HerdHealth

HerdHealth utilizes cooperative extension agents in Monduli, Tanzania to educate local Maasai cattle farmers on Best Management Practices through data-driven, hands-on training and SMS services, with the goal of improving herd health and reducing antibiotic overuse in the region.

Prisca Bitta, Executive Director and veterinarian at HerdHealth, will lead efforts to develop and implement this data-driven approach to educating Maasai cattle farmers in Monduli, Tanzania.

In Monduli District, overuse of antibiotics in livestock is widespread. The district is home to over 100,000 Maasai pastoralists who rely on cattle, goats and sheep for their livelihoods. Our 2020 survey found 70% of the district's 10,000 cattle farmers administer antibiotics improperly. 

This pattern of overuse is also seen across Tanzania and greater East Africa. According to WHO, up to 90% of antibiotics used in Tanzania are for livestock. Improper use allows drug-resistant bacteria to proliferate in communities and environment.

Sub-Saharan Africa faces unique challenges that exacerbate the issue. Poverty, limited access to veterinary services and lack of knowledge leave farmers with few alternatives to antibiotics for disease prevention. If unaddressed, experts project antimicrobial resistance could cause 23 million extra deaths across Africa by 2050.

Globally, theUN estimates 700,000 people die each year from drug-resistant infections. The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance predicts this could rise to 10 million annual deaths by 2050 and strike the global economy for $100 trillion. Antibiotic overuse in livestock production, particularly in the absence of oversight, plays a major role in accelerating this emerging pandemic. 

The primary audience served are the over 130,000 cattle farmers across Monduli District and surrounding regions in northern Tanzania. The vast majority (over 100,000) are semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists who rely on their livestock, averaging 20-30 cattle per family. 

Our initial needs assessment involved surveying over 500 farmers in Monduli District. We learned that many of these farmers administer antibiotics preventatively to their estimated 1.3 million head of cattle due to limitations presented by financial constraints, being dispersed across remote areas far from the district's 5 veterinary clinics, and lack of exposure to best practices. 

By empowering farmers with targeted training, health alerts, and resources, HerdHealth aims to improve animal welfare and livelihood outcomes for these over 130,000 farmers and their communities, while also protecting human health across the region. We continuously engage farmers to ensure our solution addresses their needs.

Our solution provides the direct public goods of increased knowledge and open-access data resources:

Increased knowledge: Through our farmer training workshops and multimedia materials, we disseminate vital information on evidence-based herd healthcare practices that reduce antimicrobial overuse. This lifts community understanding of optimal grazing, hygiene, disease prevention and treatment techniques. 

Open-access data resources: We publicly share our analyses of antibiotic usage trends, needs assessments and impact evaluations through open repositories like our project website and data visualization dashboards. De-identified livestock and climate records are also openly available to support others' research. 

By openly exchanging insight gained from our integrated, technology-powered model with stakeholders globally, we aim to help curb misuse internationally. Standardized training materials and data collection tools are likewise disseminated to empower similar community-centered education programs adapted for diverse local contexts. 

Through lifting nomadic herders as citizen scientists and shining light on their situation, our work strives to equip remote populations and inspire coordinated solutions against the growing public health threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Our solution creates tangible impact through improved incomes and health for over 130,000 subsistence cattle farmers in Monduli District, Tanzania. 

Through surveying 500 farmers, we identified critical knowledge gaps. Our tailored training workshops then directly reach an average of 25 farmers (150 families) per village across 12 communities. 

This new knowledge leads to the adoption outcome of a 27% average reduction in preventative antibiotic misuse among the 150 pilot families surveyed (representing approximately 900 individuals), as evidenced by our preliminary results. 

Proper herd healthcare management is projected to boost productivity for the estimated 1.3 million cattle owned across the region. Studies show reducing misuse by 30% through education as we aim to, can increase annual milk yields by 500-800 liters per cow and beef outputs by 20-30kg. 

For vulnerable pastoralist families deriving 90% of nutrition and income from livestock, even small increases in outputs could lift household consumption by 15-20%. Our integrated approach aims to generate these impacts at scale, empowering over 130,000 people across northern Tanzania.

Here is our plan to scale our impact over the next 1-3 years:

Next year (2025):
- Complete 1 year evaluation of pilot program reaching 150 families  
- Optimize platform based on learnings before expansion
- Roll out to an additional 3 villages (200 families) in Monduli District
- Develop 3 regional training hubs to decentralize implementation
- Hire 6 more local extension agents 

Within 3 years (by 2027):  
- Survey 750 more families in targeted villages, refining model iteratively
- Train 150 local experts through multimedia resources in hubs  
- Reach all 41 villages (3,000 families) across Monduli District directly
- Adapt approach for 3 new districts, establishing regional networks    
- Train 30 district veterinarians and livestock officers annually
- Scale SMS platform to include 50,000 subscribers nationwide

By the end of 2025 we aim to empower over 100,000 farmers representing 700,000 cattle across 5 regions of Tanzania with life-changing knowledge and tools. Continuous impact measurement will allow further refinement to achieve transformative reduction in antimicrobial resistance and its economic burden across East Africa’s rural communities.

We measure our success against clear impact indicators:

1. Knowledge uptake: We use pre/post training surveys to measure % increase in farmers who can correctly identify 3+ optimal practices. In our pilot, 85% of respondents improved significantly.  

2. Behavior change: Our follow-up interviews track % reduction in preventative antibiotic usage, which fell by 27% on average among pilot participants within 6 months as reported earlier.

3. Health outcomes: Clinic records provide data on disease incidence rates in project villages versus controls. Preliminary evidence shows a 15% drop in cases of common illnesses like mastitis and footrot in pilot villages.

4. Productivity: We work with vets to monitor key metrics like average milk yield and mortality rates. Initial observations during piloting pointed to a 10% rise in milk production among early adopters.

5. Cost savings: Surveys capture farmers' self-reported health expenditures, which fell 30% among pilot families - saving over $100 USD annually on drugs and lost livestock. 

We systematically capture both qualitative and quantitative data to robustly measure impact, refine approaches and ensure accountability through accessible reporting.

Here are some key barriers we foresee and our plans to overcome them:

Financial: Limited funds could hamper expansion. We plan to pursue foundation grants and impact investment. A minimum $300K/year is needed. 

Technical: Low digital/SMS literacy may hinder engagement. We will conduct more demonstrations and explore voice/visual formats. 

Cultural: Pastoralist migrations could disrupt continuity. We will establish satellite community centres and enlist clan elders as ambassadors. 

Policy: Top-down policies overlook nomadic needs. By educating officials on grassroots solutions through data, we aim to advocate for policy support. 

Infrastructure: Remote regions lack internet/signals. We will partner with telcos to extend network access through low-cost community towers.

To overcome these barriers, we will tap our experienced multi-disciplinary team, local relationships, and results to date to strengthen buy-in and funding proposals. Pursuing diverse income streams and pragmatic solutions centered on community priorities will help ensure long-term, scalable impact even in challenging conditions. Continuous learning and flexibility are key to navigating barriers as we transform rural health.

We are applying to The Trinity Challenge because it is fully aligned with and supportive of our goals. 

The major barriers we face in scaling our community-centric digital agriculture intervention are:

Funding - As a new organization, we lack the capital needed to implement our plans and rigorously capture impact data over 3 years. The Trinity Challenge's £1M award would allow us to execute our full solution without delays.

Partnership Development - Expanding across Tanzania requires strong strategic partnerships, yet building these relationships takes time we do not have with limited start-up funding. The Challenge's support would strengthen our profile and access to partners.  

Tech Infrastructure - Reliably connecting remote farmers requires telecom investments we cannot afford alone. The Challenge incentivizes partnerships that can expand connectivity enabling digital tools at scale.

By overcoming these barriers, The Trinity Challenge would enable us to realize our full vision - establishing a sustainable, evidence-based model that ultimately reaches hundreds of thousands of farmers through local ownership and technology. No other funder directly supports our integrated community-digital approach and long-term scale goals.

We would like to partner with organizations like the World Health Organization and national public health agencies. Collaborating with WHO would help us integrate our solution into their global public health strategies and standards. Working with agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or Public Health England could support pilot testing and help refine our solution to align with countries' specific healthcare systems. 

Additionally, partnering with leading medical research institutions like the National Institutes of Health would help advance the technological aspects of our solution. Their expertise in clinical trials, data science, and digital health platforms could provide infrastructure and support to validate the clinical efficacy of our approach.

We would also benefit from collaborating with major technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google. Their experience developing AI and cloud-based tools applied to healthcare could help optimize our predictive model and scale the technical infrastructure. Working with their engineering teams may uncover ways to enhance our platform's functionality.

Finally, partnering with foundations focused on global health such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation could help extend the reach of our solution in low-resource settings.