by Philipp Hayoz | 21. March 2022 | Animal health, Kenya, One Health
In November of last year, the institute for Veterinary Public Healthat the University of Berne, the network for EcoHealth and One Health (NEOH), the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office and the Early Career Representatives of the EcoHealth International organized...
by Philipp Hayoz | 26. February 2022 | Covid-19, Drought, East Africa locust plague, Ethiopia, Food security, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Somalia
Following drought disasters in 2011 and 2016-2019, the countries of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa are once again in a precarious situation. The dire effects of the current drought on the region’s people and animals are compounded by...
by Philipp Hayoz | 15. February 2022 | Animal health, South Sudan
Many of our activities are aimed specifically at women – among other things, they aim to strengthen the role of women in society. In South Sudan, for example, we are working with local communities to show them the positive aspects of giving women a more active role in...
by Philipp Hayoz | 17. November 2021 | Drought, Ethiopia, Food security, Horn of Africa
The Dawa zone in Ethiopia has been struggling with severe drought for more than a year. The local administration and government, together with their humanitarian partners, including VSF-Suisse, analyzed the situation at the end of October. The report, which you can...
by Philipp Hayoz | 28. October 2021 | Animal health, Togo
Together with our partners in Togo, we support cooperatives of smallholder farmers in their fight against animal diseases. Since September of this year, more than 30 of these cooperatives have benefited from the establishment of an animal health fund that allows them...
by Philipp Hayoz | 26. May 2021 | About VSF-Suisse
We are happy to invite our members to the VSF-Suisse General Assembly 2021. At the General Assembly we will inform you about our different activities. It will take place online again this year. Where: online Date: Saturday, 12 June 2021, 10-12 a.m. Link: We will send...
by Philipp Hayoz | 13. May 2021 | Coronavirus crisis, Covid-19, Drought, East Africa locust plague, Ethiopia, Food security, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan
The Horn of Africa is facing a crisis. The current nutritional situation is precarious and predictions for the remainder of 2021 are alarming – with warnings of famine for certain regions. The combined effects of a weak last rainy season and a delayed current...
by Philipp Hayoz | 25. March 2021 | Djibouti, East Africa locust plague, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan
Image © FAO Desert locusts remain present across the greater Horn of Africa (HoA). Although current swarms are smaller and less numerous, the impact on affected communities remains high and may lead to increased vulnerability of pastoralist and agro-pastoralist...
by Philipp Hayoz | 12. February 2021 | Mali, Togo
Many of our projects specifically aim to empower women. Why is that? 75% of all people in need worldwide are women and children. Although more than 50% of all food worldwide is produced by women, women account for 70% of all people suffering from hunger. When women...
by Philipp Hayoz | 22. January 2021 | Togo
The expansion of environmental protection and the improvement of the living conditions of thousands of people can go hand in hand, as the example of our recently completed project APFA II shows. Within the framework of this project, VSF-Suisse has been working with...
by Philipp Hayoz | 18. December 2020 | South Sudan
In the five years since the adoption of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), many stakeholders have taken innovative steps towards implementing this ambitious global framework. Following a call for submissions of good...
by Philipp Hayoz | 16. October 2020 | Coronavirus crisis, Covid-19, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Togo
The Covid-19 pandemic has kept the entire human race on edge for months. People already affected by hunger and poverty are often particularly hard hit. VSF-Suisse therefore supports the populations in the project countries with various activities in their fight...
by VSF-Suisse | 8. October 2020 | Djibouti, East Africa locust plague, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan
Since December 2019, the countries of the Horn of Africa have been fighting the worst plague of locusts in the last 25 years. And Kenya, for example, has not seen a plague of this magnitude in the last 70 years! Benefiting from the long rainy season, the desert...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 1. July 2020 | Djibouti, East Africa locust plague, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Press release, Somalia
Our program manager for East Africa, Frédérique Darmstaedter, informed on June 9th at the radio program CQFD on RTS about various questions regarding the current desert locust plague of the century in the Horn of Africa. We are very gald that we were able to draw more...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 25. June 2020 | Somalia
The Lifesaving and Livelihood restoration project and the related Somalia Monitoring and Learning Project aim at improving the livelihoods of vulnerable communities. The beneficiaries of the projects are farmers, low-income and vulnerable households, but also...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 4. June 2020 | Annual report
We are proud to present this activity report to our supporters. Here are some examples of our work during the last year: promoting fodder production in Somalia (p. 17) Livestock and agriculture, the livelihoods of Somalia, were severely damaged by a prolonged drought...
by VSF-Suisse | 4. June 2020 | Capacity building, Coronavirus crisis, Togo
As part of a project visit to Toog in January of this year we met the Sheanut Butter Women’s Cooperative in the picture. They take part in our project in the centre of the country. With the shea nuts, a new, sustainable source of income for them, they can earn...
by VSF-Suisse | 27. May 2020 | Coronavirus crisis, Mali
What exactly does VSF-Suisse do in the fight against Coronavirus? In Mali, for example, we are conducting awareness campaigns. Together with our partner organisation, we have set up posters and hand washing stations at milk sales points. Under the motto “Simple...
by VSF-Suisse | 22. April 2020 | Vaccinate for Africa
Unfortunately, due to the current situation we have to postpone this year’s “Vaccination for Africa”. The campaign will now take place in the first week of December, from 30.11.-5.12. In the coming weeks we will inform about the details of the new...
by VSF-Suisse | 20. April 2020 | Vaccinate for Africa
Last year, a total of 90 practices from all over Switzerlanddonated over 47,000 francsto “Vaccinate for Africa”. That’s a new record! A huge thanks to all participants, helpers and our longtime exclusive sponsor Virbac Switzerland Ltd. for their long...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 16. April 2020 | One Health
image © VSF International A while ago, VSF International organized a conference for students in agronomy sciences and in veterinary and human medicine. The aim of the conference was to raise awareness on the importance of One Health to tackle issues such as climate...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 2. April 2020 | Djibouti, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan
Image: Wikimedia Commons, Ivo Elbern While the whole world is currently focusing on COVID-19, the unprecedented plague of locusts in the 8 countries of the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Southern Sudan, Uganda and Somalia) is being pushed...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 26. March 2020 | Coronavirus crisis
Picture: An example of training as part of an awareness campaign in the fight against the deadly disease Peste des Petits Ruminants In our work in Ethiopia these types of awareness campaigns are part of every project dealing with epidemics. The corona virus is...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 3. March 2020 | Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Togo, Vaccinate for Africa
If you have been following our work for a while already, you most likely know that training community animal health workers (CAHWs) constitutes an important part of our activities. This training enables laypeople to provide veterinary services to their communities –...
by VSF-Suisse | 2. February 2020 | Vaccinate for Africa
The starting signal has been given: Three months left until the next “Vaccinatite for Africa” campaign takes place! During one week, veterinary practices from all over Switzerland collect the income from the vaccinations and donate part or all of it to...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 30. September 2019 | Mali
Follow me on my visit in one of our projects in Mali! Dear VSF supporter My name is Christian Wirz and I am programme manager for West Africa at VSF-Suisse. In April this year I visited our milk value chain- project in Mali. Today I would like to tell you about it. I...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 10. September 2019 | Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia
23 September 2019 is the first official autumn day of the year, but the cooler temperatures can already be clearly felt. Again in this summer the heat had us firmly in its grip again and heat wavesrolled mercilessly over us. Livestock farmers are particularly affected...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 3. June 2019 | Country updates, Togo
Togo has long been among the countries with the highest deforestation rates in the world, even though its forests cover only little surface (6.8% of the national area in 2011). The protected Abdoulaye forest is one of the Togolese natural areas which have been most...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 17. May 2019 | About VSF-Suisse
We are looking forward to this year’s General Assembly on June, the 15th in the Aquatis Lausanne. As always, it is open to members and anyone who wants to become one! At the General Assembly, we will follow up the work on the statutes on the one hand and take an...
by Communication VSF-Suisse | 16. May 2019 | Country updates, Somalia
The Gedo region in Somalia is on the verge of a drought, because so far it has received only very little rain from the country’s most important rainy season. According to the FAO, the “Gu” rainy season, which normally lasts from April to June, accounts for about 75%...
