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Background: Africa of late has been faced with challenges that require a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach to address them, and academic and non-academic institutions have played a key role in training and conducting research that would promote the One Health approach.
Objectives: The objective of this review was to document networks and organizations conducting One Health training, research, and outreach in Africa, as one of a series of articles around the world.
Methods: Data for this review were collected from organizations through key contacts of the authors and their knowledge of networks they have worked with. Web searches were conducted using One Health, training, and research as key words for work done in Africa.
Results: Africa has major networks involved in One Health training, research, and outreach, with participation of both academic and non-academic institutions. This review highlights an effort in Africa to form networks to conduct multidisciplinary training and research. The main networks include Afrique One, Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS), and One Health Central and Eastern Africa (OHCEA).
Conclusions: Both academic and non-academic institutions and organizations have shown an interest to conduct multidisciplinary training and research in Africa for managing challenges that Africa is facing currently, especially the outbreak of infectious diseases.
Keywords: networks; university; training; research; OHCEA; SACIDS; Afrique One
Africa's population is on the rise, especially that of the youth who constitute a substantial percentage of Africa's population (1). With that, there is increase in urbanization and infrastructure development that will continue for the next 20-30 years (2). As populations increase, there is increased demand for animal protein and thus encroachment on forests. By 2050, Africa will see double meat production in order to meet protein needs of the growing population (2). Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts a need for increased conversion of forests into farm land. And since more forests are to be turned into agricultural land, there will be an increased demand for water (2). Other challenges such as Eli Nino might also occur. For instance, in late 2006-2007, in the Horn of Africa, El Nino contributed to the occurrence of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) and also its outbreak in livestock and humans (3). This outbreak led to the realization of the importance of...