ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the process of doing a One Health approach to brucellosis in the Kachia Grazing Reserve (KGR) a context of resource-limitations, uncertain epidemiology and vulnerable livelihoods. It explores a number of interrelated themes in how researcher community relationships, interests and expectations are steeped in power dynamics, cultural perspectives and politics, and how these influence the One Health research process. The socio-political context of the Fulani also shaped the research in a number of complex ways, especially in terms of the relationships with the KGR community. As with other biomedical research projects in Africa, issues of community access, compliance and engagement quickly become politicized. In Nigeria, the decision to work on brucellosis in the KGR was largely pre-determined by the political and professional interests of the research team, re-packaged as scientific argument and supported by a donor project with pre-contracted deliverables.
