Promoting Ethnoveterinary Medicine for Sustainable Animal Husbandry Practices in Northern Ghana

This case profiles the project ‘Promoting Ethnoveterinary Medicine for Sustainable Animal Husbandry Practices in Northern Ghana’, which brought together stakeholders from the animal and plant health/agriculture sectors to collaborate with farmers, educators, and community and government/ministry decision makers. The 3-year pilot worked to improve animal health and productivity for rural farmers through increased recognition and use of ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) as a complement to conventional veterinary services. Project activities documented herbal treatments commonly used for poultry and livestock by smallholder farmers, improved preparation, packaging and use of the prioritized treatments, and established a strong network of EVM practitioners in Northern Ghana. Using a participatory integrated approach enabled tangible results, which directly benefited farmers, EVM innovators and the veterinary sector through this small-scale pilot study. Participatory transdisciplinary approaches take time and trust to come to fruition. A follow-on project was collaboratively developed, funded and launched in June 2023 with the intention to continue the successful work.