Great post. I'm really optimistic that we can make accelerated progress towards animal welfare in Africa. At least from my experiences in Ghana, it really seems like we can skip some of the hurdles that seem apparent in Europe. SHARED has shown that governments may be more open to collaborating with us. Farmers also seem to be more open, based on my experiences working with fish farmers. You're right that one of the key reasons for these wins was non-welfare framing.
I think one of the biggest challenges is the heterogeneity of Africa. Countries are in very different stages of intensification, institutional stability, and development. Strategies that work in one country may completely fail in others. So I think it's even more important that advocates do their research and really understand the situation in their country. But for that, we need more advocates!
Very excited about this! I also completely agree that you don't need to be an "animal person" to found an animal welfare charity. Less than 12 months before I decided to found AWASH, a fish welfare charity in Ghana, I was pretty sure I'd work on something in the Global Health space. Fast forward 2 years, and I love focusing on animal welfare and genuinely believe it's one of the most pressing cause areas. I'm excited for more people in the space!
Interesting post! I definitely second the call to fund more quality animal welfare research. It's surprising how poor some research is, even when peer-reviewed. I especially like the specification of "action-relevant" research, as this is key. Especially when trying to implement interventions in LMICs, often lab studies aren't applicable.
Great post. I'm really optimistic that we can make accelerated progress towards animal welfare in Africa. At least from my experiences in Ghana, it really seems like we can skip some of the hurdles that seem apparent in Europe. SHARED has shown that governments may be more open to collaborating with us. Farmers also seem to be more open, based on my experiences working with fish farmers. You're right that one of the key reasons for these wins was non-welfare framing.
I think one of the biggest challenges is the heterogeneity of Africa. Countries are in very different stages of intensification, institutional stability, and development. Strategies that work in one country may completely fail in others. So I think it's even more important that advocates do their research and really understand the situation in their country. But for that, we need more advocates!
Very excited about this! I also completely agree that you don't need to be an "animal person" to found an animal welfare charity. Less than 12 months before I decided to found AWASH, a fish welfare charity in Ghana, I was pretty sure I'd work on something in the Global Health space. Fast forward 2 years, and I love focusing on animal welfare and genuinely believe it's one of the most pressing cause areas. I'm excited for more people in the space!
Interesting post! I definitely second the call to fund more quality animal welfare research. It's surprising how poor some research is, even when peer-reviewed. I especially like the specification of "action-relevant" research, as this is key. Especially when trying to implement interventions in LMICs, often lab studies aren't applicable.
Thanks!
Thanks Daniel! Looking forward to collaborating with AWL
Thanks Tom!