Het beschermen van de meest kwetsbare gemeenschappen en de aarde door het inzetten van geurdetectiedieren. APOPO’s demining program focuses on one of the poorest provinces of Cambodia, Preah Vihear (PV), which is neglected of demining funding and progress in removing landmines. With DGD support, APOPO believes it is possible to demine 66% of high-impact mined areas in PV by 2026, alleviating daily fear and risk of accident for more than 38,000 rural citizens and allowing rapid expansion of small holder farms and UNESCO heritage temple site development. High impact areas are defined as areas within 3 km of villages or temples. According to APOPO’s experience, a 3 km radius is where the vast majority of landmine accidents for village and tourism activities occur.

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority’s (CMAA’s) database contains 45M square meters (sqm) of high impact mined areas in PV. APOPO proposes to clear 13M sqm. The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), who is APOPO’s operational partner but also has independent operations, will coordinate closely with APOPO to clear  another 17M sqm. APOPO’s presence in mined PV areas facilitate explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) and accessing and linking unserved mine victims to rehabilitation and support services. It also facilitates APOPO to actively coordinate the Thai and Cambodian government’s separate efforts to demine shared border minefields.

APOPO’s mine impact free PV outcome will unlock important livelihood opportunities for impoverished small holder farmers in the neglected region. Strategic collaborations with JSF agricultural development partner Uni4Coop, and temple and tourism development partner National Authority of Preah Vihear (NAPV), will help vulnerable low-income rural communities take advantage of newly demined areas. APOPO’s work in PV will also play a critical role in helping Cambodia strive towards its Article 5 Mine Ban Convention (clear all know minefields in the country) and its SDG 18 goal to eradicate all mines and other explosive remnants of war.
 The outcome of this project will be an African Centre of Excellence in Tanzania, specialized in scent detection animals. It will build the human, animal, and technological capacity to develop and implement solutions for the detection of tuberculosis (TB) and other applications that protect people and the environment. SUA-APOPO supplies TB detection rats to Tanzania and Ethiopia, and landmine detection rats to Cambodia and Angola. We also develop new applications for areas like disaster preparedness, such as Search and Rescue Rats which can locate trapped survivors following disasters; health diagnosis, such as the detection of Brucella; and environmental purposes, such as the detection of endangered wildlife smuggled to the far east and contaminated soils to facilitate environmental clean-up. Scent detection animal training is underdeveloped in Africa, while its inputs of knowledge, labour, and carefully selected animals are affordable and sustainable. In collaboration with the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), APOPO will develop the necessary curriculum and knowledge base to provide a sustainable capacity for this new regional industry, creating more independence from imported technology and expertise. During the program implementation period, SUA-APOPO aims to expand its research and operational partnerships with the goal of becoming a Centre of Excellence and an African focal point for scent detection animals. The final outcome should benefit the vulnerable communities affected by TB, explosive remnants of war, and environmental risks, including those caused by climate change. APOPO aims to bring a service model where a technology developed by the local population serves the needs of the local populations. Tanzania is a Sub-Saharan African country with a high Tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV burden and despite a strong National TB Program (NTLP), the domestic budget to finance TB control remains small, and the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that only 59% of estimated cases are diagnosed. Reasons for missed cases include limited access to health care and performance of available diagnostic tests, and disconnected services alongside the cascade of care. Missing cases results in prolonged diagnostic delays, catastrophic costs faced by TB-affected families and continued TB spread in the communities. Children and people living with HIV are particularly vulnerable to TB and are often underdiagnosed. Left untreated, up to two thirds of TB patients will eventually die. A TB-positive patient can pass the pathogen to up to 15 other people within a year, creating a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

To End TB – as globally aspired – it is crucial to find and treat patients early. APOPO offers an innovative integrated approach based on animal scent detection, and has built crucial grassroots partnerships with community organizations to contribute to the global goal to Find & Treat All TB cases.

The proposed program aims to curb TB in Dar Es Salaam, Morogoro and Dodoma regions through 1) provision of rapid, integrated TB diagnostic services for hard-to-reach populations, 2) treatment initiation of the newly diagnosed patients through linkage-to-care, 3) enhanced (passive) case finding through greater awareness on TB, capacity building and stigma decrease and 4) demonstration of APOPO’s technology efficiency, especially on neglected populations and integration of the technology within the national health policy.

The proposed program will directly benefit at least 141,666 patients with presumptive TB, allowing 6,670 additional patients to be found and put on treatment, is likely to halt infections to hundred thousands of people in their communities. APOPO’s proposed DGD program focuses on neglected rural areas of Cuanza Sul (CS), a province that is instrumental to Angola’s agricultural development efforts and overall economy. With the support granted from DG APOPO will demine half of the estimated mined areas in CS by 2026 4.28M sqm, alleviating daily fear and accident risk from more than 140K rural citizens and allowing for rapid expansion of small-holder farms. APOPO’s presence in mined CS areas facilitate it conducting explosive ordinance risk education (EORE) and linking unserved mine victims to existing rehabilitation and support services.
APOPO’s Mine Free CS outcome will unlock important livelihood opportunities for impoverished small holder farmers in CS. Ninety percent (90%) of the land APOPO clears will be used for agriculture or other development efforts within 1 year, thereby improving health, wellbeing, and local income. Strategic collaborations with agricultural development partners, Through, a pilot project in up to 3 different villages, The Agriculture Development Institute, and the Samuel Base Cole Association will help vulnerable low-income rural communities take better advantage of newly demined areas and encourage them to conduct activities that are critical to Angola’s goal of being food independent and provide increased income. APOPO’s work in CS will also play a critical role for Angola working toward its Article 5 Mine Ban Convention (clear all know minefields in the country) goal. The use of mine detection animals will allow APOPO to complete the task at least 100% more cost effectively than if it was done by manual deminers (the status quo for other NGOs operating in the country) and encourage the scaling of its animal detection methods.