New Jersey-based animal health company Zoetis (formerly Pfizer Animal Health) has announced a $14.4 million grant over three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop veterinary diagnostic networks and animal health infrastructure in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Uganda.

The grant will support the African Livestock Productivity and Health Advancement (ALPHA) initiative, an effort to improve the availability of local veterinary medicines and services; implement sustainable disease diagnostics; and strengthen local veterinary expertise in the three countries. To that end, Zoetis will collaborate with government authorities, local veterinary associations, nongovernmental organizations, farmer associations, and the private sector to maximize the impact of its efforts in the region. Over the three years covered by the grant, the company also will work to incorporate key learnings into building animal health infrastructure and a longer-term sustainable business model for livestock farmers in the region.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to some of the largest livestock populations in the world — and has the highest density of impoverished livestock farmers.

"We believe the combination of Zoetis’s leadership in animal health and experience in forging broad collaborations in emerging markets will allow us to accelerate the advancement of animal health in the region," said Zoetis CEO Juan Ramón Alaix. "Access to medicines and technology will help farmers raise healthier animals and secure more sustainable revenue, which is critical to the economic development of the region and well-being of its population."