Piloting Community Rangeland Health Workers (CRHWs) in Ethiopia: A ground-breaking innovation for One Health application in pastoral areas

Rangelands are not only the resource base for African pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems, but also provide a wide range of ecosystem services such as storage of carbon, significant wildlife and plant diversity, and landscape functionality. Maintaining the health of these rangelands is vital for the health of the livestock and people who depend on them.

In response to this, the CGIAR Research Initiative on Livestock and Climate working with the HEAL project (One Health for Humans, Environment, Animals and Livelihoods), has been demonstrating how the environment and rangelands health can and should be integrated into One Health interventions in pastoral areas. HEAL is being implemented by Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse (lead), Amref Health Africa and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. As one of few One Health projects incorporating tangible approaches to ecosystem health at the local level, it is ground-breaking in its approach. 

ILRI is also testing out the innovative concept of community rangeland health workers (CRHWs). Following a review of current practice and lessons learned from HEWs and CAHWs, and consultations with experts including researchers, government and community members, it was agreed that CRHWs would be supported, at least initially, to provide information and raise awareness on invasive species and noxious plants and establish a community rangeland health monitoring system. To instill opportunities for the CRHWs to be self-supporting, nurseries for growing and selling grass and tree seedlings are being established. Read more at cgiar.org.

Photo: In the Osobey-Globo rangeland unit in the Filtu Woreda of Ethiopia, supported by the PRM project, a pastoralist waters his camels from the pond during the short dry season. Photo by Mohammed Said/ILRI.