News Date : 22 November, 2022
Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) workshop
Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) workshop
Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources is hosting a collaborative workshop with COHESA to build the capacity of higher educational institutions to educate, train and empower the attendants to tackle One Health issues. The workshop consists of delegates from the World Bank, International Livestock Research Institute, Inter University Council For East Africa, University of Pretoria, Southern African Region University Association, Cirad and SADC. It is a 3-day workshop where delegates will map One Health Competencies and curriculum development in Southern Africa.
COHESA is about insuring better health in aspects of human existence i.e environment, animal health, food safety and the overall ecosystem. Prof. Meulenburg in her welcome remarks, said that the main objective of COHESA is to encourage collaboratives amongst different sectors of health in Southern Africa and East Africa. BUAN in the eyes of COHESA is a multiplier as it has an education and research mandate that can build capacity of different service providers.
Prof Meulenburg gave an example of one health as an instance of food safety challenges due to overuse of pesticides to pest and disease outbreaks in plants all caused by climate change.
The event was officially opened by Prof Ketlhalogile Mosepele who in his opening speech stated that one of BUAN’s thematic areas of the research intensification pillar is to have increased collaboration with external partners. He believes that COHESA project is helping BUAN to achieve that area. Thus, this project has been adopted by the right institution as the world is currently facing unprecedented, interconnected threats to health of people, animals and the environment: addressing these threats requires cross sectoral systems wide approaches. Essentially, One Health unpacks the Agricultural and Natural Resources sphere across its value chain and therefore presents a compelling argument for multidisciplinary in research.
He also said that it is inevitable that a university like BUAN should be in the forefront of this initiative because all aspects of human existence. And it is ready and willing.