Welcome to CABI's page on the 8th World One Health Congress in Cape Town, 20â23 September 2024. Explore how we are working with partners to advance sustainable development solutions to global health challenges through our participation in this vital event. Discover our key contributions, innovations, and collaborations that support the One Health approach.
One Health Hub
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is supporting CABI to manage a knowledge, learning and evidence platform focused on One Health (OH) to facilitate learning and evidence synthesis across their animal and plant health investments.
The One Health Hub will engage with stakeholders to identify research gaps and promote evidence-informed research and policy decision making in One Health. The Juno Evidence Alliance will lead the One Health Hubâs work on synthesizing evidence and will be working with the secretariat and communication teams to share and debate evidence widely. The One Health Hub will work closely with the FAO One Health Knowledge Nexus and seek to engage with the One Health Quadripartite and One Health High Level Expert Panel.
Juno Evidence Alliance
The Juno Evidence Alliance is a pioneering global platform at the forefront of transforming agriculture, food systems, and climate adaptation through evidence-based policy. Its mission is to fill the critical gap in the coordination and standardization of evidence-informed decision-making processes.
In 2023, the FCDO commissioned an evidence synthesis under the Juno Evidence Alliance to examine the question: âWhat are the critical factors which support or inhibit the effective implementation of the One Health approach at country level?â The synthesis was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. It focused on Africa and combined existing literature with stakeholder interviews from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
Juno Evidence Alliance is a key partner in the One Health Hub and in 2024 will deliver the following:
- An evidence synthesis on the driving factors of emerging zoonotic diseases.
- A bibliometric analysis mapping OH research will also be undertaken under the OH Hub in 2024. Further evidence work will take place in 2025/26.
- A horizon scanning exercise to assess OH research priorities to inform a roadmap.
Help us identify the key One Health research needs of the future
The global health landscape is ever-changing, with new challenges and threats constantly emerging. This means that identifying the future One Health research needs based on likely challenges is crucial. The Juno Evidence Alliance in collaboration with OXSREV will be conducting an online survey between October and December 2024 to help the One Health Hub identify the priority research needs for One Health over the next 5-10 years. Weâd be delighted if you could take part and contribute your expertise. The survey should take no longer than 20 minutes.
You can register your interest in participating by following the link to our sign-up form below,
One Health Resources
CABI publishes a wide range of One Health resources including:
- CABI One Health Journal: An open access journal that focuses on the interconnections between humans, animals, plants, ecosystems, and their shared environment in a transdisciplinary way.
- One Health Cases: A growing platform for researchers, practitioners and organizations, containing real-life examples of One Health in practice.
- One Health Knowledge Bank: Brings together information and knowledge from different sources to further One Health research, including resources ranging from journal articles to cases and book chapters, alongside news, blogs and events.
CABI has increasingly harnessed One Health approaches in its work. Many of CABIâs projects promote transdisciplinary approaches to understand health threats that impact people, animals, plants, and the environment. Â
Click below to find out more
Biocontrol
Biocontrol involves using living organisms, such as insects, plants or pathogens, to control pest populations. Rather than eradicate the invasive species, the goal of biocontrol is to contain it in a sustainable way.
Effective use of biocontrol involves uniting professionals and organizations from various sectors to develop solutions to the threat posed by invasive species, making it a classic One Health area. Â Furthermore, biocontrol can generate desirable outcomes within all the One Health dimensions (human, animal, plant, ecosystem). It not only provides direct benefits through the management of the pest organisms, but also mitigates global health issues such as chemical pollution, biocide resistance, biodiversity loss, and habitat destruction. For example, using biological control (instead of chemical control methods) can reduce pesticide risks to human, livestock and ecosystem health. Whatâs more, the biological control of invasive alien plant species may not only halt land degradation but also decrease habitat suitability for disease-transmitting vectors, such as mosquitoes or tsetse flies, by removing sources of nectar.
CABI is a global leader in biological control, having developed and implemented many biological control solutions to improving human, animal, plant and ecosystem health. It has also worked with colleagues and partners in the human health sector to understand and quantify the potential of biological control for One Health.
Biocontrol â what is it?
Biological control â or biocontrol â has been used effectively against invasive species for over 100 years.
It is the use of living organisms, such as insects or pathogens, to control pest populations. It levels the playing-field by reintroducing some of the specialist natural enemies that help control the invasive species it in its native range. The aim of biocontrol is not to eradicate the invasive species, but control it in a way that it becomes manageable. In other words, the method uses natureâs own in-built mechanisms to ensure equilibrium.
Pesticide risk reduction
The risks associated with pesticide use is an important health issue, but also one which is not always addressed using a One Health approach. Food production relies heavily on the use of chemical pesticides to ensure crop yields are sufficient to support food security. However, exposure to pesticides can cause chronic illnesses in people and livestock. An estimated 385 million individuals each year experience unintentional, acute pesticide poisoning with 11,000 fatalities. Pesticides can also impact the environment by decreasing biodiversity in the soil and water, and poisoning pollinators, birds and mammals.
CABI implemented a study to assess pesticide risk to human, animal and ecosystem health in South-East Asia and understand the potential for nature-based solutions for crop pest management. PlantwisePlus, CABIâs flagship programme, has an impact pathway concentrating on pesticide risk reduction in PlantwisePlus countries. CABIâs stakeholder engagement with country partners in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda seeks to include representatives from health and environment sectors, with a view to promoting holistic, cross-sectoral approaches to pesticide risk reduction.
CABI plans to apply a One Health lens to pesticide risk reduction in Uganda. An initial step will be a cross-sector study to understand stakeholder perceptions and actions on pesticide risks and risk reduction within and across sectors. The study will inform PlantwisePlus actions to reduce risk by using cross-sectoral approaches in behavioural communication and service delivery, engaging with regulatory authorities and supporting the provision of safer inputs.
PlantwisePlus
PlantwisePlus aims to reach 75 million smallholder farmers in low and lower-middle income countries, providing them with access to the knowledge and skills they need to improve their production practices.
This will be achieved by supporting countries to predict, prevent, and prepare for plant health threats in the face of a changing climate. This ensures that smallholder farmers reduce their crop losses and produce more and safer food through sustainable crop production practices.
Delivered through gender-sensitive and climate-resilient approaches, PlantwisePlus is tackling the challenges facing smallholder production through three impact pathways: Pest Preparedness, Pesticide Risk Reduction, and Farmer Advisory.
Anti-microbial resistance
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) has been identified as a priority area by the One Health Quadripartite. Dubbed the âsilent pandemicâ, an estimated 1.3 million people die worldwide each year directly due to bacterial AMR, with countries in Sub-Saharan Africa exhibiting the highest mortality rates. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat. This affects humans, livestock, plants, and the environment. AMR has been accelerated by human activity, mainly the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials to treat, prevent or control infections in humans, animals, and plants. Ultimately, AMR cannot be addressed by just working in the human health sector â because many of the same antimicrobials are used to manage livestock disease and certain plant diseases. Instead, close collaboration is needed between health care workers, veterinarians and other animal health providers, plant health professionals, and others.
Using data collected from plant health clinics, CABI scientists were able to document the extent to which medically important antibiotics were used as crop protection chemicals. This led to the inclusion of CABI as part of the international bodies tackling AMR, such as the Quadripartite. CABI is working closely with these groups to develop documentation and policy. For instance, CABI staff contributed their expertise to the UNEP publication âBracing for Superbugs. This report provided overview of scientific findings on the of the environmental dimensions AMR and made the case for a One Health approach to tackle the problem.
A CABI staff member is part of the Quadripartite technical group on AMR/U Integrated Surveillance, which has published a scoping review on AMR in human pathogens in crops and is contributing to communication on the issue, including a forthcoming blog to be published on One Health Knowledge Resources. This year, CABI joined the AMR in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary Network (AMAST). This initiative was launched to battle AMR in the agrifood system.
Bioscience services
CABI is a leading provider of microbial and molecular services.
We are committed to delivering applied biology solutions and our team of experienced scientists have the knowledge and expertise to help solve problems in agriculture, research, environment and industry. Our services include:
â  Culture collection: Microorganism supply and deposit
â Â The diagnostic and advisory service
â Â Â Fungal and bacterial identification
â Â Â Training courses
Integrated service delivery, including plants
Until recently the health of plants was marginalized as a One Health issue. This is a dangerous form of neglect because human health and animal health is closely connected to plant health through food security. For instance, healthy plants are a source of essential nutrients that underpin human and animal health, while unhealthy plants can cause declines in both human and animal health.
In 2003, to help fill the significant gaps in plant health service delivery, the Global Plant Clinic of CABI was established to trial community-based plant clinics in Bolivia, with the goal of improving plant health services for farmers in the country. CABIâs work on plant clinics evolved, leading to the conceptualization of the innovative Plant Health Systems (PHS) approach, which is based on experiences from Nicaragua. The PHS concept, which built on Human Health System frameworks, was later adopted by CABIâs Plantwise programme.
Although the plant clinics focused on plant health, there were early signs of a move to a more integrated approach to service delivery. The informal inclusion of animal advice in plant clinics was first observed in Bangladesh, Nicaragua and Uganda during 2005-2006, and later in several other Plantwise countries, revealing ample farmer demand for broader advisory services.
Taking these insights a step further, CABI became involved in piloting and scaling joint crop-livestock clinics in Uganda and Kenya. In Uganda, extension staff are welcoming the intervention, seeing it as a stepping stone for joint action to address priority One Health issues, such has AMR, mycotoxins, pesticides, vet drugs and nutrition. The integrated service delivery is enabling cross-sectoral debate and complementary action on One Health issues in the country.
Mycotoxin management
Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi. In Pakistan, aflatoxin â an especially poisonous type of mycotoxin â in maize poses a severe challenge to economic development and food security. Maize is the fourth most important crop in Pakistan, being used as human food, chicken feed, and livestock fodder. Pakistanâs hot and humid climate makes the country an ideal environment for Aspergillus flavus, the fungus which produces aflatoxins. High levels of aflatoxins in food can cause serious health diseases, including liver cancer, stunted growth and sometimes fatalities. The consumption of contaminated maize by livestock can cause damaging effects on body structure and limit their milk production.
CABI and partners helped address the issue in Pakistan by developing and register a biological control product, named AflaPak, that reduces aflatoxins. This work has paved the way for registration of other biopesticides.
CABI has been working with APAARI, IITA, ILRI and University of Minnesota to develop a project on âAflatoxin Contamination in Asia using the One Health Approach". The project will highlight the significance of aflatoxins and their detrimental effects on plant, animal, and human health in 8 countries in Asia.
Integrated crop-livestock approaches
Crop health and livestock health are crucial to agricultural productivity and farmer livelihoods. However, in low-income countries, smallholders are often left without sufficient support to deal with crop and animal problems due to existing agricultural extension services being understaffed and underfunded. CABIâs work in plant health and plant clinics over the last 20 years has revealed potential âOne Healthâ benefits of broadening the scope of plant clinics to better meet farmersâ need for advice.
CABI is currently running a project to develop integrated crop-livestock health advisory services (clinics) that enables male and female smallholder farmers in Uganda and Kenya to address major health and production problems affecting crops, livestock and food safety.
The CABI Global Burden of Crop Loss (GBCL) project has partnered with the Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs) under the Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) One Food programme to illustrate the impact of selected biotic and abiotic hazards on the maize and poultry/beef value-chain sectors in South Africa. This cross-sectoral work recognizes the impact of crop health on the health and nutrition of livestock and will be embedded within a multi-sector assessment risk tool.
Global Burden of Crop Loss
In 2019, CABI started working with partners on the Global Burden of Crop Loss (GBCL) project. This initiative was modelled on the Global Burden of Disease â a human health project. This venture transformed health policy, investment, and research through the better use of data.
The initiative will produce rigorous evidence about the impact to society of crop losses across our food systems. This will enable decision makers and investors to understand the impact of crop loss on food security and on the economy, and take appropriate action.
Integrated landscape management
Integrated landscape management is a participatory, integrative approach to tackle social-ecological challenges affecting multiple stakeholders, from the policymakers to the land users. It involves long-term collaboration among the different stakeholders across sectors to meet their multiple needs and achieve their expectations for livelihoods, health and well-being, while conserving or restoring health of the environment.
CABI scientists incorporated One Health approaches into their research on the impacts of the invasive tree Prosopis juliflora in Ethiopia and Kenya. CABI staff were involved in the drafting of Kenyaâs National Prosopis Strategy, designed help protect the countryâs environment, ecosystem services and livelihoods from Prosopis trees.
At present CABI is developing materials on invasives management for rangeland workers and other service providers in the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation-funded HEAL (OH for Humans, Environment, Animals and Livelihoods) project to support management and prevention of spread under a small grant from ILRI.