Abstract
We rethink how social protection can function in contexts of rural extreme poverty by applying a One Health lens. Rural households face interlocking risks from climate variability, agriculture, livestock, health, and nutrition, yet programs are usually designed one sector at a time. We introduce a practical way to apply One Health to social protection design and assessment, treating human, animal, and environmental health as a single, connected system.
The approach is tested in southern Madagascar, where human health challenges (disease, water and food insecurity), animal health challenges (livestock disease, feed and water scarcity), and environmental stressors (drought, flood, wind) routinely coincide. Using a mixed-methods design and original data, we describe the range of social protection mechanisms in place and evaluate how they respond to compound risks that cut across domains.
Two main findings emerge. First, interactions among human, animal, and environmental risks are frequent and mutually reinforcing, producing cascades that deepen vulnerability. Second, existing social protection instruments are poorly matched to these linked risks. Coverage is fragmented, benefits are narrow, timing is often misaligned with hazard cycles, and few interventions integrate animal health or ecosystem services with human welfare. Adopting a One Health perspective can guide more effective, shock-responsive social protection in rural settings.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17565529.2025.2498145
https://hal.science/hal-05066683
