SoC from Bangladesh: Rural Veterinary Service Provider are Contributing to the Organization of the Milk Farmers for Expanding Business

Provision of animal healthcare services alongside training has resulted in a high demand for training amongst cattle farmers. Added to this, the availability of good healthcare facilities has led to reformed practices and has led to the doubling of income of vets in a few villages.

This situation has taken hold of Khanpur in Dinajpur and in two unions in Birampur. Most of the families in this region own cattle that are a source of their income. These families were not business oriented at all and had very basic knowledge about cattle farming. As a result, they would have to resort to limited production and sell it at very low prices at the market. If the cow suffered from any illnesses, they would approach the quack doctors ( kobiraj) as access to government doctors and village paravets were difficult.

Practical Action Bangladesh took stock of the situation and arranged a 10 day skill development training workshop for paravets so that producers can anchor their trust on them and thus develop the animal healthcare sector. 19 people participated in this training program. This training program not only changed the opinions about animal healthcare but also developed business skills and knowledge. The paravets arranged learning sessions (animal rearing, producing high quality milk, marketing, etc.), vaccine and health camp (in cooperation with the Dept. of Livestock). According to the business plan, 25 learning sessions, 7 vaccine and health camps and 7 AIS have been carried out in the last two months, alongside regular provision of healthcare administered at the group visits.

As a result the cattle farmers have shown a great interest in learning. Constant connections with the paravets have enabled them to obtain vaccines and healthcare facilities in return for some fee, and some have even begun feeding their cattle a high nutrition diet. An effort to distribute and produce milk collectively that has led to the establishment of a business oriented venture. Thus many of them are thinking about supplementing their number of cattle. Furthermore, the demand for paravet services has also increased, and even though the charges for their services is minimal, this has led to an increase in the level of income of paravets. Paravets with training (11 of those who have been practicing since before) receive 10 – 12 calls per day, whereas before it was 5 – 7 calls per day. Their present earnings are Tk. 6000 – 7000, up from Tk. 3000 – 3500 before, the cause for which has been attributed to the paravets increased levels of skills. They believe it is necessary to develop skills further and create a trend whereby health services can be obtained in return for a fee.

At present, paravets and milk producers are gaining from their communication and business orientation that imply at a solid development. The paravets feel that business administration and this method is very effective and useful. So, they have taken their own initiative to establish 3 new groups of paravets in different villages and are constantly following up on them. It is important to increase the number of cattle in order increase the level of income of paravets and cattle farmers