Study areas: The study was conducted in the operating areas under the Micro-Finance and Technical Support (MFTS) project as implemented by Palli-Karma Shayahak Foundation (PKSF). Four upazilas under four districts of Bangladesh were the specific locations. Those were Companyganj under Sylhet district, Modhukhali under Faridpur district, Mathbaria under Pirojpur district and Mithamoin under Kishoreganj district. The upazilas were selected as per advice of the Livestock Coordinator of MFTS project and the decision was finalized after preliminary visit and consultation with the officials of the concerned Partner NGOs of PKSF (known as PO) and Upazila Livestock Officers. In each upazila, two locations were selected for data collection. One of them was around the upazila headquarters, where official animal health services were easily available to the villagers and the other was a locality far from the upazila headquarters, from where it was difficult for the villagers to avail any type of services from the Upazila Veterinary Hospitals. In the present study, such remote villages were considered as distant study locations, which had poor communication infrastructures (road connections) to reach the upazila headquarters making it difficult to reach the hospitals in a short time.
Population and sample of the study: Data were collected from two different groups of farmers: MFTS project beneficiaries and their neighbours, who did not receive any support from MFTS project (hereinafter termed as non-beneficiaries). Therefore, the MFTS project beneficiaries of a specific upazila and their neighbours were the population of the study. However, beneficiaries of only two unions (near and far from upazila headquarters) and their upazilas were purposively selected as the study sample. The list of MFTS beneficiaries were collected from the concerned PKSF-POs. A reserve list was prepared with 10% of the sample size to replace any member of the original sample in case of unavailability during interview.
Measurement of focus variable: The main focus of the study was to have an understanding of availability of animal health services to the villagers of the selected upazilas. Six aspects of animal health services were selected for this purpose. The aspects were: (i) disease diagnosis and treatment (ii) advice and general consultation on animal health and hygiene, (iii) surgery, obstetrics and gynecological services, (iv) disease prevention by vaccination, (v) availability of medicine (supply and purchase), and (vi) artificial insemination. The respondents were asked to indicate to what frequently a specific veterinary service was available in the locality when it was needed. A 4-point rated scale was used for each aspect of services while scores were assigned as per following manner: frequently available (assigned score-3), less frequently available (assigned score-2), rarely available (assigned therefore, a Service Availability Index (SAI) of an aspect of animal health service was computed by summing the obtained weighted scores of all respondents and dividing the summated score by the number of respondents. The SAI could range from 0 to 3, while the general interpretation of the score.
Data Collection: Data were collected from the respondents in a number of ways. A number of focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to have a preliminary understanding of the issues of the research. These FGD sessions were helpful to finalise the questionnaire (interview schedule) by collecting and confirming the items used in its different sections. Furthermore, two FGD sessions were conducted to verify the findings of the questionnaire survey. Apart from the research team members, some experts from the fields of animal production, especially the concerned Upazila Livestock Officers and Veterinary Surgeons made valuable contribution in the FGD sessions. Two FGDs were conducted in April, 2010 and the two verification FGDs were held in September, 2010. In order to collect relevant data, a structured interview schedule was carefully prepared keeping the objectives of the study in mind. The schedule was pre-tested before final data collection and necessary modifications were made on the basis of pre-testing experience. Data were collected from the selected farmers by using the interview schedule during March to August, 2010. Face to face interviews were conducted from the selected farmers (project beneficiaries) and their neighbours by two field enumerators. The field agents of the concerned POs of PKSF helped in organizing the interviews, most of which were taken in the respondents’ village homes. Only a few numbers of the sampled farmers (seven out of 240 selected MFTS project beneficiaries) were not available during the interviewing, while alternate arrangements of interviews were made by drawing farmers from a reserve list.
Data Processing and Analysis: The collected data were systematically recorded, coded, compiled and analyzed in accordance with the objectives of the study. Descriptive analytical measures like frequency and percentage were used to describe and interpret the data.