That Sheep May Safely Graze by Sherman David M.;Eloit Monique;

Author:Sherman, David M.;Eloit, Monique;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Purdue University Press

30.

Sliding Down the RAMP

June of 2006 arrived with no word from USAID as to when a follow-up project to RAMP might begin or whether it would contain a veterinary component. Nevertheless, the time had come to bring the RAMP veterinary project to a successful close, and while waiting for word of future funding, to put a bridging plan in place to keep the Dutch Committee operational and the veterinary field units supplied with vaccines and medicines until new project funds materialized.

One pressing matter was to organize the end of project workshop to present our veterinary program accomplishments to USAID, the government of Afghanistan, the NGO community, and interested members of the military and donor communities. It was important that the workshop went well, as we wanted to keep a favorable impression of the Dutch Committee and our veterinary work in the minds of USAID decision makers as they made plans for their follow-on projects in the agricultural sector. We had booked the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul for the final workshop to be held on June 28, 2006. It had been the best hotel in town before the Kabul Serena Hotel was built, and it was still an attractive venue, notwithstanding the big sign at the front door with a picture of an AK-47 with a red X over it and the words “No Weapons” in English and Dari.

The workshop was well attended and it went very well. The Minister of Agriculture Obaidullah Ramin, who had been invited to give the opening remarks, was extraordinarily complimentary about the RAMP veterinary field unit program and its usefulness to the livestock owners of Afghanistan. He affirmed that it was appropriate for clinical service delivery to be in the private sector and acknowledged that charging fees for veterinary care was a necessary element for sustainability. He indicated his recognition of the importance of a productive partnership between the clinicians in the private sector and the regulatory veterinarians in government and declared his support for that partnership. To our amazement, he then went so far to say that if the Veterinary Department was not cooperating with the Dutch Committee or other players in the private sector, he personally wanted to know about it. Apparently, he had been paying attention to our work.

As the program progressed, it was a pleasure to hear my DCA colleagues talk about the achievements of the RAMP project. Dr. Fakhri, the regional director of the DCA’s office in Herat, gave a well-organized and informative presentation on the overall structure and operation of the RAMP veterinary program. Then Wim Tondeur told the audience about the outputs of the project. A total of 403 veterinary field units were operating in 278 districts of 31 provinces. They were staffed by 435 paravets, 74 veterinary assistants, and 91 veterinarians who had provided 18,485,000 vaccinations, 9,357,000 treatments, and 636,000 other veterinary interventions to millions of animals on a fee-for-service basis. Wim pointed out that these numbers would grow even larger, as we still had 47 paravets in training who would be starting their work at new VFUs in August.

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