STRENGTHENING ANIMAL HEALTH
“I am really interested in helping to improve the health of livestock in the area.” – ABDIRAHMAN ABIB MAHMOUD
Adbirahman also received business and marketing training from the regional wholesalers, learning key skills such as drug administration and handling and warehouse management. The training was also a good opportunity to cement business relationships and open lines of communication between the suppliers and the PVPs. In addition, USAID helped Abdirahman reach those in need of his drugs by linking PVPs with CAHWs, the frontline animal health providers in remote pastoral areas, and suggesting new ways of doing business. In the process, USAID and its partners made clear the potential benefits of collaboration. Ahmed Mahmoud Habib is a CAHW who lives in Fafan, where Adbirahman has his pharmacy. “I used to work as a volunteer,” he says, “but now I feel like a businessman. I buy my drugs and equipment from Abdirahman at a discount, which means I can charge my customers the normal rate, leaving me with a bit of profit for my services. I didn’t have anything like this kind of income before.”
40 RESILIENCE IN ACTION
Abdirahman is also reaping the rewards of partnership, having greatly increased the number of pastoralists he can reach. “Our eyes were opened when we were put together with the CAHWs,” he says. “They travel up to thirty kilometers away in the course of their work, which means I no longer have to worry about how to reach my customers. Working with Ahmed and the other CAHWs, I have doubled my radius and at the same time doubled my income.” Not long ago, with support from USAID, Abdirahman opened a second branch of his pharmacy. He received money for shelving and transportation and five months’ salary for an employee to help him get started. “When I had one branch I used to make 7,000 Birr (US $364) per month,” he says. “Now, with two, I can make as much as 30,000 Birr (US $1,566) per month.” The increases in both PVP sales and the numbers of CAHWs’ customers highlight the large demand for high quality animal health goods and services in pastoral areas. Improved business development, better drugs, greater knowledge and information, and increased incomes result in benefits to animal health and livestock productivity, which, in turn help strengthen household and community resilience to external shocks.