A Discussion with Benson Ameda, President of President of Africa Veterinary Technicians Association
“The VetNOW app has already made a significant impact. We fully support VetNOW because it empowers our members to work more efficiently and increase their income.”
We recently caught up with Benson Ameda at a strategic planning session for 2025-26. The African Veterinary Technicians Association supports VetNOW in its efforts to support farmers and VPPs in Kenya.
Please introduce yourself and tell us about the Africa Veterinary Technicians Association.
My name is Benson Ameda, I am the President of Africa Veterinary Technicians Association (AVTA), and our secretariat is here in Nairobi. We bring together all national VPP associations in Africa. Everywhere that there is a VPP association, they are actually members of AVTA.
What is your background?
I am a practicing veterinary technician in Kenya registered by Kenya Veterinary Board. My work has been to serve farmers, looking at the health of animals, providing extension services, and working in veterinary public health. Apart from offering animal health services, I have been a meat inspector and have done a lot of meat surveillance, ensuring that all meat that is being sold to the public is actually safe and is slaughtered from a recognized and registered slaughterhouse.
At the same time, I've also been involved in bringing VPPs together. Currently I'm the President of AVTA, an association that is an umbrella for all national associations in Africa. So all associations in the continent are members of AVTA. Before then, I was the chairman of the Kenya Association of Livestock Technicians before I moved to be the president of AVTA. I have also served as a Director with the Kenya Veterinary Board, where I'm involved in regulating the practice of both VPPs and veterinary surgeons.
I am also passionate about my volunteer work. Right from school, I became a volunteer for St. John Ambulance, and have been volunteering there for almost 40 years.
What is AVTA?
AVTA was founded in 2013. That year, there was a conference in Tanzania Dar-es-Salaam focused on rabies outbreaks and how to control the outbreaks. The participants there felt that we needed to have a continental forum that will bring together all veterinary technicians and technologies, so during that meeting, I was asked to see how that can be realized. That is when I started working on how it could be formed.
Our first meeting took place in 2015 in Pretoria, where the chairpersons from all countries gathered. The meeting was supported by the World Organization for Animal Health and GALVMed (Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines). During that initial gathering, the World Organization for Animal Health provided significant support, which has continued since then.
I’ve been deeply involved since the beginning—I am one of the founders of AVTA and served as its first president, currently heading the secretariat based in Nairobi. Our main goal is not only to unite veterinary associations but also to elevate professionalism within the veterinary paraprofessional field. We aim to ensure that our work benefits farmers as well.
What is the mission of AVTA?
If we don't promote livestock production or the animal resources industry in Africa, it impacts our livelihoods. Ultimately, we work to ensure that farmers thrive and animals are well-cared-for; when they are, we as practitioners also benefit. Coming together to promote professionalism in this sector is a shared commitment that brings rewards for everyone involved.
The mission of AVTA, which I've also mentioned a bit, is to ensure that we enhance the development of the animal resource industry in Africa. We want to ensure that the farmers or the livestock keepers benefit from their work. And that is coupled with promoting recognition for all veterinary practitioners. Previously, most regulations in Africa were directed solely at veterinary surgeons, even though 80% of the service providers on the continent are actually veterinary technicians and technologists. Our goal is to bring together these practitioners in a form that ensures that they will be recognized legally by all countries. It’s challenging to operate within an industry if you aren’t legally recognized in your own country.
What contributions do VPPs make to farmers in Kenya?
VPPs contribute a lot to Kenyan farmers. When Kenya achieved independence in 1963, we had very few veterinary surgeons. And the veterinary surgeons that we had then were actually primarily from European countries, so the training of veterinary surgeons had to take a long time.
The contribution of VPPs to farmers is quite enormous. These are people who have been formally trained and drawn from all their local communities, so they stay within their communities. They work with the livestock farmers and keepers. They understand their needs because they are with them on a day-to-day basis. They can easily be accessed by farmers whenever a farmer has a need, even at night, they’ll easily reach a veterinary paraprofessional in that locality.
Because VPPs remain in their local community, they are affordable for farmers. Remember, 80% of the contribution of the livelihood of farmers is supported by VPPs–you can see that contribution is actually enormous. During Kenya’s efforts to eradicate rinderpest, it was VPPs who played a pivotal role. Without their involvement, we might still be battling rinderpest worldwide. VPPs are essential in identifying diseases, reporting them to authorities, and initiating governmental response efforts. Governments cannot eradicate diseases without reports, and these reports come from VPPs, who serve as the frontline in animal healthcare across Kenya and other African countries.
VPPs are also key to disseminating new research and technology. Research is conducted regularly, but to reach and benefit farmers, this information must pass through VPPs. Researchers may directly share new technologies with farmers, but once the researchers leave, farmers often turn to their VPPs for further guidance. If the VPP is unaware of the technology, interest typically fades. VPPs, therefore, play a critical role in bridging the gap between research advancements and practical application among farmers. Without VPPs, any progress in the livestock industry would be a miracle.
How does VetNOW support VPPs in their work?
VetNOW is quite a blessing for VPPs (Veterinary Paraprofessionals). In many countries, including Kenya, regulations require VPPs to work under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon–that is the rule. When licensed, a VPP must designate a supervising vet, who might be located hundreds of kilometers away. In practice, this supervision is often unrealistic. VetNOW addresses this gap by enabling VPPs to interact with both farmers and their distant supervisors, regardless of physical distance. A VPP can assist farmers while consulting with their supervisor remotely, even if the supervisor is 300 kilometers away.
Additionally, since there are so few veterinary surgeons compared to the number of farms, VPPs have extensive daily responsibilities, including clinical services and artificial insemination. With VetNOW, a VPP can triage cases before leaving their office or home, determining which require an immediate farm visit, which can be handled remotely, and which might be postponed. Normally, farmers may exaggerate the urgency of cases to get immediate attention, but with the VetNOW app, VPPs can assess the situation directly by observing the animal via the app, asking relevant questions, and diagnosing remotely. This allows the VPP to prioritize effectively—for example, realizing a case isn’t hypocalcemia but rather a fracture—saving time and ensuring that each animal receives timely care.
In short, VetNOW allows VPPs to help more animals efficiently, reducing costs for farmers and increasing VPP income by minimizing unnecessary travel. The app also allows for easy collaboration between VPPs and vets, facilitating consultations that improve animal care and support the work of veterinary paraprofessionals.
Anything else you’d like to add?
The VetNOW app has already made a significant impact. It’s helped regulators realize existing gaps in the system, and now efforts are underway to address these issues. For VetNOW to work effectively, veterinary medicines need barcodes, must be easily recognizable, and require registration with the authorities. Regulators will need to identify which products are unregistered, which are fake, and which are genuine. In my view, VetNOW is a game changer—not only in Kenya, where it’s launching, but across the continent. This app will enable regulators to oversee the industry more effectively without changing the practices themselves; it simply streamlines the process.
At AVTA, we fully support VetNOW because it empowers our members to work more efficiently and increase their income. We have already laid plans to expand the app’s reach from Kenya to Tanzania and Nigeria next, followed by South Africa, Ethiopia, Uganda, and beyond. Our goal is for VetNOW to be implemented across all African countries because veterinary services in Kenya, for example, have implications for neighboring nations. Diseases can cross borders, so having VetNOW active continent-wide will improve safety and health outcomes across Africa.
