Theme 5: Effective and efficient livestock services for smallholder dairy production

Lessons from countries in the South for improving the coverage, accessibility and effectiveness of services
Which are the key steps required to manage the transition from delivery by public organisations to delivery by other providers?
What alternative mechanisms for the delivery of livestock services have proven successful in the South and what conditions were required?
How can traditional systems for accessing livestock services be better served to the benefit of smallholders?

Plenary discussion

After the presentation of the four case-study papers on livestock services, the points raised in the plenary discussion related to the scarcity of resources that define smallholder systems, and the difficulty of ensuring responsive and demand-led research and extension services for those systems. The debate on how to organise responsive services was continued during the theme 5 group discussion (see below).

In the plenary discussion, the issues and concerns raised were:

1. A common problem in developing countries is land scarcity, with a significant proportion of land being owned by a wealthy minority.
2. A major constraint in many systems is lack of (financial) capital.
3. Extension should be problem-based and driven by farmers.
4. On-farm research is needed to develop technology.
5. Replication of the Amul model

• The major problem with replication resulting from cultural, ecological and social differences was reported as resistance to change by bureaucrats who had vested interests in the status quo.

• Labour costs in India are very low and therefore the cost of services (veterinary and Artificial Insemination, AI) could be maintained at their current low levels. Participants queried the possibility of maintaining these low service costs in areas where wages were higher.

6. There is the need to decentralise services and to deliver to the farmers' doorstep.

These issues and the related topics that emerged from the presentations in themes 4 and 6 were subsequently discussed in small groups of workshop participants.

The outcomes for theme 5 are given below.

Group discussion

As for the other groups, the theme 5 discussions were guided by a set of questions. The questions presented to the group addressed alternatives to the government supply of livestock services and sought information about important lessons from countries in the South.

The questions were:

1. What are the lessons from countries in the South for improving the coverage, accessibility and effectiveness of services to smallholder dairy farmers?
2. The governments of many developing countries have stopped or are considering withdrawing from, providing input (production extension; clinical and AI) services to smallholder farmers. Which are the key steps required to manage the transition from delivery by public organisations to delivery by other providers?
3. What alternative mechanisms for the delivery of livestock services have proven successful in the South and what conditions were required?
4. Many smallholder farmers depend upon traditional systems for accessing livestock services (e.g. animal treatments) and technical advice (e.g. farmer-to-farmer advice). How can these systems be better served to the benefit of smallholders?

The group's responses to these questions were outlined as follows.

Lessons from countries in the South for improving the coverage, accessibility and effectiveness of services

• Government's role should be to provide public goods.
• The delivery of services by governments has failed.
• For commodities that pay like tea and pyrethrum in Kenya, the private sector has taken up extension and service provision. Difficult for non-cash crops, especially in subsistence farming systems.
• Subsidies result in false adoption and do not serve the poor.
• In some cases government might be involved in the delivery of private goods.

Which are the key steps required to manage the transition from delivery by public organisations to delivery by other providers?

• Government must be committed to the change.
• The transition must be managed.
• The stakeholders must be informed of the decision in advance (publicity).
• Unfair competition with other service providers must be removed in order that the private sector can take root.
• Mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that even remote areas will be reached by the private service providers.
• Training not only of vets and para-vets, but of local people so that they can provide some of the services.
• Some form of supervision should be provided (government).

What alternative mechanisms for the delivery of livestock services have proven successful in the South and what conditions were required?

• Co-operatives.
• Government should use policy instruments to encourage co-operative development.
• For co-operatives to be successful, local leadership is vital.
• Government can help through: empowering the people; training.
• The co-operatives should address the technical, social and credit issues.
• Public-funded, private-sector delivered services, i.e. CBOs, NGOs.
• Services can be decentralised to local organisations and the staff should be answerable to the people he/she is serving.
• The local institution should be democratic.

How can traditional systems for accessing livestock services be better served to the benefit of smallholders?

• Work should be set up to help understand local delivery systems.
• Identify the points of entry or intervention.
• Train the local people in particular skills.
• Validate the practices.
• Learn from the human medical field where they have combined/linked the traditional birth attendants with the modern medical services.

Conclusions

The presentations, the supporting papers and the discussion relating to the delivery of livestock services emphasised the importance of decentralising public-funded services to local organisations so that the staff are answerable to the people they are serving. There was also the call for innovative thinking to build upon the examples from India and elsewhere of public-funded, private sector delivered services. The importance of these issues are reflected in the workshop recommendations where actions towards achieving the objectives were agreed and are presented.