Women's role in enhancing innovation in livestock farming: A gender perspective

Livestock accrues benefits to women that include food, income and insurance against crop failure. This gives rise to the need for gender-friendly policies that promote and encourage women to own livestock. Women remain in the ranks of poor livestock keepers, although they make up two-thirds of the population of livestock keepers. Factors influencing women's livestock productivity include rights to land, access to high-yield breeds, application of new technologies and practices, access to education and extension services, and rigid cultural systems. These factors handled in a gender-sensitive manner would go a long way to realise an increase in livestock production and income