Gender Inclusive Vaccine Distribution and Delivery Systems for Newcastle Disease and Peste des Petits Ruminants Among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya
Programs and partnerships
Lead institution(s)
Summary
Women smallholder livestock farmers are hindered in accessing and using livestock vaccines due to low levels of awareness, high acquisition costs, accessibility, and unequal gender relations at the household level.Read more
Women smallholder livestock farmers are hindered in accessing and using livestock vaccines due to low levels of awareness, high acquisition costs, accessibility, and unequal gender relations at the household level. As a result of these barriers, women’s sources of livelihood become endangered when their stock are attacked by diseases such as Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), which affects small ruminants such as goats, and Newcastle disease (ND), which affects poultry.
This project will focus on ND and PPR vaccines in Kenya. The group dynamics of existing women’s groups and cooperatives will be leveraged to empower them with knowledge of these diseases, the benefits of vaccines, financial and market analysis training, access to vaccines, and access to animal health services and markets. It aims to strengthen women’s economic empowerment by increasing their asset base and purchasing power. It also seeks to improve household food and nutrition security.
The study seeks to increase women’s participation in the livestock vaccine distribution chain by addressing and reducing barriers that hinder them, such as gender, social, and cultural norms and practices. It focuses on poultry and small ruminants, which are important for women’s economic empowerment, through the incremental accumulation of resources, which in turn would allow them to purchase and own small ruminants or higher-value species.
The project uses an experimental design with six intervention arms to test whether adding technical and gender educational components to vaccine delivery can address the gender-based constraints and social norms that prevent women from accessing and benefiting from livestock vaccines. It will also address vaccine awareness and access.
This project is supported by the Livestock Vaccine Innovation Fund (LVIF), a partnership of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Affairs Canada, and IDRC. LVIF represents a joint investment of CA$57 million over five years to support the development, production, and commercialization of innovative vaccines against priority livestock diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.