Are government veterinary paraprofessionals serving the poor? The perceptions of smallholder livestock farmers in Western Kenya

Abstract

The liberalization of clinical veterinary services in Kenya introduced new service providers into the animal health service sector. This study examines the perceptions of livestock farmers regarding these service providers and analyses the factors that influence their choice of alternative service providers in Kakamega County. The empirical analysis shows that private animal health assistants were perceived to provide better services than alternative providers because they are more accessible and offer services on credit. Results from a multinomial logit model reveal that more educated, wealthier, and older farmers are more likely to use government services. The study concludes that it is imperative to better target the poor and to integrate private service providers into government animal health programs.

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“…Veterinary services are generally scarce in low-income countries, especially in rural areas [ 65 , 66 , 67 ]. In addition, both private and governmental veterinarians prefer to serve better-off clients with larger farms and more possibilities to pay for the services, and poor smallholders are, therefore, particularly badly serviced [ 68 , 69 ]. Community animal health workers (CAHWs, a category of service providers whose education can vary from none to up to several years) can be a useful complement to licensed veterinarians in poor, rural settings with low coverage of veterinary services [ 70 , 71 , 72 ].…”

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“…They are cheap and seem more appealing to work for any cost a client can offer after all they never paid anywhere regarding money and time to be veterinarians. 4 They have sought such unimaginable confidence to the extent of claiming to be demigods.…”