Community-based livestock initiatives programme

Community-based Animal Health Care (CAHC) is a decentralized animal health service delivery approach applied in the ASALs. It involves the training and equiping of CAHWs with basic animal health skills. CAHC is practiced widely in Arid and Semi- Arid Lands (ASALs) and marginal farming areas, as these areas are not adequately served by central government services due to the following reasons: • Remoteness from service centers. • Structural adjustment programs; government personnel have been withdrawn leaving farmers with no veterinary services, indeed some services have been handed over to the farmers e.g. tick control and artificial insemination. • Privatization of veterinary services. • Veterinarians are not willing to work in remote areas where conditions are difficult and financial returns are low. • Nomadism where livestock keepers travel away from service centers in search of pasture and water. • Insecurity, such as cattle rustling, raids and fights over pasture. • Poverty where professional charges are not affordable or the economic value of the animal is not worth the investment.