Overview: community-based animal health workers, policies, and institutions

This overview of PLA Notes 45 focuses on the policy and institutional aspects of scaling up and official recognition of community-based animal health workers (CAHW). Such workers were usually selected for training on communities and livestock rearing systems, and different animal health and production topics. Participatory methods were used by an increasing number of organisations involved in livestock research and development, so that in the mid to late 1990s the positive impact of CAHW began to emerge, their capacity to prevent or treat livestock disease, and the effect on people's livelihoods. Despite encouraging reports from many countries, there were major concerns about the long-term viability of CAHWs, particularly from veterinary authorities.