Respondent ID: 104
Respondent gender: Male
Date of the interview: 22/04/2020
Language of the interview: Swahili
I: My name is Mercy, and I am calling from Busara. Are you comfortable in English or Swahili?
R: Kiswahili. We can always add any other.
I: I would like to speak to you as part of a research study by Busara Center. We do research all over the world and are an independent organization – we are not an NGO or linked to the government. We are doing this research with WeFarm and the Wellcome Trust to understand your current experiences with farming livestock. Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation working to improve health and is based in the UK, and WeFarm is a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform for smallholder farmers.
R: Okay.
I: We would like to understand in more detail the way that you look after your livestock and keep them healthy. The data we collect will be used to:
- Better understand the farmer’s knowledge and needs with regard to treating sick animals.
- To produce a report with findings that will be used internally by the Wellcome Trust and WeFarm.
- To produce a report that will be published publicly by the Wellcome Trust
- To inform the Wellcome Trust’s and WeFarm’s public engagement work related to antimicrobial resistance
It is up to you whether you choose to participate or not. There are no penalties, and you will not lose anything if you decide not to join, or if after you join, you decide to quit. We want this to be an open conversation, so please feel comfortable sharing with us what you really think. Your part of the study will last up to 30 to 40 minutes. We would like to record your responses on an audio recorder so they can be typed up later. Following the interview, the notes, recordings, and transcripts will be preserved as records for five years before being destroyed. If you are not comfortable with this, you may, at any point in the interview, request that certain parts of the interview are removed afterward, up until the data is deleted.
R: All right.
I: We do not expect there to be any harm to you by taking part in this study, and have reduced any risks to you by keeping all the data we collect anonymous and private.
R: All right.
I: You will receive 300KES to show appreciation for your time, which will be sent in the course of next week. Although there may not be any direct benefits to you participating in this study, we hope to learn more about farming practices to inform programming going forwards, which may have wider benefits to you and your community. Are you interested and willing to participate?
R: Yes.
I: Are you okay with the interview being recorded?
R: Yes, anywhere that I will make a slight mistake, you will skip it?
I: Yes. We also have a photo journal session that we would like you to send photos of your farm if you are comfortable doing it. This is if you have a smartphone. You are compensated airtime of 500 shillings for your part. Are you comfortable participating in the photo journal?
R: For now, I am a bit far from home, but when I get there, I will take the photos and send them.
I: All right. At your own convenient time. Please tell me your full names.
R: My name is Joseah Tanui.
I: What about Kipronoh?
R: No, Kipng’etich Tanui.
I: Age
R: I was born in 1974, how many years is that until now?
I: 46?
R: Yes, 46.
I: Which county are you from?
R: Kericho County.
I: The highest level of education attained:
R: I studied up to College. I did IT.
I: How long have you been a farmer?
R: Since 2006.
I: Is that 14 years?
R: Yes.
I: What animals do you rear on the farm?
R: I rear three dairy cows.
I: Anything else?
R: I grow coffee, one acre.
I: All right but, today we will only be speaking about animals.
R: Yes.
I: You have told me that you have three cows, right?
R: Yes.
I: What do you keep animals for?
R: For milk only.
I: Where did you get your animals from?
R: I bought two only. The third one was a calf.
I: Where did you buy the two?
R: I bought them from the market.
I: Before we move to the next section, I would just like to ask, how have you been handling the coronavirus situation in Kenya?
R: We are covered in masks. I have set up water outside my house for visitors to wash their hands when they come in—also, sanitizers.
I: Yes.
I: Are you and your family, okay?
R: Yes, we are okay.
I: Has your work been affected at all?
R: Yes. I used to supply the milk that I get from cows in hotels, but then the hotels are now closed. The milk spoils. It is an indication that after this month, I will not get money to buy animal feeds and medication.
I: Do you think your work will be affected in the future?
R: Yes, if the disease progresses, I will be affected.
I: How?
R: I will not get money to buy cow feeds, and if the schools open, the children will not go to school because I will not have school fees. Most of the milk spoils because my customers are not able to buy everything.
I: I want to talk about how you look after your animals. Please tell me about the last time one of your animals was sick
R: It has been a while. Should I mention the date?
I: Yes, the last time one of your animals was sick. Tell me about that.
R: It was in January. I had missed spraying the cows because the whole of December, I sprayed once. Afterward, it was the festivity season, and I did not have the money. I just missed spraying for one week, and the ticks infested the cows and bit them.
I: What was the first thing you did after you realized?
R: I looked for the veterinarian officer who came to give the cow an injection.
I: When was this [pre- or post- Corona?]
R: It was before corona, in January.
I: What did you do next?
R: The vet told me not to miss spraying the cows. I had the routine of spraying the cows every week. Since then, I have never skipped. However, I feel like I may skip because at times, I do not have money
I: What made you decide to take this course of action?
R: To do what?
I: For example, what made you call the doctor?
R: The milk production went down. Even before that, the cow was not eating, not in good health, and it started lowering down its ears. The cow would rush to the shade.
I: Would you do the same thing if a different type of animal was sick?
R: I would have done the same thing.
I: Would you do anything differently depending on their symptoms, such as vomiting vs. diarrhea?
R: No, I would have still called the doctor to check the cows.
I: I would like us to talk about disease prevention. Preventing illness means trying to stop your animals from getting sick.
R: Yes.
I: What methods do you use to prevent illness in animals?
R: One is regularly spraying. Also ensuring cleanliness in the animal feeding places. Another thing is […]
I: I am listening to you.
R: The animal should not eat the Napier grass immediately after cutting the grass
I: Why?
R: The Napier still has a lot of water when you cut in and give it to it immediately. It (fresh grass with moisture) could reduce the milk or even get the animal sick.
I: How do these prevention methods compare with antibiotic use?
R: With prevention, you do not use a lot of money, but when the animal is already sick, you will have to go to the Agrovet to buy medicine, which you may not even know what kind of illness you are trying to treat.
I: Which one is cheaper between prevention and antibiotics use?
R: Prevention is cheap.
I: Do you vaccinate your animals?
R: Yes.
I: Why do you vaccinate the animal?
R: I vaccinate so that in case of any illness, the animal has a good immune system and can fight some diseases.
I: Have you ever heard of antibiotics being used to prevent sickness?
R: Yes, it prevents.
I: What do you think about that?
R: I think that it is not a bad method. Antibiotic use for prevention is not bad.
I: Do you think antibiotics prevent illness?
R: Yes, it prevents and also defends.
I: What kinds of diseases?
R: I do not know what it is called. We just call it Malaria for cows.
I: Do you give it Malaria to prevent such diseases?
R: Yes.
I: Now, I want to talk about treating animals when they are sick. Could you please tell me about a time when you used antibiotics on your animal?
R: Yes. It is the doctor who gave me the prescription. He (doctor) told me that these are antibiotics to give the cow, which I then gave.
I: What kind of sickness was the animal suffering from?
R: I am not sure what the doctor told me. He was not so clear enough. The doctor just came, checked the animal, and prescribed antibiotics.
I: Did you consider other options before calling the doctor to treat the animal?
R: My option was to call the doctor.
I: What was the deciding factor?
R: Because I have not studied to be a doctor and also because I have noticed that the animal is sick and giving me a little milk. When I see such changes, I know that the animal has a slight problem.
I: Did you seek advice from a vet or extension officer before getting antibiotics?
R: Yes, I asked for advice from the vet; he came to my house to check all the animals and explained to me everything.
I: Did you need a prescription?
R: Yes. The vet sometimes prescribes, or he gives me the prescription.
I: The vet gives you the prescription?
R: Yes, the vet explained to me so well.
I: Did you give antibiotics until the symptoms disappeared, or did you keep giving them after the symptoms were gone?
R: After the symptoms disappeared, I stopped giving it the antibiotics.
I: Was this after the symptoms had disappeared?
R: Yes, I gave the animal until the dose was over.
I: Can you tell me about the conditions you think antibiotics could be used for.
R: Prevention of diseases and treatment.
I: Anything else?
R: Sometimes, the antibiotics boosts immunity and gives the animal feeding appetite.
I: Do you think there are any illnesses where antibiotics aren’t helpful?
R: No, it helps.
I: Do you know if you can sell the meat milk or eggs after giving your animals antibiotics?
R: I did not sell the milk after the animal was administered treatment. I would milk and then pour the milk to dogs.
I: After how long?
R: The doctor told me 14 days, that is for two weeks.
I: 14 days?
R: Yes.
I: Is this different from when another animal is sick?
R: Not a lot, it is around two weeks.
I: Are there any kinds of checks?
R: We did not do any checks; we just use some for home consumption and sell the rest of the milk.
I: What do you do with the milk produced during this time?
R: I would feed it to the animal. Sometimes, we would pour it.
I: We are going to the 4th session, which is on sources of antibiotics. In this section, I want to understand where you get antibiotics from, and when you purchase antibiotics. Can you please tell me about some of the different places where antibiotics are available?
R: Yes. I get it from the Agrovet most of the time.
I: Aside from the Agrovet, is there any other place you would get the antibiotics?
R: No, it is only the Agrovet.
I: How do you decide where to purchase antibiotics? (Repeats the question)
R: I run to somewhere that is close by. It should be someone whom I know well and who explains to me the information on the product well.
I: Is this the same place you go each time?
R: No. It may be different. Sometimes I may be far, and I am called to bring something from the Agrovet.
I: Just to clarify, if you are far and are called to bring something, you buy it from there?
R: Yes, from the Agrovet that is close by.
I: Is there any other reason?
R: No. However, there is one Agrovet that I visit more, and if I go there and miss something, the Agrovet refers me to another Agrovet.
I: Have you ever borrowed antibiotics from another farmer?
R: Yes, it has been so long, though.
I: Please tell me more.
R: It was a long time when my cow had given birth, and it was not producing any milk. My neighbor came over and told me that he has medicine he had injected his cow, which remained. My friend offered to help me and injected the cow for me.
I: Was the animal okay afterward?
R: Yes, it was okay. However, it took a while before the animal went back on track.
I: Have you ever bought antibiotics from a pharmacy or chemist?
R: Yes, I have ever bought.
I: Where was that?
R: One of the Agrovets in Kericho town.
I: There is an Agrovet and a chemist/pharmacy which sells medicine. Have you ever bought medicine from a chemist?
R: No, not yet.
I: Only from the Agrovet?
R: Yes. There is a big Agrovet called Kericho Mshambani Agrovet; I always run there in case I want to buy anything. If you buy antibiotics from them, they educate you a lot more on how to take care of the animal and how to administer the medicine.
I: Are you aware that some kiosks sell antibiotics?
R: Yes, the antibiotics are available even it kiosks/shops.
I: What do you think about that?
R: That is bad. Those people are not qualified. They just stock up the products and do not even know how the antibiotics are supposed to be used. For example, they bring drashes and mix them up, yet they do not know how it works.
I: Are you able to access antibiotics affordably?
R: No, it is not affordable. They just sell the normal price.
I: Is the price high or affordable? Is it something that you can afford?
R: Yes, affordable. I trust them because I do not think it is very expensive.
I: Do you need to cut costs elsewhere to afford antibiotics?
R: Yes. It has changed. I went to the Agrovet, and they refused to sell anything to me. I was told that they would only sell to me if I had a mask. Another thing is the people at home give me cash at hand. I have always taken cash and not put on Mpesa. I was forced to deposit money in Mpesa and make payments through the pay bill.
I: I would like to understand. Do you mean that you went to the Agrovet to buy something in cash, and they refused and asked you to deposit it in Mpesa and pay via pay bill?
R: Yes, I was told to deposit the money in Mpesa.
I: Did you get the antibiotics?
R: Yes, I got them after I hustled to deposit money in Mpesa and paid via Mpesa.
I: Do you get the antibiotics affordably?
R: Yes, it is not so bad.
I: Have you ever cut on other costs to afford to buy antibiotics from the vet or Agrovet? (Repeats the question)
R: Yes. I would leave cow salt first to buy antibiotics.
I: What other costs do you cut on?
R: The money I would buy food items. I would leave buying sugar to buy antibiotics.
I: Is this always the same, or does it depend on the time of year, cash flow, etc.?
R: It depends on the season and cash flow, for example, in December when we have so many celebrations.
I: Do you ever use antibiotics bought previously for a newly sick animal?
R: No, I always observe. When I go to the Agrovet, he gives me an explanation of the amount that should be used on the animal. The Agrovet would tell me that this should be enough for one cow only so I cannot transfer the medicine to another animal. I also observe the expiry date a lot.
I: What options do you have if you can’t afford antibiotics?
R: I would turn to the neighbor to help me or rush to the veterinary doctor to administer the injection and pay when I get the money, on credit.
I: What about when you turn to your neighbor?
R: That does not happen a lot.
I: You have told me that when you turn to the vet, it is on credit, what about when you turn to your neighbor?
R: Maybe the neighbor had stored the medicine he was left with, or the neighbor can give me other options.
I: Please remember that all the data that you give me are private and confidential. Is that okay?
R: All right.
I: Thank you for your time so far, another question, have you ever been unable to complete the full course of antibiotics?
R: No.
I: Do you think completing the full course is necessary?
R: Yes, it is necessary.
I: Why? Please tell me more
R: It is important though sometimes when I used it, the animal has so much strength. You find that even the animal that the doctor was helping me to get up becomes so strong that the doctor tells me it is okay, and the cow has recovered.
I: Does this mean that you only stop the medication when the doctor tells you?
R: Yes.
I: What challenges did you face?
R: No, I have not seen any challenges.
I: What could help make this easier for you?
R: Yes, the doctor and I help each other with the administration of antibiotics.
I: What else could help make this easier for you?
R: Like?
I: Anything (…) I will give you an example. For example, I have a problem with taking medicine until I complete the dose, I would ask the doctor to give me an injection so that I would not have to swallow the medicine every day for five days.
R: Yes.
I: Is there anything that would make your experience better?
R: Yes. There are these tablets if you give the cow, sometimes it returns it. I would grind it to powder form, mix it with water, and ensure that the cow has taken it.
I: Is there anything that would make it better for you, or are you okay?
R: I always give it the medicine ma, usually using a bottle or something. I would like to get a machine that would help me in administering medicine.
I: I am interested in learning about where you get your information and seek advice on the use of antibiotics.
R: Yes.
I: What sources of advice/information are available to you regarding farming practices?
R: I depend on the vet doctor a lot. Sometimes, I google.
I: Is there anywhere else?
R: In radios, there are specific radio stations that educate regarding farming practices. When they educate, I take a pen and note down a little of what they say.
I: Are there any specific sources of advice/information for treating sick animals and the use of antibiotics?
R: If I do not get the doctor, I rush to the Agrovet. I would explain the symptoms of the Agrovet, and he would give me medicine.
I: Who would be your first point of call?
R: The doctor only.
I: You talk with your family and then find a doctor?
R: Yes, we talk. We normally visit each other to look at how each one is fairing on.
I: Is there other advice you get from a farmer?
R: No.
I: Do you use the WeFarm app?
R: No. The phone that I have is bonoko (slang for useless). It is a Mulika mwizi.
I: How do you use the WeFarm app?
R: I have never used it.
I: Have you ever had the WeFarm app or the USSD code for WeFarm?
R: I do not remember how I found it. I think I sent a message to a specific code.
I: Have you used it?
R: Yes, the normal one.
I: There is an app-specific to We Farm where you can send messages to other farmers. Have you ever used the WeFarm app?
R: Not yet.
I: How did you find out about WeFarm?
R: I googled M phone is small, but it works.
I: Where did you hear WeFarm from?
R: From the radio.
I: Would you be interested in a service where you can speak to an expert farmer near you for free?
R: Yes, I need it.
I: Why?
R: It could be they have different experiences from them, such as feeding techniques and the market for the milk.
I: Is there an extension officer in your area?
R: We only hear from a distance
I: Have you ever spoken to any of them?
R: Not yet.
I: What do you mean when you say you only hear of extension officers from a distance?
R: We only hear that there are extension officers, but if you try and call them, sometimes they would tell you that they do not have fuel money. Even the doctors we utilize and the ones who have learned vet from college.
I: The ones who help you?
R: Yes.
I: Have you ever tried to call the extension officer, or have you just heard from people?
R: I have heard it from my friends, my fellow farmers who called, and the extension officer told them that they do not have fuel in their cars or motorbikes.
I: Where is your nearest Agrovet? [Distance, time]
R: I would get there in half an hour.
I: How many kilometers does it take you to get there in terms of distance?
R: Three kilometers. It would take me 15 minutes using a motorbike, but if I decide to walk, it is half an hour.
I: Do you use them often?
R: Yes, I always go there.
I: Tell me about the last time you interacted with them.
R: It was on Thursday when I went to buy antibiotics for spraying the cows.
I: What made you decide to visit them?
R: I went to, but the medicine used to spray.
I: Did they help you?
R: Yes.
I: How did they help you?
R: I found the antibiotics there.
I: Is there any other help you got?
R: No, none.
I: What do you usually go to Agrovets for?
R: It is only to but the antibiotics. There is nothing else.
I: Anything else aside from medicine?
R: At times, they sell the Jembe stick, which we buy from there.
I: We are in the last section. Two more questions, and we will be done.
R: Yes.
I: Have you heard of Antimicrobial Resistance?
R: No, I have never heard of it.
I: Antimicrobial is defined as “bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites changing in ways that make the medications used to cure the infections they cause ineffective. Have you ever heard about this?
R: Yes. I have ever heard of this. Is it like when you are spraying ticks, and they become resistant, and so you have to buy another one.
I: Where di you get this information from?
R: It happened to me. I moved from one antibiotic to another one, which works.
I: Have you ever been given information about antimicrobial resistance?
R: Yes, there was one which I was told that if I spray an animal using the spray, in three days, the ticks would be back.
I: What did you hear about it?
R: I was using something else, but then they told me that drashes would help.
I: Who were they?
R: My fellow farmers.
I: How long was this?
R: It has been a while. It was in 2019.
I: Last year?
R: Yes.
I: That’s all the questions that I have for now. Is there anything else you think it’s important for me to know?
R: No, not now.
I: Do you have a question?
R: I do not have.
I: Would you like information on that?
R: Yes.
I: You had told me that you could take photos for me, are you able to?
R: Yes. I will do that when I get home.
I: Alright. Please call me or send me an SMS on this number.
R: I will use this number
I: Yes, When is this?
R: Tomorrow.
I: Okay. Please tell me when you get a phone, and I will send you a message of what I would like you to take as photos and send it.
R: All right.
I: Thank you very much for your time, and have a good day.
R: You too, madam.