Principles and Techniques of Veterinary and AH Extension

INTRODUCTION 

• FAO (1998) defined gender as the relation between men and women, both perceptual and material.Gender is not determined biologically as a result of sexual characteristics of either women or men, but it is constructed socially. It is a central organising principle of societies, and often governs the processes of production and reproduction, consumption and distribution. Gender roles are considered as the social definition of women and men in a society. So, these roles can vary among different societies with regard to religious, culture, classes, values and beliefs. Gender relations are the ways in which a society defines rights,responsibilities, and the identities of men and women in relation to one another.
• International Funding for Agricultural Development (IFAD) defined gender as:"the socio-economic and evolving roles and functions of men and women as they relate to and complement each other within a specific socio-cultural and economic context". Despite such a definition, gender is often misunderstood as being the promotion of women only. However, gender issues focus not only on women, but on the relationship between men and women, their roles, access to and control over resources, and division of labour and needs. Gender relations determine household security, well-being of the family, planning, production and many other aspects of life.
• Concerning livestock development, there is a high level of agreement in the literature that socio-economics and institutional frameworks play an important role in determining who does what, and who gets what. Social and cultural norms dictate the division of labour and control over assets. Policy and institutional structures often restrict existing sources of support to women, particularly credit.Values, norms and moral codes embedded in culture and tradition have very strong influence on gender issues as they determine attitudes and the organisational set-up of the whole community system.
• Failure to take into consideration gender relationships leads to unsuccessful livestock development activities, and the marginalization of the disadvantaged sector of society and a large part of the agricultural workforce. Thus, understanding gender relationships and adjusting methods and messages to them is crucial for full participation by all sectors of the community in the development of the animal husbandry sector.
• The involvement of women in livestock production is a long-standing tradition all over the world. Livestock patterns differ widely among ecological zones, and socio-political systems. According to Niamir, 1994, Livestock production systems can be divided in to four majorcategories as
1. Nomads or transhumants,
2. agropastoralist,
3. intensive cropsand livestock, and
4. peri-urban intensive systems.
• Majority of livestock raisers in India are agropastoralists, deriving their incomes from both livestock and crop production. It is difficult to generalise about the typical role of women within a livestock production system, as it differs even on a regional basis.