Community Animal Health Worker Resources ( CAHW )
CAHWs are members of the rural community who have been trained to provide basic animal health care. Indispensable, they often act as the first point of contact for animal health care in areas where professional veterinarians are few or absent. Their training enables them to provide vaccinations, anti-parasite treatments and first aid, as well as advice on animal nutrition and reproduction.
In these remote areas, CAHWs are essential for keeping livestock healthy, improving rural communities’ livelihoods, food security and resilience. They also help prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases, and play an important role in educating livestock farmers about sustainable livestock management practices.
Despite their crucial role, CAHWs face a number of significant challenges. Lack of legal recognition in some countries can limit their ability to provide services and obtain essential medical supplies. In addition, they need ongoing access to training to keep up to date with the latest veterinary practices and emerging health challenges.
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Key Resource2015/11/04 Active learning and exchange of knowledge are key to farmer adoption of beneficial agricultural innovations. Community health worker (CHW) and community animal health worker (CAHW) programs have led to a rich body of knowledge about extension, much of which is applicable to efforts aimed towards...
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LEGS is underpinned by a livelihoods approach and is based on three livelihoods objectives: Providing immediate benefits to crisis-affected communities Protecting the livestock-related assets of crisis-affected communities Assisting the re-building of key assets among crisis-affected communities...
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VSF Internationalpromotes a holistic approach, integrating human, animal and environmental health, and pursues humanitarian, development, scientific, educational and advocacy objectives. VSF International’s members are mainly active in the implementation of sustainable development programs in 28...
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- African Union/Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources, Nairobi
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2020/01/20 LEGS Briefing Paper This Briefing Paper considers how community-based animal health (CBAH) services that assist livestock owning communities can be better supported by implementing agencies, and draws on the lessons learnt from a LEGS Operational Research project funded by USAID/OFDA. The...
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2014/03/20
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2014/03/20
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2009/01/01 212 pp. : ill.
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2016/07/11 Editors: ECHO will be hosting a three-day workshop in September at our Florida campus, on the topic of small-scale livestock production in the tropics (see the “Upcoming Events” section for details). Our Global Farm incorporates many animals, including ducks, rabbits, chickens, pigs, and goats—so...
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#SDGAction42636 In remote areas underserved by public or private qualified veterinarians, VSF trains members of hard to reach and at-risk communities in good husbandry practices and basic animal health care. These trained CAHWs are able to perform a limited range of veterinary tasks and...
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We oversee various programmes, both cross-sectoral ones and those focused on specific needs, to improve the capacities of Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal Health Services. These programmes are designed to empower and guide countries in the development and implementation of sustainable...
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In line with its mandate and to improve its capacity to strengthen Veterinary Services and , WOAH has reformed its training system and has created for this purpose its Global Platform for the Training of Veterinary Services. This Platform has been implemented to manage WOAH training activities...
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From the World Organisation for Animal Health The guidelines have been designed to be comprehensive and they aim to cover all the competencies that CAHWs may need over time. Therefore, when developing a training programme for CAHWs with the help of this document, users should first list the...
- Vétérinaires Sans Frontières International (2024). Handbook for planning and managing CAHW programmes: How to build quality and sustainable community-based animal health services. Brussels, Belgium. In many countries around the world, Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) provide basic animal...