Drivers of Antibiotic Use in Poultry Production in Bangladesh: Dependencies and Dynamics of a Patron-Client Relationship

Abstract

Background: There is increasing concern around the use of antibiotics in animal food production and the risk of transmission of antimicrobial resistance within the food chain. In many low and middle-income countries, including Bangladesh, the commercial poultry sector comprises small-scale producers who are dependent on credit from poultry dealers to buy day-old chicks and poultry feed. The same dealers also supply and promote antibiotics. The credit system is reliant upon informal relationships among multiple actors as part of social capital. This paper aims to describe dependencies and relationships between different actors within unregulated broiler poultry production systems to understand the social and contextual determinants of antibiotic use in low-resource settings. Methods: We used a cross-sectional qualitative design including in-depth interviews among purposefully selected commercial poultry farmers (n = 10), poultry dealers (n = 5), sales representatives of livestock pharmaceutical companies (n = 3) and the local government livestock officer as a key-informant (n = 1). We describe the food production cycle and practices relating to credit purchases and sales using social capital theory. Findings: Poultry dealers provide credit and information for small-scale poultry farmers to initiate and operate their business. In return for credit, farmers are obliged to buy poultry feed and medicine from their dealer and sell their market-ready poultry to that same dealer. All farms applied multiple antibiotics to poultry throughout the production cycle, including banned antibiotics such as colistin sulfate. The relationship between dealers and poultry farmers is reciprocal but mostly regulated by the dealers. Dealers were the main influencers of decision-making by farmers, particularly around antibiotic use as an integral part of the production cycle risk management. Our findings suggest that strategies to improve antibiotic stewardship and responsible use should exploit the patron-client relationship which provides the social and information network for small-scale farmers. Masud et al. Antibiotic Use in Poultry Production Conclusion: Social capital theory can be applied to the patron-client relationship observed among poultry farmers and dealers in Bangladesh to identify influences on decision making and antibiotic use. Within unregulated food production systems, strategies to promote the prudent use of antibiotics should target commercial feed producers and livestock pharmaceutical manufacturers as a first step in developing a sustainable poultry value chain.

Antimicrobial resistance situation in animal health of Bangladesh

“…In addition to providing product information, sales representatives also provide treatment advice directly to the farmers. Recently, qualified veterinary doctors appointed by the hatcheries, feed companies and pharmaceutical companies are providing poultry management and treatment services to the farmers [ 23 ].…”

“…The small and medium-scale poultry farmers apply multiple antibiotics, even banned antibiotics to poultry throughout the production cycle following the suggestions of the poultry dealers [ 23 ]. As many as 19 and ten different types of antibiotic usage have been recorded in the broiler and layer farms, respectively.…”

“…The animal health system of Bangladesh is explicitly “pluralistic” involving unqualified healthcare providers and different influential groups at different stages [ 13 , 23 ]. The absence of adequate, specifically state veterinary healthcare, regulatory and monitoring services, and low financial capability of the farmers has created pavements for the unlicensed village doctors, poultry and feed dealers, and pharmaceutical sales representatives to influence over the animal farm owners to take their decisions.…”

A Cross-Sectional Study of Antimicrobial Usage on Commercial Broiler and Layer Chicken Farms in Bangladesh

“…In Bangladesh, the extent of antimicrobial usage in livestock production is unknown (31) and data on national sales of antimicrobials are unreliable (32). In addition, frequent sales of antimicrobials through feed and chick traders and pharmaceutical company representatives (33) highlight the lack of governance on antimicrobial use in Bangladesh.…”

Access to Veterinary Medicines in sub-Saharan Africa

“…They are published mainly in veterinary journals that do not aim directly to publish social sciences research (see for example Hockenhull et al, 2017;Goutard et al 2017, Coyne et al 2018, and more pioneering ones in social science journals (Fortané et al 2015, Lhermie G. 2015, Dangy and Fortané 2016, Fortané 2020). Yet there is a limited number of works focused on LMICs (Masud et al 2020).…”