By Dare Akogun
An initiative launched in 2018 by Boehringer Ingelheim, LastMile, in partnership with the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has reached over 40,000 smallholder farmers in six African countries on access to veterinary medicine and prevention of animal diseases.
The initiative aims to bridge the gap in access, availability, and awareness of animal healthcare solutions in hard-to-reach areas, which will improves productivity and income generation, hence ensuring food security and livelihood for the local communities.
It supports smallholder farmers in Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia, and has enabled 56 product registrations in these countries as well as Uganda and Tanzania.
Project Lead for LastMile at Boehringer Ingelheim Tiago Teixeira, said that LastMile is a sustainable model for smallholder farmers with a positive impact on vulnerable communities.
According to him “It supports our commitment towards improving the health and wellbeing of animals by increasing disease awareness and improving access to animal medicine.”
“Animal technicians from local communities play a crucial role in demonstrating product usage and providing education to smallholder farmers.
“More than 20 animal technicians held close to 20,000 farm visits and consulted more than 17,000 agricultural retail shops on how to optimize product availability and shelving”.
Furthermore, during more than 8,600 visits to veterinarians, animal technicians provided them with information and training on prevention and treatment options.
