Embed One Health in dairy systems
Align human, animal and environmental health through shared surveillance, coordinated protocols and institutional cooperation.
Proposal development · Funding not securedContent revision: 8 October 2026 · Draft framework v1.0
Programme framework
One Health. One connected dairy system.
A proposed grant-led programme connecting research, innovation, demonstration, capacity development and scale-up in Kenya through EU–Africa cooperation.
Integrated solution & theory of change
Connect the evidence.
Change the system.
If farmers, laboratories, veterinary services and public institutions share trusted evidence and co-design workable solutions, dairy systems can become safer, more resilient and better equipped to sustain progress.
Inputs
Grant-led expertise, research partnerships and accountable programme resources.
Activities
Surveillance, milk-safety research, digital records, farmer learning and climate-smart demonstrations.
Outcomes
Better prevention, verified quality practices, informed decisions and stronger local capacity.
Public-good impact
Safer dairy food systems, resilient livelihoods and evidence adopted by institutions.
Key assumptions: farmer participation, viable local operating models, institutional cooperation and sustained service access. These will be tested, not presumed.
The programme in pictures
See the dairy ecosystem
the programme serves.
Short visual explainers of the farming, milk-handling and animal-health ecosystem SAFE DAIRY AFRICA proposes to strengthen.
The dairy landscape
Smallholder herds, pastures and the farming communities at the heart of the programme.
Hygienic milking in practice
Clean milking, filtering and chilling — the everyday routines that protect milk safety.
One connected ecosystem
Veterinary care, laboratory testing, farmer learning and digital records working as one system.
Illustrative footage of the dairy ecosystem. It does not depict programme activities, which have not yet begun.
Seven proposed objectives
Purpose translated into action.
Improve dairy food security
Demonstrate safe, reliable and resource-efficient dairy production and milk-handling practices.
Strengthen animal health and disease control
Improve prevention, early detection, veterinary linkages and responsible antimicrobial stewardship.
Advance safe milk research and innovation
Validate context-appropriate testing, quality assurance and milk-safety solutions against baseline evidence.
Build trusted digital animal records
Establish 100,000+ proposed animal records with traceability, data-quality checks and privacy safeguards.
Enable inclusive, climate-smart adoption
Reach a proposed 25,000 farmers with practical learning and demonstrations designed for smallholders, women and young people.
Support cooperation and institutional uptake
Connect Kenya and EU–Africa research and implementation expertise, enabling local ownership and replication.
Six integrated pillars
Stronger together.
One Health & disease control
Integrated surveillance and prevention connecting animal, human and environmental health.
Safe milk & food security
Evidence-led milk safety, quality assurance and stronger dairy food systems.
Animal health & welfare
Better veterinary access, responsible antimicrobial use and resilient, healthier herds.
Digital innovation & traceability
Connected animal records and actionable data, with privacy and responsible data governance.
Climate-smart dairy systems
Resource-efficient husbandry, sustainable feed and practical environmental safeguards.
Capacity & institutional uptake
Farmer skills, local ownership and pathways from demonstration to policy and replication.
Eight proposed work packages
A practical architecture for delivery.
An indicative delivery framework. Detailed scopes, outputs and allocations remain subject to co-design and donor appraisal.
Programme management & coordination
Establish programme governance, financial controls, procurement, safeguards and coordinated delivery.
Intended output: Accountable management and auditable delivery.
Dairy systems & safe milk innovation
Research and demonstrate milk handling, collection and cold-chain solutions appropriate for smallholder systems.
Intended output: Validated safe-milk practices and demonstration models.
One Health surveillance & animal health
Strengthen disease surveillance, veterinary linkages, prevention and responsible antimicrobial stewardship.
Intended output: Operational surveillance protocols and animal-health evidence.
Farmer capacity & demonstration
Co-design extension, farmer learning and inclusive on-farm demonstrations, with a proposed reach of 25,000 farmers.
Intended output: Documented participation, adoption and learning outcomes.
Digital animal records & traceability
Develop interoperable animal records and traceability, targeting 100,000+ records with consent and data-quality controls.
Intended output: Quality-assured records and usable decision-support tools.
Laboratory capacity & milk quality
Strengthen testing methods, laboratory quality assurance and sample referral for milk-safety research.
Intended output: Validated testing protocols and comparable quality evidence.
Institutional uptake & replication
Develop policy dialogue, cooperative uptake, operating models and practical replication resources.
Intended output: Locally owned uptake plans and replication guidance.
Research, evaluation & knowledge
Establish baselines, monitor outcomes, independently evaluate demonstrations and share public-good findings.
Intended output: Transparent results, accessible evidence and learning products.
Scientific & operational model · Proposed
Five interventions. One evidence pathway.
Farmer learning informs practice. Testing checks milk quality. Linked records inform veterinary decisions. Evaluation tests whether those changes produce better outcomes.
WP3 · WP5
Veterinary surveillance & herd health
Co-design herd-health visits and disease-event definitions; record signs, risk factors and referral decisions using unique animal IDs. Route suspected zoonotic events through the competent veterinary and public-health authorities.
- Method
- Agree reporting thresholds, sample handling, diagnostic referral and feedback protocols. Coordinate preventive services and vaccination where applicable under authorised veterinary guidance; do not assume disease elimination.
- Verification
- Measure reporting coverage, record completeness, referral turnaround and response time. Laboratory confirmation and clinical interpretation remain distinct.
- Delivery responsibility
- Proposed veterinary technical lead and competent authorities; appointments and referral agreements pending.
WP2 · WP6
Milk safety & laboratory systems
Demonstrate hygienic milking, clean collection equipment, temperature monitoring and context-appropriate cold-chain practices. Link farmer learning to milk-quality evidence.
- Method
- Select bacterial-quality tests and antimicrobial-residue screening with qualified laboratories. Define sampling frames, chain of custody, quality controls, proficiency checks and confirmatory testing for screening findings.
- Verification
- Compare quality measures against an inception baseline and applicable standards; report denominators, sampling limitations and laboratory quality assurance.
- Delivery responsibility
- Proposed laboratory and milk-safety leads; facilities, accreditation scope, methods and capacity must be verified before delivery.
WP3 · WP4 · WP6
Antimicrobial stewardship & zoonotic risk
Include veterinary prescribing oversight, treatment records, withdrawal-period education and risk-based awareness of animal-to-human infection pathways.
- Method
- Use authorised clinical advice, not farmer self-diagnosis. Separate residue screening from antimicrobial-resistance surveillance; either needs an agreed protocol and valid interpretation.
- Verification
- Track treatment-record completeness, withdrawal-period knowledge and referral compliance. Do not equate these outputs with reduced resistance or disease prevalence.
- Delivery responsibility
- Proposed veterinary and research leads; ethics, biosafety and institutional approvals required.
WP5
Digital identification & traceability
Pilot unique animal identification linked to consented herd records, treatments, milk-sampling events and disease reports. The 100,000+ records are a planning target, not an existing dataset.
- Method
- Test identifiers, deduplication, offline collection, role-based access, correction workflows and minimum datasets. Assess interoperability with appropriate veterinary systems before promising integration.
- Verification
- Report unique animals separately from event records; audit duplicates, completeness, accuracy and access. Define retention and consent withdrawal procedures.
- Delivery responsibility
- Proposed digital lead with veterinary users and data-protection oversight; system choice and interoperability agreements pending.
WP2 · WP4 · WP8
Climate-resilient husbandry
Co-design locally suitable feed-resilience trials, water-use practices, manure management and heat-stress adaptation, with animal welfare integrated into demonstration design.
- Method
- Agree water, feed and manure indicators and practical measurement methods. Record seasonality, resource requirements and constraints; assess waste and environmental risks before field activity.
- Verification
- Measure selected water use, feed availability and manure-practice indicators. No quantified carbon reduction is claimed without a validated baseline and accounting method.
- Delivery responsibility
- Proposed agronomy, extension and evaluation leads; locations, indicators and trial protocols subject to co-design.
Proposed four-year delivery framework
Expansion follows validation.
Planning windows are not approved schedules. Inception will determine counties, staffing, sequencing and the annual expenditure profile; equal yearly spending is not assumed.
Year 1 · Months 1–12
Mobilise & validate
Confirm counties and delivery capacity; map cooperatives and service access; establish baselines; verify laboratories; agree ethics, safeguards, procurement and data protocols.
Gate: approved inception plan, cost model, results framework and partner responsibilities.
Year 2 · Months 13–24
Build & pilot
Pilot training, identification, surveillance and milk-sampling pathways; test field logistics and laboratory quality assurance; review inclusion and practical adoption barriers.
Gate: technical pilot review and revised delivery assumptions before expansion.
Year 3 · Months 25–36
Demonstrate & adapt
Expand only validated approaches; monitor quality, referral performance and practice adoption; conduct a proposed independent mid-programme review and adjust delivery.
Gate: evidence and safeguards review; expansion conditional on capacity and agreed budget.
Year 4 · Months 37–48
Evaluate & transfer
Complete outcome assessment, document costs and operating models, agree institutional handover, publish appropriately reviewed findings and replication resources.
Gate: independent evaluation, financial closure and ownership agreements.
From evidence to adoption
A clear pathway. A lasting impact.
48 months · Four proposed delivery phases
PHASE 01
Mobilise
Establish baselines, co-design delivery, complete due diligence and agree the results framework.
PHASE 02
Build
Develop research protocols, skills, laboratory capacity and interoperable digital systems.
PHASE 03
Demonstrate
Test integrated solutions in practice, measure outcomes and refine delivery using evidence.
PHASE 04
Scale
Validate replication models, transfer knowledge and embed uptake in local institutions.
Phase timings and decision gates will be agreed during inception and donor appraisal.
A shared opportunity
Partner in a healthier dairy future.
For institutional donors, foundations, DFIs and research and implementation partners.