In the heart of Kenya’s arid north, where livestock is not just wealth but life itself, a quiet revolution in animal health service delivery is taking shape.

Private veterinarians drawn from Samburu East, West and North converged today for a strategic workshop that could redefine how veterinary services reach the most remote pastoralist communities.

The forum which was convened with support from Mercy Corps through its RANGE Program, noted that for years, pastoralists in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands have struggled to access timely and quality animal health services.

The forum sought to change that narrative by rallying private practitioners around a common vision — ‘taking services to the last mile’.

Mercy Corps county coordinator Simon Eris said the programme is deliberately shifting focus to the grassroots.

“Our goal through the RANGE programme is to ensure that quality animal health services reach the last mile. We cannot secure livelihoods in the ASALs without empowering the private vets who work closest to the pastoralists,” he said.

At the core of the discussions was the urgent need for organised and strategic service delivery and the veterinarians deliberated on forming a unified association that would give them a collective voice, strengthen professionalism, and make it easier to serve communities that are often cut off from government extension services.

The Participants agreed that the future of livestock health in ASALs lies in preventive disease control, particularly through e-voucher livestock vaccination, a model that has proven effective in putting vaccines directly in the hands of pastoralists while ensuring accountability.

Samburu county Director for Veterinary Services, Dr. Boreya Lekenit emphasized that the collaboration is critical for both economic and public health reasons.

“When we strengthen preventive healthcare and tackle issues like Antimicrobial Resistance, we are protecting not just livestock, but human health as well. This is the essence of One Health, and private practitioners are central to it,” Lekenit said.

The veterinarians noted that Antimicrobial Resistance, or AMR threatens animal health and warned that misuse and overuse of veterinary drugs not only threatens animal health but poses a serious danger to human health.

On technology, the vets were introduced to digital applications driving the e-voucher system, tools designed to bring transparency, efficiency and traceability to vaccination campaigns in a region that was vast and oversight has been a challenge.

To anchor these ambitions in law, Lekenit Ltirisio, the Legal Officer from the County Government of Samburu, guided the practitioners through the various formalization options available in Kenya, from cooperatives and associations to Community-Based Organizations and informal groups.

What emerged from the forum was a shared sense of purpose by empowering private vets, investing in preventive care and embracing digital innovation.

Samburu is not just protecting its herds but securing the livelihoods of its people and the broader public health, a model that could become a game-changer for livestock-dependent counties across northern Kenya.

by Robert Githu