Women’s Participation and its Determinants in Livestock Management Across the Developing World: A Systematic Review
Women’s Participation and its Determinants in Livestock Management Across the Developing World: A Systematic Review
Shaista Naz1*, Muhammad Arif2 and Akhtar Ali3
ABSTRACT
Women are the prime contributors to livestock management and their increased participation can lead towards not only their own empowerment but also towards the development of the sector. Review of the empirical research across the developing world in the said subject not only shed light on the lessons learnt but also can identify the gaps left out. For this, a systematic review has been conducted to highlight the immense role of women in livestock and its determinants in the developing countries. To achieve these objectives, a total of 32 publications after following the inclusion and were reviewed. Content analysis has been used for analysing data and the study found that women have higher participation in livestock management as compared to crop production due to the easy accessibility of livestock and the quick outcome in the shape of milk and milk products for home consumption and sale to earn cash. Furthermore, women were found to have higher participation in the indoor livestock management activities like animal feeding, serving water, cleaning of sheds, milking of animals, and preparation of milk products, while have low levels of participation in the outdoor activities such as fodder cutting, marketing of animals and its produce like milk and milk products due to their restricted mobility, patriarchy, low technical know-how, social, cultural, and religious constraints. The study identified various determinants of women’s participation in livestock like herd size, size of landholding, family type, educational status of the respondents, and household head as the negative and significant ones, while livestock rearing experience, extension contact, access to credit, age of the respondent, and farm income were the positive and significant ones. Concluding, the literature shows the considerable evidence of women’s participation in livestock management but the determinants were not fully explored in the developing countries. Moreover, the time allocation studies (quantification) on the subject matter were found scarce. It is therefore recommended that more empirical research should be carried out on time allocation studies and determinants of women’s participation in the livestock management as it will not only better quantify and recognize women’s role in the sector but will also be helpful in designing more effective, women’s specific policies and programs in the sector.
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