SA company contributes to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation livestock strategy for Africa

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), which hosted a livestock convention for Africa in Dubai last week, has accepted inputs from South African firm Afrivet, an animal health company.

The BMGF Convening on Livestock was held from 23 to 25 April, and included Dr. Peter Oberem, Afrivet CEO. He was one of only two South Africans invited to attend, and the only one representing an animal health company.

Agricultural development is one of the largest initiatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). To date, more than US$4 billion had been committed to agricultural development efforts, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Dr. Oberem said the Dubai meeting was convened to get inputs into the formulation and implementation of the Foundation’s livestock farming support policy in Africa, and to bring credible service providers into contact with deserving NGOs – many of whom are funded by the BMGF.

“Afrivet came to the Foundation’s attention because of the numerous projects we already run to bring both animal health products and skills to the millions of small-scale farmers and stock handlers in southern Africa,” said Dr. Oberem.

He added that this contribution to knowledge transfer and skills development, and Afrivet’s focus on regional diseases that are sometimes neglected in the global arena, attracted much interest during the convening.

Dr. Oberem said institutions such as Edinburgh University, The Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (Tanzania), University of Liverpool and Iowa State University were particularly interested in Afrivet’s primary animal healthcare methodology and digital platforms.

– African News Agency (ANA)