How Crop–Livestock Clinics Are Advancing One Health: A Pilot Case from Uganda

Abstract

Crop and livestock health are crucial to agricultural productivity and farmers’ livelihoods. However, in low-income countries, farmer advisory services tend to be permanently short of funding and staff, leaving the majority of smallholders underserved. CABI’s work with plant clinics has revealed potential ‘One Health’ benefits of broadening the scope of the plant clinics to better meet farmers’ demands for advice. This case shows how a team from different disciplines and sectors co-created a new type of farmer advisory service in Uganda: a ‘plant and livestock clinic’ (consultation centre). These joint clinics represent an innovation in farmer service delivery using existing organizational structures and capacities. This case explores the results and lessons learned from the first pilot year. The joint clinics add value to the One Health offer in several ways: (i) crop and livestock staff are able to share operational costs, knowledge and insights in a way that they would not normally be able to do; (ii) plant and livestock consultations in the same place save time for farmers and provide opportunities for cross-learning – farmers ‘hang around’ to hear the advice other farmers receive and exchange information with one another; (iii) joint clinics are an entry point to improving referral systems and targeting delivery of technology such as animal vaccines and clean cassava cuttings; and (iv) crop–livestock clinics provide an avenue for finding out what farmers know and don’t know about One Health issues – crucial information to design solutions. The case also examines the opportunities for furthering crop–livestock clinics as an entry point to advance One Health. The logo for the Coat of arms of Uganda. The logo has a shield with two spears. The shield is situated between a deer and a bird. The text For God and My Country is present at the bottom. A logo titled C A B I. A logo for biovision with the logo of the African continent. The case shows the transdisciplinary process of co-developing a new type of integrated, cross-sectoral health service for smallholder farmers. The pilot intervention explores opportunities for adding value to existing crop and livestock service delivery in terms of coverage, cost savings, cross-learning among farmers and service providers, and targeted delivery of knowledge and technology. This case is based on results and lessons learned from the first year of a CABI-led project: ‘Joint crop–animal services for smallholder farmers in east Africa: exploring ‘One Health’ benefits, operations and lessons for scaling out’. © The Authors 2022