Data feedback mechanisms and quality of service delivery: a case study of artificial insemination services in cattle in central Kenya

Abstract

In an effort to improve service delivery and reduce expenditure, governments in Sub-Saharan Africa engaged in a process of privatization of certain services that were considered to be non-core or non-essential. This was done through the prompting of the World Bank under the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs). Artificial Insemination (AI) in cattle was one of the services that was privatized and handed over to private practitioners in Kenya. To date, this service is available through individual service providers or cooperatives, with the government playing a minimal regulatory role.The greater part of the regulation is left to market forces. This paper sought to review existing literature to find out if there are existing monitoring and evaluation feedback mechanisms for the government as a regulator from the service consumers who are mostly small scale farmers. It further sought to ind out whether the information feedback systems, if any, are used in improving aspects of service quality namely - reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness. The paper found that apart from licensing of service providers and collecting monthly data on the number of inseminations provided, there was little documented evidence of monitoring and evaluation of service quality in Artificial Insemination services. Further, even if the government has been licensing importers of semen, there has been little documented evidence of monitoring and evaluation of the imported semen.