Livestock policy analysts may propose new projects or programmes as instruments of policy implementation. Or, they may be asked to investigate the operational problems of existing livestock services with a view to increasing their efficiency.. In either case, an understanding of the principles of budget and manpower planning is essential to the task. Those responsible for formulating and/or monitoring the budget and manpower plan for livestock services frequently lack both the training and the skills for doing so. One purpose of this module is to introduce some of the principles and issues involved in planning and to provide an opportunity to carry out some planning exercises.
Budget and manpower planning could be made more reliable and less time-and-paper consuming if more were known about past experiences. Policy scientists at ILCA and elsewhere have analysed experiences in African animal health services. Some useful rules-of-thumb regarding ratios between broad categories of expenditure and resources have emerged from this analysis. These are presented in the second section of the module, which also discusses some approaches to improving the effectiveness of the services provided.
