Last Mile Initiative
The “Last Mile Initiative” aims to make a significant impact on the smallholder animal health market in Africa where it is delivered by Boehringer Ingelheim, a leading player in the global animal health industry.
Smallholder farmers in Africa have limited or no access to high quality veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) due to poor distribution channels, low levels of awareness about animal diseases and the way these can be prevented or treated.
Boehringer Ingelheim has adopted a business model that addresses those barriers:
To accelerate the roll-out of the current and future veterinary medicine portfolio, Boehringer Ingelheim deployed groups of animal health technicians (called Last-mile Livestock Service Providers, LLSPs) from the local communities in each of our targeted markets to travel around their local regions covering areas which are normally very difficult or impossible to access through usual distribution networks. LLSPs are to check health status of animals at the smallholder farm level, give basic veterinary and herd management advice, demonstrate administering products, and survey/replenish stocks of registered veterinary products at local retails shops.
This distribution model positively affected the livelihood of smallholder farmers in the concerned countries by increasing their veterinary awareness, access to high quality veterinary solutions and ultimately their income from healthier and more productive animals. In addition, it created new employment opportunities for veterinary health technicians in specific rural territories. Where animal health technicians are not formally recognized as a profession yet, demonstrating the impact of their work may help the accreditation of their activity.
The model has been tested as a pilot in several countries in 2015 under full sponsorship of MERIAL, now part of Boehringer Ingelheim. In the next phase, the project will be expanded to new territories and more focus will be given to the training of the LLSP teams, their transport and compensation, equipping them with the right veterinary tools and providing them with data managements systems. Focus on such aspects will help LLSP teams perform in a more efficient and safer way while improving the tracking of activities, as well as monitoring and evaluations.
The “Last Mile Initiative” forms part of the company’s commitment to improve human and animal health. Wherever we are active, we feel responsible for our communities and are respectful of our resources. Boehringer Ingelgeim is committed to sustainable development and work closely with our local stakeholders to understand their needs.