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A VSD Deputy Director observed that, because of hardships, many TOs under-reported the services they provided in order to avoid payment of service charges. For example, since 2009, farm visits and house calls attract a service charge of 2 Gh¢ and 3Gh¢ per treatment of a sheep/goat and cattle, respectively (Fees and Charges Act 793, 2009). A TO said that in 2011 his ‘monthly service charge sometimes was 3Gh¢ or 5Gh¢’. He reasoned that it was not worth-while to use his own funds to buy drugs and then pay service charges to the government. This is typical of TOs who paid service charges. In response to the reduced number of veterinary staff, the increased cost of accessing public service, coupled to the increased importance of livestock as ‘savings’ for meeting needs and emergencies in households, many smallholders have taken up self-medication. ‘Self-medication is a practice whereby clients purchase drugs and vaccines and administer these to their animals without consulting veterinary staff’ (Turkson 2008, p. 19). Cattle-owning farmers especially indicated that self-medication has risen after the reforms, as indicated at a focus group meeting at Tabiasi. As one of them indicated: At first, people didn’t realise the importance of animals, but today everything you do involves money. Examples are health insurance, school fees, fertiliser, and naming ceremony, to mention just a few. More to the point, there isn’t any vet. So if you do not treat your own, [whiles] the means are numer-ous, a time will come when you will be at risk [no cattle to fall back on for cash]. So this is the major reason why farmers are forced to learn about some of these issues. The most common form of self-medication is treatment of wounds and skin diseases, using either herbs or orthodox products such as iodine solutions and insecticides. The second is prophylaxis and curative treatments using herbal preparations, notably a common salt solution with dawadawa (a fermented condiment prepared with beans of a tree legume, Parkiabiglobasa) that animals can drink. Third, farmers inject ill animals using antibiotics such as oxytectracycline and procaine penicillin. The fourth type is top-up treatment when the TO has failed to cure an ill animal. Most small-holders cannot afford a follow-up visit by the TO so they monitor their animals and provide the needed follow-up treatment themselves. The top-up treatment often involves both herbal preparations and orthodox products. The first and second types of self-medication were common in all four communities studied. The third and fourth types were observed mostly in Tabiasi.
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