Context: On the occasion of “International Day of Rural Women” (October 15), this article analyses the role of women's labor which is important in all facets of livestock development and also in the livestock economy.

Livestock Sector in India

• The Livestock sector in India is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the rural economy. 

• The Livestock sector in 2018-19 in India accounted for about 5% of the national income and around 28% of the agricultural GDP.

• In the last six years, the sector has grown at a rate of 7.9% while crop farming posted a 2% growth. 

Women in Livestock Sector

• Various field studies reveal that in rural areas, especially in households that own livestock, women play an extensive part in animal rearing.

• It was found that there were over 50 lakh women members in dairy co-operatives in 2015-16 which increased further to 54 lakhs by 2020-21. 

• Women constituted about 31% of all members of dairy producer cooperatives in 2020-21. 

• Additionally, the number of women’s dairy cooperative societies also increased to 32,092 in 2015-16 as compared to 18,954 in 2012.

• However, other than the participation of women in the dairy co-operatives sector, their role in the livestock economy as a whole is not as widely known and has not been given adequate attention.

Lack of adequate data

• The traditional labour force surveys conducted in India have failed to record women’s role in livestock-raising adequately. 

• The sporadic nature of livestock-raising work is done at short durations throughout the day and is carried out within the homestead. These two reasons have acted as key hurdles for data collection.

• As per a time-use survey conducted in a village in Karnataka, a poor peasant woman would spend close to 3.5 hours on livestock-related work, which is combined with her other household chores. 

• Further, the data from the surveys conducted by the Foundation for Agrarian Studies in Karnataka suggest that in every rural household that owned a milch animal, a woman spent at least two to eight hours a day on animal rearing. 

• This pattern of work has made it difficult even for women to report “livestock raising” as an economic activity.

• Additionally, there is a wide underestimation of the number of women engaged in livestock activities.

• According to an estimate based on the Employment and Unemployment Survey of 2011-12, it was reported that there were 1.2 crore rural women working in livestock-raising

• However, with a broader definition, other estimates reveal that over 4.9 crore rural women were engaged in livestock raising which is four times the official estimates. 

Fundamental Problems associated with Women in Livestock Sector

• Conventional national-level employment surveys like the Periodic Labour Force Survey fail to collect data on specific activities of persons engaged primarily in domestic duties. This has resulted in the gross undercounting of women in the livestock sector.

• The services extended to women livestock farmers in the country are largely inadequate.

• As per the official estimates, only about 80,000 livestock farmers were trained across the country in 2021 and the number of women livestock farmers out of this would be much lower.

• According to field studies, women found it difficult to purchase livestock due to their difficulties in availing of loans or credit facilities.

• Under the Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) scheme, about 15 lakh new KCCs were given to livestock farmers but the number of women farmers among this is not known.

• Further, the women livestock farmers in the country lacked scientific expertise in the choice of animals and veterinary care. 

• Studies also reveal that women are not aware of the composition and functions of dairy boards and that men dominate in decision-making even in women-only dairy cooperatives. Further, the voices of landless and poor women were ignored.

• The National Livestock Policy (NLP) which was launched with a view to increasing livestock production and productivity in a sustainable manner acknowledged that around 70% of the labour for the livestock sector comes from women. 

• However, the NLM as of now does not consist of any programmes which specifically benefit women livestock farmers.

Conclusion

• As about 70% of the labour for the livestock sector comes from women, the role of women is said to be significantly crucial for the livestock economy. Thus there is a need for the inclusion of women in all aspects of livestock development such as veterinary care, extension services, training, credit facilities and decision-making.