13. Earlier I made the point that, in many African countries, it is unlikely that departments of veterinary services or other similar services receive lump-sum budgets to distribute between staff and non-staff items as they see fit; or that they enjoy the freedom of transfer between these two items of expenditure. So in essence the potential leverage which DVS have in increasing expenditure on non-staff items is mainly by means of reducing costs of operation (non-staff items) or reorienting the staffing pattern. The determinant factors and the degree to which DVS leverage can be exerted on each are shown in Figure 2. For example, by employing relatively inexpensive national staff to carry out a particular activity and reducing the number of highly paid expatriates DVS can reduce the staff allocation. A key determinant factor is the availability of national staff. In this regard, there is a potentially strong leverage because DVS can play a direct role in the training of national staff as well as in subsequently limiting the number of expensive expatriates.
Fig. 2. Proportion of Staff and Non-staff Items of Expenditure Determinant Factors
|
Determinant Factors |
Potential DVS Leverage |
|
- Availability of national staff |
strong |
|
- Proportion of directly recruited expatriate staff |
strong |
|
- Civil service employment policy |
no |
|
- Salary and wages policy |
no |
|
- Strength of civil service unions |
no |
|
- Foreign exchange availability for imported non-staff items |
no |
|
- Price of imported veterinary requisites |
no |
|
- Degree of decentralization of services |
strong |
14. Civil service employment policy relates to the question of whether government has to employ all those trained by it. This is a factor on which DVS have weak or no leverage as long as livestock services remain in the sole domain of public functions. One would say the same is true of potential DVS leverage on salary and wages policy and the strength of labour unions which are factors beyond their direct span of control. Increased availability of foreign exchange is outside DVS influence. If domestic production of veterinary requisites such as vaccines is determined to be an economic undertaking, potential DVS leverage in pushing the establishment of such facilities is strong. On the other hand, DVS have little or no leverage on the international prices of imported veterinary requisites.
15. Administrative decentralization of staff and activities if properly established will help reduce costs of transportation as compared to services administered from one central location. It is within the direct sphere of influence of DVS where this is technically and financially feasible.
