Associate Professor Joanne Meers recognised for Animal Health work in Developing Communities
Recently at the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) conference in Adelaide, one of KYEEMA’s long associates, Associate Professor Joanne Meers was awarded the prestigious Kesteven Medal for her contributions to international veterinary science.
Associate Professor Meers has provided technical support for KYEEMA’s work on promoting the benefits of thermotolerant Newcastle disease vaccine for chickens of smallholder farmers. She also manages the I-2 Vaccine Master Seed storage and dispatch through the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science.
“Dr Meers provides a wonderful example of a highly motivated, highly skilled veterinarian who brings a remarkable capacity to use high level skills in the training and upskilling of colleagues in the developing world. She combines excellence as a veterinary virologist with a personal warmth and kindness that her colleagues across diverse cultures recognise and appreciate. When these technical and personal skills are then supplemented by the professional leadership skills of Dr Meers, the final combination is a unique person.” From AVA Award Citation.
It is people like Joanne that enable KYEEMA to achieve positive animal and human health outcomes in our project communities. We are proud and immensely thankful for Jo’s continued support of and association with KYEEMA.
We’ve joined the Campaign for Australian Aid
With the release of the UN sustainable development goals this year, it is timely to reflect on the story of the KYEEMA Foundation and how our work, made possible with the help of Australian Aid funding, will contribute to the revised international vision for development leading to 2030.
Our new website now live!
KYEEMA Foundation, and its subsidiary the International Rural Poultry Centre (IRPC), have been operating for 11 years now. Our original website was developed in 2005 and in the past 10 years, technology has changed dramatically. So it is definitely time to launch a new look! The new website is located at: www.kyeemafoundation.org. Thanks go to the website designers Julie Fairless and Paolo Curray for their patience in finalising this website and for their beautiful layout.
Veterinary Cold Chain Manual being printed in English and French
While the human health community pays considerable attention to cold chain issues, the animal health cold chain receives much less attention. Fortunately, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has provided funding for KYEEMA, in collaboration with the University of Sydney, to develop and print a Cold Chain manual for veterinary vaccines in both English and French, which is now being prepared for printing.
Vaccines are a key component of animal disease prevention and control worldwide. They have a major role in protecting animal and public health, reducing animal suffering, enabling efficient production of food animals, and greatly reducing the need for antibiotics to treat food and companion animals. However, these important activities can be seriously compromised by poor vaccine storage and handling.
This manual covers aspects of storage and transport of veterinary vaccines: the equipment used, monitoring the cold chain, how to recognise and deal with breaches of the cold chain, and packing vaccines. It will support effective distribution of the I-2 Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine and will enhance local capacity to store and handle vaccines effectively, leading to better nutritional, livelihood and environmental outcomes for those living in poverty.
All countries interested in improving the storage and transport of animal vaccines, including those currently producing or wishing to produce I-2 vaccine for the control of ND in village chicken populations, will benefit from the use of this manual. The final printed and online versions will be ready for distribution in early 2016.
Community vaccinator taking vaccine from cooler box prior to vaccinating chickens
KYEEMA now has Deductible Gift Recipient Status
We are proud to announce that in February 2015, the KYEEMA Foundation was endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as an approved Deductible Gift Recipient organisation.
This means that donations given by any Australian taxpayer to the KYEEMA Foundation “Developing Country Fund” can now be claimed as a tax deduction. Donations can be made through our new website.
Malawi’s hottest export supporting the work of the National Rural Poultry Centre
Shortly after starting to import Malawian Nali hot sauce to Australia in September 2013, Adeng Imports owner Russell Hunter committed $1 from each bottle of sauce to aiding the work of the National Rural Poultry Centre (NRPC) in Malawi, an associate of KYEEMA Foundation. It has been a challenging import venture at times but this product has made important monetary contributions to the work of NRPC over the last 1.5 years and is now available online and at five retail locations in Melbourne and Adelaide.
With a piri piri heat score of 175.000 scoville units and seven flavours to choose from, chilli connoisseurs know this Malawian product is up there with the best on the global hot sauce stage. Do understand, when the locals say “Abale Samalani” or “Friend, take care”, they have your best interests at heart! Nali is the brainchild of Mr Alford Nalilo Khoromana, a Malawian man who returned from holiday in India in the 1970s and decided he could re-create the chilli sauce he had tasted there but make it even better – Malawi style. Through his subsequently well-established family business, Nali sauce production is able to employ around 300 people locally and around 3000-4000 smallholder chilli farmers who prefer to sell most of their chilli to the company rather than the local market vendors who buy at a lower price.
This infamous sauce took Russell Hunter’s fancy when he was volunteering with the Small-Scale Livestock and Livelihoods Program (SSLLP) and NRPC in 2009 whilst dining in the local chicken and fish cafes in Malawi where the sauce is commonly available. As an animal health consultant in project management and technical supervision at his own Paraveterinary Projects, he could see the potential value that an Australian Nali sauce import venture could add to the agricultural program at NRPC.
His business acumen and past experience with AQIS helped him to start the process and deliver a successful venture that continues to grow. Sourcing and maintaining a reliable and efficient freight system and the lag times in communication to Malawi are constant challenges but online customers and retailers in Australia can expect a reliably accessible, sustainably packaged, ethically produced and tasty product.
Go to www.nalisauce.com to order yours today.