Animal health policy in South Asia: what can economic analysis contribute?

2010

Developing countries often face severe animal health problems, with a number of endemic diseases, and lack resources to put in place the animal health programs of more developed nations. The social costs including lost trade opportunities as a result of animal diseases often exceed the private costs to livestock producers. Improved animal health is a means of promoting sustainable development1 through more efficient resource use, additional export earnings to finance economic growth, improved livelihood of livestock producers and increased animal welfare. Economic analyses of animal health programs have frequently considered only some of the relevant cost and benefit categories, and have sometimes used inappropriate cost and benefit measures. This paper will examine the relationship between animal health programs and economic development, particularly in relation to development of the livestock sector, trade gains and export-led growth. Comments will be made on animal health programs in relation to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Thailand as a case study

Agricultural Economics Research Review, 2011

The provision of animal health services in India is by and large, under the domain of public sector and many health care activities like quarantine, disease management, quality control, research and extension, etc. are mainly the responsibilities of government. With veterinary services consuming about 60-80 per cent of the budget allocated to the livestock sector, fiscal constraints would lead to a decline in the operational efficiency of the government livestock services. Owing to financial constraints, some of the state governments have evolved specific animal healthcare policies tending to privatization of the system. The entry of private sector into the veterinary health care sector depends on the availability and sustainability of an economically profitable practice. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the willingness of the people to pay for providing the animal health care services. The study is based on the personal and focused group interview of 120 farmers selected randomly from the Sangli district of Maharastra. Contingent valuation (CV) approach has been used to study the farmer's WTP (willingness to pay) for providing animal health care services at government veterinary centres (in-centre) and at farmers' door steps (at home). The study has shown that increase of one unit in the income from livestock, the willingness to pay value increases by ` 43.23 for the in-centre services. When the farmer's locality was away from the public veterinary centre, the WTP value has been found to increase significantly for at home services. The analysis has provided evidence that the livestock owners are willing to pay for the quality veterinary services not only at their door steps but at the veterinary centre also.

Bhartiya Krishi Anusandhan Patrika, 2021

This paper presents the results of a referendum-style contingent valuation survey conducted in one of the richest milking states of India. 200 households were surveyed to study the farmer’s preferences and choices for the health, breeding and insurance services. The objective of the survey was to assess the preference structure and the willingness of poor farmers to pay for veterinary health and insurance services. It is a comparative study between the existing situation and improved situation, that how the willingness to pay (WTP) will change if the quality of the health, breeding and insurance services will improve. The results show that farmers are willing to pay for assured access to veterinary services. Majority of the households value these services tremendously and are not looking for subsidies provided by the government institutions. It was noticed that farmer’s willingness to pay was much higher than the amount government institutions were presently charging for improved li...

The World Bank Research Observer, 1994

Growing fiscal deficits and greater awareness of the huge economic cost of ofteninefficient government activities have renewed interest in transferring the delivery of important services from the public to the private sector in developing countries. This article, drawn from a longer study, offers a framework for determining the appropriate roles of the public and private sectors in delivering animal health services, such as veterinary surveillance, disease vector control, vaccination, clinical treatment of sick animals, inspection of livestock products, and veterinary research and extension. The profitability and therefore the supply of private veterinary services is governed by several factors arising from economies of scale, such as the size of the livestock enterprises in the locality, the nature of potential or actual diseases, and the types of animals raised in the production systems. Thus, in areas where private veterinary work is unprofitable or where other types of market failure occur, economic or social concerns may make some type of public intervention necessary. The transfer of animal health services from the public to the private sector must be done selectively, and government support may be needed to ensure the success of such transfers. T he livestock sector plays a crucial role in the economies of many developing nations by producing protein-rich food supplies, generating vital income and employment, and earning much-valued foreign exchange. For many farmers in the developing world, their animals are also a form of stored wealth, a cushion against starvation when food is scarce, a

In an economy like Bihar, dependence of population on livestock as an alternative source of income is significant. Acceleration in the availability of livestock to marginal and small farmers can offer significant opportunities for household income augmentation and employment generation in Bihar. In this context, an analysis of performance of livestock sector in Bihar has been carried out. The growth of livestock sector has been found slower in the Bihar than at the national level. The share of Bihar in India's livestock sector income has not changed significantly. Besides, low milk productivity, decline in the Bihar’s share in India's egg and meat sector income is a major factor responsible for insignificant changes in livestock sector of Bihar. Several demand and supply side factors have been identified for the above trends. Availability of health infrastructure, grazing land and immunisation are significantly affecting livestock across the districts of Bihar. The study has also shown policy initiatives for the improvement of livestock sector resources and outcomes of Bihar.

Funds for public programmes for control of animal diseases are limited and especially so in less developed countries. Therefore it is important from an economic point of view to get the 'best value for money' from such control expenditure. After briefly reviewing the economic rationale for government intervention in control of animal diseases, this paper provides a basic analysis of the economics of optimal private and public decisions about control of animal diseases. It explores the role for cost-benefit analysis in this decision- making, taking into account informational constraints and the resource demands of multiple diseases requiring control. The analysis is illustrated by examples and issues from Thailand and pays particular attention to foot-and-mouth disease. A research proposal to help assess public programmes for the control of animal disease in Thailand is briefly sketched. The need for a dynamic approach to disease-control policy is emphasised.

2011

The provision of animal health services in India is by and large, under the domain of public sector and many health care activities like quarantine, disease management, quality control, research and extension, etc. are mainly the responsibilities of government. With veterinary services consuming about 60-80 per cent of the budget allocated to the livestock sector, fiscal constraints would lead to a decline in the operational efficiency of the government livestock services. Owing to financial constraints, some of the state governments have evolved specific animal healthcare policies tending to privatization of the system. The entry of private sector into the veterinary health care sector depends on the availability and sustainability of an economically profitable practice. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the willingness of the people to pay for providing the animal health care services. The study is based on the personal and focused group interview of 120 farmers selected randomly from the Sangli district of Maharastra. Contingent valuation (CV) approach has been used to study the farmer's WTP (willingness to pay) for providing animal health care services at government veterinary centres (in-centre) and at farmers' door steps (at home). The study has shown that increase of one unit in the income from livestock, the willingness to pay value increases by ` 43.23 for the in-centre services. When the farmer's locality was away from the public veterinary centre, the WTP value has been found to increase significantly for at home services. The analysis has provided evidence that the livestock owners are willing to pay for the quality veterinary services not only at their door steps but at the veterinary centre also.

Pro Poor Livestock Policy Initiative Policy Brief, 2004

Research article "Livestock services in South India" Kathiravan et al. Indian Society for Education and Environment (iSee) http://www.indjst.org Indian J.Sci.Technol.