Impact of Livestock Services on Socio-economic Status and Livelihoods of Farmers and Service Providers

The study was designed to assess the effectiveness of Union Livestock Service Centre (ULSC) under the Food Security for Sustainable Household Livelihoods (FoSHoL) project implemented by ActionAid, Bangaladesh. The study was conducted at 8 unions of 4 districts. Forty four service providers (vaccinators) and 120 households were selected as samples of the present study. The data were collected by using interview schedule through direct interview and personal visits to the houses of respondents. Majority of service providers (73%) and farmers (75%) were female having an average age of 37.25 and 36.39 years respectively. Among service providers, 59% had below secondary level education and 37% and 25% of the farmers in the study areas had the primary and below secondary level education, respectively. The average family size (4.28) was slightly higher among farmers than service providers (4.13). The land ownership of service providers (homestead and cultivable) and farmers (borgha) significantly (P<0.05) changed after getting livestock services from the FoSHoL project. The number of poultry of service providers and farmers increased significantly but the cattle numbers remained same. The average annual income, expenditure and the share of livestock and products in total income of service providers and farmers increased significantly (P<0.01). The livestock services provided by FoSHoL increased (P<0.01) the hand savings, savings in society and bank deposits of service providers and farmers as well. With the total income increased, the expenditure increased mainly on food, education, recreation and festival after implementation of the project indicating the improvement of their livelihood.