Tuskegee Veterinary College Faculty and Students Participate in Pan African Conference and Workshop in Ethiopia

Tuskegee Veterinary College Faculty and Students Participate in Pan African Conference and Workshop in Ethiopia

July 31, 2024

Contact: Anissa Riley, College of Veterinary Medicine

The Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine (TUCVM) joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service/International Services as the recent hosts of the international Nineth Pan African Conference and Workshop on Sanitary/Phytosanitary (SPS) Regulations and Science-Based Risk Analysis in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Tuskegee University and the USDA/APHIS/IS have provided ongoing support over the years for the international collaboration of the SPS Capacity Building Initiative for Africa.

This gathering brought together over 50 agricultural experts representing 13 countries, marking a pivotal step toward enhancing SPS standards crucial for safeguarding human, animal, and plant health across Africa, and for enhancing African trade of agricultural products.

Dr. Tesfaye Rufael, Director General of Ethiopian Animal Health Institute, and his staff served as the local facilitator of the conference with the support of Dr. Hika Waktole, Dean of Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine.

Tuskegee University's associate professor of Pathobiology Dr. Asseged Dibaba served as the principal investigator for the APHIS/Tuskegee University SPS Capacity Building Initiative for Africa conference and program chairman. The conference keynote speaker was Dr. Cheryle Blakely, Deputy Administrator, USDA/APHIS/IS. Other TU representatives included Dr. Torhonda Lee, head of the TUCVM Department of Graduate Public Health; and three second-year veterinary students, Saniya Keeton, Aria Rawlings, and Brianna Wooten."The success of this conference highlights the progress of SPS standards in Africa," said Dr. Dibaba. "Each participant returns home with new insights and a renewed commitment to advancing the World Trade Organization's SPS Agreement. It was also an honor to open this opportunity to our students." The conference and workshop exemplifies a cornerstone event fostering international cooperation and knowledge exchange crucial for sustainable agricultural development in Africa.

Veterinary student Rawlings shared her appreciation of being given the opportunity to attend the SPS Pan African Conference and Workshop.

"I loved my time in Ethiopia and I got to experience a different side of what all goes into trading between countries," she said. "I will never forget this experience and I am grateful to Tuskegee University and Dr. Dibaba's team for providing me with this wonderful opportunity."

Dr. Lee and Tuskegee veterinary student Keeton also presented "Studying Health Sciences at Tuskegee University" as part of the workshop. "We are appreciative of the opportunity to be a part of this conference as well as the courtesy extended to all of us from the local facilitators," Dr. Lee said.

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