Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025403 (Oral 142) | Published: 19 Aug 2025
Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor1,&, Akanimo Iniobong2
¹Interfaculty Initiative for Planetary Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
&Corresponding author: Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor, Interfaculty Initiative for Planetary Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan. Email : emmanuelbenyeogor@tlhouse.org
Received: 02 Jun 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 19 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever, land-use change, zoonotic spillover, sustainable finance, One Health, nature-related risk
©Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor et al. De-risking zoonotic spillover: A sustainable finance model to address lassa fever through land-use innovation in Nigeria. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00142. https://doi.org/10.37432/jieph-confpro5-00142
Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic disease endemic to West Africa, is increasingly linked to unregulated land-use practices that intensify rodent-human interface. The expansion of cocoa and palm oil plantations contributes to habitat fragmentation, boosting populations of Mastomys natalensis, the primary reservoir, and heightening spillover risk. While health sector responses have improved, they remain reactive and under-resourced in addressing the root environmental drivers.
We propose the establishment of an Investor Alliance targeting foreign stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector: particularly from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. This alliance adopts a blended finance and ESG disclosure approach to incentivize sustainable land-use practices that align with epidemic preparedness objectives.
Key features include (i) nature-risk disclosure tied to zoonotic disease vulnerability; (ii) green bonds and performance-linked loans for deforestation-free production; (iii) certification schemes and traceability systems; and (iv) integration of carbon market and blockchain tools to track ecological risk mitigation. This systems innovation platform positions Lassa fever as a nature-related financial risk and integrates public health into climate and biodiversity finance.
A cross-sector investor alliance can strengthen Nigeria’s One Health strategy by embedding upstream zoonotic risk reduction into agricultural value chains. This model not only addresses spillover drivers but also enhances co-benefits across climate, biodiversity, and health domains, offering a replicable solution for epidemic financing in LMICs.
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