Handbook for Planning and Managing CAHW Programmes

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 health and production services to livestock keepers in areas where public and private veterinary services are unable to deliver local services on a regular basis. Since the first CAHW projects were launched in the early 1990s, the methods used to select, train, and supervise CAHWs have evolved and varied widely across and within countries. Trained on the initiative of civil society organisations1 (CSOs), government programmes or private actors, CAHWs may face challenges to remain part of the animal health system in their area over the long term, generally due to a lack of appropriate training, supervision, and legislation. Yet this integration is an essential condition for ensuring the sustainability and quality of their services to livestock keepers and veterinary authorities.