LIVESTOCK FARMERS

Source: indianexpress

1. Context

On the International Day of Rural Women (October 15), we need to recognize the role of women in livestock rearing, and include women in all facets of livestock development, be it breeding, veterinary care, extension services, training, or access to credit and markets.

2. About the Livestock sector

•  The livestock sector is one of the most rapidly growing components of the rural economy of India, accounting for 5% of national income and 28% of agricultural GDP in 2018-19. In the last six years, the livestock sector grew at 7.9% (at constant prices) while crop farming grew by 2%.
• It is widely recognized that the majority of women workers in rural areas (72%) are engaged in agricultural activities.
• There were five million women members in dairy co-operatives in 2015-16, and this increased further to 5.4 million in 2020-21. Women accounted for 31% of all members of dairy producer cooperatives in 2020-21. In India, the number of women’s dairy cooperative societies rose from 18,954 in 2012 to 32,092 in 2015-16

3.Data collection Problem

Conventional labour force surveys fail to accurately record women's work in livestock raising for many reasons.  The problems in data collection are

1. the sporadic nature of work undertaken for short spells throughout the day
2. And often carried out within the homestead and women's responses.

4.Fixing the problem

One way to adjust official statistics for this error is by calculating an augmented work participation rate. In other words, in addition to women reporting themselves as engaged in economic activity, this estimate includes women who reported themselves as “engaged in domestic duty” or care work for the major part of the year but spent time on specific activities such as kitchen gardening, household dairy/poultry, paddy husking, etc.

5.National Livestock policy 2013

• The National Livestock Policy (NLP) of 2013, aimed at sustainably increasing livestock production and productivity, rightly states that around 70% of the labour for the livestock sector comes from women.
•  One of the goals of this policy was the empowerment of women. The National Livestock Mission (NLM) of 2014-15 was initiated for the development of the livestock sector with a focus on the availability of feed and fodder, providing extension services, and improving the flow of credit to livestock farmers.
• However, the NLM does not propose any schemes or programs specific to women livestock farmers. The policy proposes that the State government allocates 30% of funds from centrally-sponsored schemes for women. There is no logic for the 30% quota.

6. Problems

1. First, recent employment surveys such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey fail to collect data on specific activities of persons engaged primarily in domestic duties. So, the undercounting of women in the livestock economy continues.
2. Second, the reach of extension services to women livestock farmers remains scarce. According to official reports, 80,000 livestock farmers were trained across the country in 2021, but we have no idea how many were women farmers. In our village surveys, only a few women in each village reported receiving any information from extension workers. Women wanted information but wanted it nearer home and at times when they were free.
3.  Third, in our village surveys, women in poor households, without collateral to offer to banks, found it difficult to avail of loans to purchase livestock. Around 15 lakh new Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) was provided to livestock farmers under the KCC scheme during 2020-22. There is no information on how many of them were women farmers.
4.  Fourth, women, and livestock farmers lacked technical knowledge on the choice of animals (breeding) and veterinary care. According to our village surveys, men invariably performed these specific tasks and took animals for artificial insemination.
5. Fifth, our village studies showed that women were not aware of the composition and functions of dairy boards and that men exercised decisions even in women-only dairy cooperatives.