Role of women in animal husbandry practices

Dr. A. Dey

Livestock and Fisheries Management Division ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna

Introduction

A number of challenges face the livestock sector on which about 70% poor smallholder households in eastern India is dependent. These challenges demand innovative and sustainable approaches involving women as a player for ensuring food, resource, and livelihood security for the family. In fact, women oriented societies in ancient India gave more importance on animal husbandry as sources of milk, meat, egg, wool, hides & skin and of course the “living money”. At present, though livestock sector contributes about 27% of agricultural GDP of the country, its role and importance has been ignored as the importance of women in the society. A number of gender issues are central to discussions of agricultural livelihoods and to fight against hunger and poverty (FAO, 2002). These include access to and control of assets and gendered divisions of labor (IFAD 2004). The roles, right, responsibilities and decision making power of women in the societies varies across region and socioeconomic conditions of the family. The aim of this article is to identify area where capacity building of women in animal husbandry is required in Bihar.

Role of women

Women perform a variety of roles, of which many are of greater economic significance (Bhopale and Palki, 1998). The role and contribution of women in dairying other than usual household responsibilities had been interpreted in social than economical pretext. Contribution of farm women in agriculture is likely to be around 50 to 60 per cent while rural woman contributes a share of more than 75 per cent in animal husbandry operations (Upadhyay and Desai, 2011). On an average a women contributes about 4-6 hours for animal husbandry operations in rural Bihar.

Role in animal husbandry

Women play an important role in animal husbandry activities as manager, decision makers and skilled workers. Caring of animals is considered as an extension of domestic activities in Indian social system and most of the animal husbandry activities like bringing fodder from field, chaffing the fodder, preparing feed for animals, offering water to animals, protection of animals from ticks and lice, cleaning of animals and sheds, preparing of dung cakes, milking, ghee-making and marketing of produce are performed by farm women. Thus, involvement of farm women in farming activities is a common feature in Indian rural setting. They help in farm operations, take their animals for grazing, look after the sale of milk, and in addition, perform the functions related to house management. Most of the work and decision-making by women takes place at the household level, while old men or children take the livestock for grazing and male members participate in public meetings that relate to animal husbandry or else. Almost all important decisions are taken jointly by both the man and the woman heading the household. These decisions include which animals to sell and at what price, disease diagnosis and treatment of sick animals.

Role in nutritional security

Food security is essentially built on three pillars: food availability, food access, and food utilization. An individual must have access to sufficient food of the right dietary mix (quality) at all times to be food secure. Those who never have sufficient quality food are chronically food insecure. Those whose access to an adequate diet is conditioned by seasonality are food insecure and are generally called seasonally food insecure. Individuals who normally have enough to eat but become food insecure in the face of disasters triggered by economic, climatic, and civil shocks (war and conflict) are transitorily food insecure. The “at all times” element of the food security definition makes risk and associated vulnerability an important element of the food security concept. It has been observed that ssixty percent of the calories and proteins consumed by humans today come from just three plant species: maize, rice, and wheat. Seventy-five percent of our food supply comes from just 12 plants and five animal species (Lambrou and Laub 2004), but yet dietary diversity is extremely important. Diets dominated by cereals lack an adequate array of micronutrients such as iron, vitamin A, B vitamins (niacin, thiamine), vitamin C, zinc, iodine, and folate. Deficiencies in micronutrients are costly in economic terms and in terms of people’s well-being. Deficiencies in vitamin A, iron, and zinc all rank within the top 10 leading causes of death through disease in developing countries (WHO 2002). Vitamin A and Iodine deficiency are very common among children and iron and folic acid deficiency among women. Women are typically responsible for food preparation and thus are crucial to the dietary diversity of their households. Women are generally responsible for selecting food purchased to complement staple foods and to balance the household’s diet. The prime sources for micronutrients are fruits, vegetables, and animal source foods, including fish. Animal source foods are particularly good; they are high density in terms of micronutrients, and those micronutrients are also more bio available to the human body. Agriculture is thus a key to dietary diversity, particularly in areas that have less access to markets given the perishable nature of fruits, vegetables, and animal source foods.

Women’s typical role within a livestock production system is different from region to region, and the distribution of ownership of livestock between men and women is strongly related to social, cultural and economic factors. Generally, it depends on the type of animals they raise. In many societies, for example, cattle and larger animals are owned by men, while smaller animals – such as goats, sheep, pigs and backyard poultry kept near the house – are more a woman’s domain. When the rearing of small animals becomes a more important source of family income, ownership, management and control are often turned over to the man. Women are crucial in the translation of the products of a vibrant agriculture sector into food and nutritional security for their households. They are often the farmers who cultivate food crops and produce commercial crops alongside the men in their households as a source of income. When women have an income, substantial evidence indicates that the income is more likely to be spent on food and children’s needs. Women are generally responsible for food selection and preparation and for the care and feeding of children.

Women empowerment on animal husbandry sector

1. Dairy sector
   1. Feeding of milch animal
   2. Processing of crop residues
   3. System of grazing in forest areas and procedure of lopping of trees for fodder
   4. Care of pregnant animal
   5. Care of calf
   6. Primary health care
   7. Vaccination schedule
   8. Deworming schedule
   9. Care of animal during heat stress
   10. Clean milk production
   11. Processing and value addition of milk
   12. Breeding of dairy animals

1. Record keeping
2. Zoonotic diseases and their precautions
3. Livestock management in emergency like flood, drought, cyclones etc
4. Culling and restocking programmes
5. Conservation of fodder

2. Goat husbandry
3. Backyard poultry keeping
4. Pig husbandry in tribal areas
5. Others: Vermicomposting, compositing, waste utilization for fuel

Issues

Despite their considerable involvement and contribution, women’s role in livestock production has often been underestimated, if not ignored. Gender-blindness is the result partly of a paternalistic bias, and partly due to the attitudes of the women themselves, who may be conditioned by their culture and society to underestimate the value of their own work. As a result, it is difficult to obtain information on the role of women in livestock production. In addition, women’s work is rarely reflected in national statistics. However, following issues may be considered for empowerment in animal husbandry sector:

1. Decision-making and empowerment: Livestock ownership is increasing women’s decision- making and economic power within both the household and the It is also a source of cash and can open up access to credit (the sale of small ruminants can provide an emergency source of cash for medical treatment or school fees, while daily milk provides a regular flow of cash income often used to purchase food and household items). Low participation of farm women was observed in decision making about economic aspects where execution is carried out by them. So there is need to make them aware about financial regulation, loans and insurance of animals and marketing structure.

2. Household welfare. The management, processing and marketing of livestock products generate more income than most of the activities women tend to be involved in, and bring benefits for the whole family (for instance by increasing food security at the household level: small ruminants provide food products such as milk, butter, cheese and meat, all of which are a source of protein, minerals and vitamins)

3. Income generation. Animals provide raw material such as wool, skins, and bones used by women to make clothes, or as fuel for home consumption and for sale. Processing of these materials can be an important source of additional employment and income for poor rural women

4. Access to credit and resources. Livestock ownership increases the likelihood of gaining access to credit and Milking, processing and marketing of milk products, does not necessarily mean that women can control decisions regarding livestock or own it.

5. Access to information and organization, specifically to (i) livestock extension and veterinary information and services; artificial insemination services; participation in developing livestock programmes and policies (e.g. vaccination, culling and restocking programmes); (ii) emerging livestock-related technologies (e.g. fodder, breeding, disease prevention, livelihood decision- making tools); and (iii) training and involvement as community animal health workers and para-veterinarians.
   1. Access to markets and distribution of risks and gains along different steps of livestock value chains varies according to the gender of (i) producers (e.g. rights to income generated from livestock); (ii) processors (access to processing technologies and information); (iii) market agents (access to transportation, safe market spaces and overnight accommodation, risk of sexual harassment and abuse); and (iv) economies of scale (bringing women together to improve their market position).

    

   2. Risk and vulnerability. Women and men have different experiences and capacities to face: (i) livestock sector trends (e.g. policy biases and changes, “supermarketization”, the lengthening of livestock value chains, vertical integration); (ii) regional shocks affecting livestock climate/ecosystem change, drought, flooding, animal disease, demographic changes, political upheaval, conflict); (iii) household shocks (illness or death of family member; “distress sales” of livestock to pay for medical treatment, property or asset grabbing).

    

   3. Self-esteem. Owning, controlling and benefiting from livestock production increases women’s self-esteem and strengthens their role as producers and income generators within the household and in the

    

   References

   https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/role-of-women-in-livestock-rearing-in-india/#:~:text=Women%20are%20typically%20responsible%20for,are%20responsible%20for%20household%20activities%20.

https://escientificpublishers.com/women-and-animal-husbandry-AVAS-02-0010

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