Effect of liberalization on the performance of veterinary medical services in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Since the establishment of Kenya colony up to1963 veterinary clinical service were carried out by the private sector in commercial farms and private ranches. However, upon attaining independence the service was taken over by the public sector so as to serve all Kenyans. The government then embarked on massive training of veterinary doctors and veterinary paraprofessionals to be employed by the government. This continued until 1988 when the government stopped automatic employment of graduates from universities and colleges with the intention of liberalizing the service to enable private sector growth for more efficient services. Despite all the efforts in liberalization, the Department of Veterinary services and farmers still complained of inadequate access to professional veterinary services, increased livestock diseases incidences, inadequate supply of veterinary inputs and decline in Artificial insemination numbers leading to heavy economic losses to farmers. This research study therefore sought to determine the effect of Liberalization on performance of Veterinary Medical services in Nakuru County. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of liberalization on the performance of Veterinary Medical services in Nakuru County. The specific objectives were; to determine the effect of offloading of services, legislation and credit on performance of Veterinary Medical services in Nakuru and lastly to establish the combined effect of offloading, legislation and credit on performance of Veterinary medical services in Nakuru County. A survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population was the 34 private Veterinary medical practitioners in Nakuru County. Data was collected using structured questionnaires which were administered to the Practicing Veterinarians. Data collected was analyzed using means and standard deviation; and presented inform of tables. Inferential statistics using Pearson correlation coefficients were established to help researcher draw various conclusions on the relationship between independent and dependent variable. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the effect of Liberalization on performance. The results showed that the joined effect of Liberalization factors on performance of veterinary Medical services was significant. Among the independent variables Legislation had biggest relationship with performance and had the strongest contribution to performance. From the study the combined effect of the liberalization factors on performance was quite significant. The research concludes that though legislation has the highest contribution to performance, offloading and credit should also be combined for better improvement in performance.