Farm2Vet: Combatting AMR on the Farm Frontier

Encourage responsible antibiotic use in food-producing animals by offering subsistent farmers instant, easy, low-cost access to trusted veterinary services for disease diagnosis and treatment advice via the platform. Farm2Vet acts as an effective surveillance platform by collecting data directly from small farmers and veterinary service suppliers.

Giang T. Phi, Assistant Professor, VinUniversity, Hanoi, Vietnam

Helen Nguyen, Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA

In our mission to tackle the misuse of antibiotics in animal food production, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), we confront the pressing issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Swift population growth has led to diminished farmlands and increased food demand, creating conditions conducive to infectious disease transmission in the backyards of remote village farmers. In these areas, slow, limited, and costly access to reliable veterinary services prompts the overuse of antibiotics to prevent short-term production losses, unknowingly exposing farmers to the long-term threat of AMR-induced poverty.

AMR ranks among the top 10 global health threats, potentially causing 10 million annual deaths and 3.4 trillion GDP losses by 2050. Compounding the challenge is the oversight of hundreds of millions of subsistent farms in national and international statistics, hindering LMICs' ability to predict and prevent disease outbreaks or identify AMR hotspots.

Initiating our campaign in Vietnam, which is currently ranked 11th globally in antibiotic consumption and has one of the highest AMR rates, we recognize the reluctance of farmers to report animal diseases due to fear and uncertainty. Addressing this fear is pivotal in empowering farmers and fostering a sustainable, resilient agricultural landscape.

Smallholder farmers in LMIC countries need cost-effective measures to safeguard the health of their food-producing animals. Farm2Vet offers a way forward by giving the farmers easy, low-cost access to scientific knowledge on preventing and intervening in animal infectious diseases, regardless of their productional scale or geographical locations.

Farm2Vet will extend the reach for professional veterinary services, which are currently very limited in Vietnam and many other LMIC countries. These services will benefit from having more customers and being able to treat diseases effectively. 

The Farm2Vet database will inform policymakers of timely actions on preventing outbreaks and AMR hotspots, while also providing much-needed information for agricultural services to design and implement biosecurity policies for animal production.

Reports generated by the Farm2Vet database can help connect clusters of antibiotic-light farms with large organic wholesalers, who are looking for qualified small farm suppliers to join their networks. This creates a win-win-win situation for farmers, wholesalers, and consumers who increasingly demand quality food and fit into the broader global organic movement. 

Ultimately, stopping the misuse of antibiotics preserves their life-saving power for humans and animals and thus benefits the broader public.

We will produce the following public goods:

1. Our platform technology will be expanded to other countries to create a larger database and serve more farmers 

2. Reports on AMR hotspots and potential breakouts of infectious diseases will be sent to relevant stakeholders for timely action.

3. Our quarterly reports on antibiotic-prudent farm clusters are open-access

4. Open-access publications of our impact studies will help to increase insights on awareness and behavioural changes in addressing animal infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance emergence in Vietnam and other LMICs

We believe in the power of fair access to scientific knowledge and veterinary services and the innovative leverage of data to instill a culture of responsible antimicrobial use. In Vietnam, where 89% of farmers operate small family farms facing challenges like widespread infectious diseases and uninformed treatments, domestic livestock and aquaculture demand has dwindled.  

Our technology empowers farmers with AI-driven VetBot for instant, free diagnostics and tailored treatment strategies. We further connect farmers with reliable veterinarians who offer guidance on proper antibiotic administration, alternative treatments, and preventive measures. This aids in enhancing biosecurity and reducing antibiotic dependency as the first line of defense. 

Data generated serves preventive and incentivizing purposes, with epidemiological modeling guiding the timely responses of regional authorities to potential outbreaks. Reports on antimicrobial-prudent farm clusters support sustainable agricultural supply chain growth. Our solutions thus help to increase profitability for millions of farmers and restore confidence in Vietnamese agro-products domestically and internationally. 

Open-access publications help fill the information gap on animal infectious diseases and AMR for policymaking in Vietnam and other LMICs. This is important as small farmers in LMICs are among vulnerable groups of the 28 million people pushed into extreme poverty due to AMR by 2050. 

The first year of the project will be devoted to building and co-designing the virtual platform (including the VetBot, the knowledge database, and the set-up of consultations) with farmers and vets from Northern Vietnam surrounding the Hanoi region. In the second year, we will launch the pilot platform to the rest of Vietnam to further test and refine our products and operational models. This two-step process is needed because the Vietnamese language spoken in different parts of the country is as different as English spoken by Americans, British, or Australians. VetBot accuracy needs to be trained by a broad, diverse base of respondents. We also need time to recruit quality vets throughout the country to extend the reach of our services. 

For the third year, we plan to increase the number of users substantially by testing different marketing strategies, business models and developing strategic collaborations with key influencers such as agricultural cooperatives, farmer associations, veterinary science institutions, and local government bodies.

Impact goal 1: Improved access to scientific knowledge and vet services

• No. and frequency and quality of queries for the app users (both farmers and Vets). The more users, the better the app will become. 

• Reduced fault negatives generated by the VetBot to increase trust and robustness. 

• No. of completed connections set up between farmers and vets. 

Impact goal 2: Responsible use of AM in food animal production

• Increased knowledge of AMR and substantial reduction of antibiotics used by farmers. We will determine this by applying qualitative research methods, such as surveys and focus groups. 

• Reduced emergence of AMR in the participating farms. We will determine this based on success in treatment when antibiotics are needed. This information will be obtained from farmers and veterinary professionals.

Impact goal 3: Reduction of animal infectious disease outbreaks

• Effectiveness of prediction models 

• Time to deploy preventive actions for outbreaks. 

Impact goal 4: Databases to inform policymakers and other stakeholders

• Quality of database and no. of readers of aggregated reports on antimicrobial use insights

1. Farmers may worry about the security and privacy of their data, including personal information and farm details. We will implement robust security measures, transparently communicate data privacy policies, and ensure compliance with data protection regulations. 

2. Farmers may perceive Farm2Vet as an additional cost or investment, especially if they have limited financial resources. We will introduce incentive programs, subsidies, or discounts to alleviate the financial burden. We also communicate the long-term benefits that outweigh the initial costs.

3. Farmers may need more basic technology infrastructure and compatible devices to use Farm2Vet, besides technical skills related to software use, data management, and troubleshooting. Farmers who are unfamiliar with digital tools may prefer traditional methods. We shall explore alternative solutions (e.g., SMS-based services) and provide financial assistance or incentives for acquiring infrastructure and devices.

4. Cultural differences or language barriers may create challenges in communicating the value of FarmToVet to diverse farming communities. We will tailor communication materials to local languages and cultural nuances. 

5. Farmers may resist adopting new technologies due to a preference for traditional methods or a fear of change. We highlight how Farm2Vet complements existing practices rather than replacing them. Gradually we introduce the platform and demonstrate its ease of use.

Antimicrobial resistance is a global challenge, and it is complex even in the most developed countries with regulated markets of antimicrobials and healthcare industries. Experience from developed countries has shown that curbing the overuse of antibiotics is the first step in overcoming this challenge. Overuse of antimicrobials for food animals is an unintended consequence of the economic growth in Vietnam and many LMICs. Impressive growth in GPD lifts millions of people out of extreme poverty and forms a growing middle class. The demand for food protein increases much faster than the veterinary services supporting the farmers with guidance on production biosecurity, disease diagnosis, and treatment. Easy access to antimicrobials with questionable quality and a lack of veterinary services led to the excessive use of needless antimicrobials in Vietnam. These barriers to controlling antimicrobial resistance can be overcome by empowering the farming communities with access to knowledge and connecting with trusted veterinary services through technology. Our solution is to co-create our technology with the users, communities of farmers, and veterinary professionals. 

We have gathered a very diverse team from different organisations both in Vietnam and overseas to start out pilot project. Our team member has also direct collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as National University Singapore in other fields such as female access to healthcare and innovation/entrepreneurship. Further contact and collaboration with these two organisations in the field of AMR and AI technology will give us more insight to support the development and expansion of our solutions.

Agricultural extension services at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam and other LMICs country would support rolling out key parts of our solutions. 

We also plan to work with the PODD project (winner of MIT challenge) to expand the solution to Thailand because the PODD project also reaches small farmers who raise similar animals for food like in Vietnam.