Interventions to Empowering Tribal Women through Self-Help Groups for Piggery Production in Rural Village of Meghalaya: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Livestock is generally considered a key asset for rural livelihood and women constitute a major workforce engaged in livestock rearing. Identifying and supporting women’s roles in livestock is one of the keys to promoting women’s economic and social empowerment. The interventions to empower the women beneficiaries through Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the rural villages of Meghalaya and impact assessment using the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) indicated the scope and potential to improve women empowerment and livelihood security. There is an improvement in the domain of input into productive decisions, nutrition decisions, access to and control of livestock assets, control over farm income, and access to information, training, and groups. however, the autonomy in nutrition, credit access, and access to non-farm income opportunities was marginal. Therefore, there is a need to address the significance of women in agriculture production including livestock rearing, and empower them for rural development which leads to economic growth.