Women and Livestock Production

Women comprise over 43 percent of the global agricultural labour force and of that in developing countries but this figure masks considerable variation across regions and within countries according age and social class. Women comprise over 50 % of the agricultural labour force in many African and Asian countries but the share is much less in other. The contribution of women to agricultural and food production is clearly significant. However it is impossible to verify empirically the share produced by women because agriculture is usually a venture among household members and involves a range of resources and inputs that cannot be readily assigned by gender. Women’s participation in rural labour markets show much heterogeneity at the regional level but women are over represented in unpaid seasonal and part-time work and the available evidence suggests that women are often paid less than men for the same work. Role of women’s in livestock rearing are diverse and that they vary across regions and countries. These roles cannot be understood properly and interventions targeting cannot be designed effectively without also understanding their differential access to land.