The Head of Sustainable Development for Generations at Boehringer Ingelheim, India, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Ayman Eissa, has said that LastMile initiative aims to strengthen smallholder farmers’ income and productivity. Eissa said the initiative, which was launched in 2018 by Boehringer Ingelheim, in partnership with the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), highlights the importance of disease prevention, to ensure food security, and drive sustainable businesses that are integrated into the wider economy in Africa.
The Project Lead for LastMile at Boehringer Ingelheim, Tiago Teixeira, said that the initiative had reached over 40,000 smallholder farmers in six African countries on access to veterinary medicine and prevention of animal diseases. The initiative, according to him, aims to bridge the gap in access, availability, and awareness of animal healthcare solutions in hard-to-reach areas, which would improve productivity and income generation, hence ensuring food security and livelihood for the local communities. He said the initiative supports smallholder farmers in Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia, and had enabled 56 product registrations in these countries as well as in Uganda and Tanzania. Teixeira disclosed
