR among livestock farmers, community leaders, and other residents.
They championed antimicrobial stewardship by promoting responsible antimicrobial use, educating farmers on AMR prevention, and stressing the importance of strictly adhering to antibiotic withdrawal periods in animals.
This initiative is remarkable as our CAHWs are creating ripples of positive behavioral change that prioritizes antimicrobial stewardship among smallholder farmers, who play a significant role in the production of healthy animals, to ensure the sustainability of the livestock sub-sector.
With support from the South Centre, Geneva, ASL has provided essential educational materials, including posters and pamphlets with informative content on prevention, available in English and transcribed in Hausa—the predominant language in these communities.
2024 Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Campaign in 5 States in Nigeria
In our mission to reduce the use of Antimicrobials in food animals,
We supported physical campaigns with support from South Centre, Geneva in 5 Northern States in Nigeria.
During these campaigns , we supported 25 Veterinary Paraprofessionals across Adamawa, Borno, Niger, Nassarawa and Jigawa States in Nigeria to take advocacy to the grassroots and last mile agrovet store owners and farmers markets in rural communities.
Our focus during these campaigns was on educating farmers ,store owners and backyards livestock owners about the dangers of antibiotic misuse in livestock and the importance of responsible practices.
Through these we aim to drive meaningful change in the behavior of these key stakeholders on the risks of antimicrobial misuse and are taking steps toward better practices.
In this short time, we observed positive responses and farmers are now reaching out to our Veterinary Paraprofessionals for advice, vaccinations, and support, showing a commitment to improving livestock health and reducing AMR.
This growing awareness is a significant step toward protecting human and animal health.
If you would like to learn more about our findings during these campaigns,
Watch out and register for our webinar coming up in December on “Lessons learned during WAWA24 and the way forward”
We look forward to sharing with you all.
Livestock WAAW2024 Environment Africa AMR2024 SouthCentre
