Month-to-month Highlight – Africa Community for Animal Welfare (ANAW)

5 minute learn

This month, we spoke with Dr. Dennis Bahati, Head of Programmes at Africa Community for Animal Welfare (ANAW), one among ACE’s Motion Grantees and a Pan-African NGO that works with communities, governments, and companions throughout the continent to advance animal welfare by coverage advocacy, analysis, and coalition-building.

Dr. Bahati has over ten years of expertise spearheading animal welfare and environmental advocacy campaigns throughout Kenya and the broader African continent. On this interview, he discusses how ANAW is working with Nakuru County’s authorities to develop welfare laws for farmed chickens and the problem of bringing policymakers on board.

1. Might you introduce Africa Community for Animal Welfare and the core drawback your work is making an attempt to unravel?

Africa Community for Animal Welfare (ANAW) is an indigenous Pan-African non-governmental welfare group that works with communities, governments, companions and different animal welfare stakeholders to maintain animals as sentient beings by compassion, care, and appreciation. We obtain this by influencing coverage, empowering communities, advocacy and knowledgeable perspective change. ANAW has spearheaded key animal welfare campaigns whereas constructing Africa-wide networks with governments, coverage leaders, media and different establishments to press for efficient coverage and laws networks in direction of the care of animals. By constructing these coalitions and partnerships, ANAW has succeeded in bringing collectively organizations coping with animal welfare, conservation, local weather change, environmental consciousness and biodiversity, to deal with varied animal welfare and conservation points at neighborhood, nationwide and worldwide ranges.

For the previous 4 years, ANAW has undertaken Cage-Free Campaigns and Analysis in Africa targeted on establishing the extent of adoption of caged farming in East, West, Central, Northern and Southern Africa. This has concerned figuring out gaps inside the authorized and coverage frameworks governing the hen farming programs in addition to shoppers’ perceptions of caged hen farming and its affect on their buying traits. By way of these undertakings, we established the necessity to develop hen welfare requirements in Kenya and throughout the continent to reinforce the wellbeing of chickens at each stage.

To deal with this, ANAW, with assist from Animal Charity Evaluators in 2025, spearheaded a mission in Nakuru County to reinforce hen welfare requirements by coverage advocacy and stakeholder outreach. The mission goals to advocate for the adoption and implementation of a brand new code of apply on hen welfare that’s centered on enhancing welfare elements in all levels affecting farmed chickens. By way of an evaluation of the coverage and authorized framework governing using battery cages in Kenya in 2020, it was highlighted that a number of gaps exist in our authorized system with no laws advocating for welfare concerns for farmed chickens. This mission subsequently targeted on driving the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of the code of apply on hen welfare at each stage, focusing on key stakeholders equivalent to county policymakers, regulation enforcement officers, farms elevating chickens killed for meat and egg-laying hens, transporters, entrepreneurs and slaughterhouse personnel. This has been achieved by focused lobbying mixed with stakeholder consciousness and schooling on the important thing elements of the code of apply.

2. What are among the huge wins you’ve had to date?

ANAW, with assist from ACE and in partnership with the County Authorities of Nakuru, Kenya, engaged key stakeholders to strengthen hen welfare requirements at each stage. A number of the key milestones achieved embrace:

• Engagement of 27 policymakers and technical consultants from the Division of Livestock, Fisheries and Veterinary Companies to assist the event of hen welfare laws to be anchored underneath the Nakuru Animal Welfare Act. By way of steady consultations and dialogue, draft hen welfare laws have been developed and submitted to the Division’s authorized group for evaluate. Upon approval, the draft laws will probably be forwarded to the County Meeting for adoption and integration into the prevailing County Animal Welfare Act.
• Following these efforts, the Directorate of Veterinary Companies in Kenya, by the Division of Illness Surveillance, has designated ANAW to assist the event of hen welfare laws to be integrated into the almost enacted nationwide Animal Welfare and Safety Invoice.
• Engagement of over 650 stakeholders throughout all of the levels, inside the 11 sub-counties of Nakuru County, together with farmers elevating egg-laying hens and chickens killed for meat, transporters, entrepreneurs, regulation enforcement officers, and slaughterhouse personnel.

3. What are essentially the most important challenges you presently face in advancing your mission?

Initially, policymakers have been hesitant concerning the mission and its general significance in addressing the welfare issues affecting chickens in Nakuru County. By way of a number of engagements and session conferences, the policymakers have appreciated the necessity to undertake the hen welfare laws in Nakuru’s agricultural agenda. They’re additionally enthusiastic about having Nakuru County because the beacon and pioneer in adopting the laws which can be but to be integrated within the different counties and on the nationwide stage.

4. How has the ACE Motion Grant helped strengthen ANAW’s work?

The ACE grant has been instrumental in pioneering this first-of-its-kind initiative throughout Kenya geared in direction of enhancing welfare requirements for farmed chickens at each stage. The grant has supported the engagement of policymakers to undertake hen welfare laws in Nakuru County which can be essential in safeguarding their wellbeing. The grant has additionally enabled ANAW to succeed in the individuals who work together with chickens each day, from farmers and transporters to entrepreneurs, regulation enforcement officers, and slaughterhouse personnel, equipping them with the data to enhance welfare practices at each stage. With out this grant, this initiative wouldn’t have been attainable.

5. In case you needed to share a remaining message with the ACE viewers, what wouldn’t it be?

Africa Community for Animal Welfare and the County of Nakuru are extraordinarily grateful for supporting the implementation of this a lot wanted initiative. ANAW is hopeful that this pilot mission will function a beacon for enhancing hen welfare requirements in different counties in Kenya and hopefully throughout the African continent. We’re enthusiastic about this partnership and hope to proceed collaborating in enhancing the welfare of animals.

Disclaimer/Observe:

The responses on this highlight have been offered by Africa Community for Animal Welfare (ANAW) and mirror the organisation’s personal account of their work.

ACE is devoted to making a world the place all animals can thrive, no matter their species. We take the guesswork out of supporting animal advocacy by directing funds towards essentially the most impactful charities and applications, primarily based on proof and analysis.