Two weeks ago, I had heavy online engagement with farmers on forums I belong to. The forums help farmers share experiences and information on livestock production and agribusiness, especially dairy farming.
Professionals of various disciplines are members. They share expert information with farmers. The forums also act as avenues for suppliers to advertise their products and services.
Different people link up and assist one another in business. At some point, I was looking for 20 pregnant Jersey cows for a client and all my inquiries by other means had failed to locate any.
When I placed the enquiry on the forums, a member registered as Silage Boss in one, responded that he specialised in cattle spotting. He said he had customers who between them had 20 Jersey heifers.
After doing due diligence on him in the forum he belongs to, visiting him and contacting some of his customers, I found he was actually a paravet licensed by the Kenya Veterinary Board. That settled my trust on him. His name is Kimani.
I inquired why his forum name was Silage Boss. Kimani said he had decided to practise his animal health and production training by helping farmers get the animals they wanted to buy, plant high quality fodder and preserve sufficient feed for their animals.
Kimani told me he had realised farmers were not getting sufficient expert advice on fodder production and preservation.
He concluded that animal health and production experts must understand farmers’ problems do not end with disease control. For animals to be and remain healthy, they must be fed well.
I was impressed by Kimani’s commitment to his work and regular updates on progress in searching for the animals I required.
We soon got the cattle. I honoured Kimani by reporting back on the forums that he was an efficient and reliable paraprofessional.
My report elicited lengthy discussions on two of the forums. Farmers complained about the poor state of animal health and production services in Kenya.
Complainants had specific encounters they presented as proof that veterinary services were deficient .
I am motivated to share the discussions with readers because I know many are farmers and they may at times go through similar frustrations.
I have also come across some of the bad moments with animal health service providers, especially when they have assumed I am just another farmer.
A member called Maina said the veterinary profession in Kenya has stagnated unlike others like human medicine.
He added that it is not unusual for animals to die after being treated by veterinary service providers. Maina lamented that when the animal dies, it is the farmer who bears the loss alone.
I have heard the complaint – about animals dying after being treated – many times in the course of my practice.
My answer is simple. Assuming a patient gets the best of doctors whether human or animal, there are cases that cannot be medically rescued.
That is why we have very well-trained doctors and veterinary surgeons but still keep having people and animals dying despite treatment.
There is a double edge in the phenomenon of death even when treated. Human doctors are praised for putting their best efforts to treating a case and even thanked during funerals.
One farmer at one time asked me to sign an agreement with her that I would be responsible for all the animals that died under my treatment.
I educated her on the principles of medical practice; that doctors have the expertise to identify medical problems, select and administer the most appropriate medicine or surgical intervention; but time and the patient’s maker hold the key to the outcome.
Nonetheless, if negligence or incompetence is detected and proved in a medical service provider, the appropriate professional regulator should be given a complaint of the case with evidence.
As for stagnation of the veterinary profession, I explained to Maina that it has been steadily growing to the point where there are many veterinary doctors carrying out successful complex operations or even doing research for human benefit with reputable institutions like the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Institute for Primate Research.
Jane complained that veterinary service providers shy away from cutting-edge technology such as ultrasound for diagnosing pregnancy.
She opined that that was the reason there were many pregnancy diagnostic failures while using the age-old rectal palpation.
However, veterinary treatment services in Kenya are offered by private service providers because of the privatisation policy of the government.
Even when the service providers adopt technology, farmers find it too expensive to pay for its use.
Animal health service providers will therefore continue to use the most affordable technology until farming becomes profitable enough to pay for the use of more advanced kits.
I concluded to members that animal health service providers are there to assist improve farming but with technology and expertise that the farmer can afford to pay for as the farmer and the service provider must remain in business.
