Over $3b is lost yearly to animal disease outbreaks and other challenges confronting livestock sector in Africa.
The Chief Executive Officer, Vetsark Limited, Mr. Blessing Mene, who revealed this during a Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) signing with the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), in Lagos, said the enormity of the challenge facing the sector prompted the partnership, adding that supporting veterinarians in the country and the continent has become Vetsark’s priority.
He said one of the key deliverable of the partnership is to save $300m to $500m worth of livestock over the next one year.
“One of the things we have observed is that livestock production contributes to one-third of Nigeria’s agriculture Gross Domestic Product (GDP). When you think about animal health, it is closely linked with human health. If the animals in the society are not healthy, the humans will not be healthy, so this is a very important sector of the Nigerian economy.
“When you take a look at how much losses are suffered yearly to animal diseases outbreak or things happening within the sector, you’ll see that in Africa alone over $3b is lost according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. So supporting veterinarians in this country and the continent is a major priority for Vetsark, and that is why we want to provide the tools and digital infrastructure that they need to excel in their practice,” he said.
Mene said the official partnership would allow Vetsark to provide technical infrastructure to the NVMA and members of the body across the country.
“One of the things we are hoping to achieve with the partnership is that we are going to be rolling out an Ambassador’s Programme that will benefit between 100 and 200 veterinarians across the country, who are expected to be unburden on this programme. We are also making it open to all veterinarians who have veterinary hospitals or clinic by providing them with veterinary practice management software, it’s a telemedicine platform that can be used to reach out to pet owners and farm owners.”
In his response, the Acting President, NVMA, Dr. Ibrahim Ado Shehu said as almost everything in the world now revolves around technology, it is a good development for NVMA to partner Vetsark, as they can provide the technology to the members of the association to enhance their operations.
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