A first-of-its-kind survey conducted by the Dairy Development Department has shed light on the all-important role played women in the State’s dairy sector and the problems they face.
Based on the findings, the Women Dairy Farmers’ Survey Study Report 2019 has recommended measures for providing support to women farmers and ensuring due representation and leadership roles for them in dairy cooperatives. The report was released by Health Minister K.K. Shylaja at the Ksheera Sangamam 2020 meet here on Thursday.
Empowerment
The survey report stressed that the State’s dairy and animal husbandry sectors offer ample opportunities for women empowerment. It recommended that 40% of seats in dairy cooperative governing committees may be reserved for women. The post of either the president or the vice president in the cooperatives also should be set aside for them, the report said.
“It is important that their representation is increased for raising their social status and in consideration of the fact that the income they generate go entirely to their families,” the report noted.
Only 5.7% of the dairy cooperatives have women as their presidents, 16.2% as vice presidents and 68.3% as secretaries, according to the survey finding.
The survey, which covered 82,000 women farmers over a six-month period, has thrown up some interesting findings. It found that the vast majority of women dairy farmers fall in the small-holding category.
Tiny representation
Registered women dairy cooperatives accounted for a mere 2.2% of the 3,647 dairy cooperatives in the State. This, despite the massive presence of women in the sector.
“Considering the number of women actually engaged in dairying, the number of women cooperatives is minuscule,” it noted.
Skewed representation
Elsewhere, the report observed that there is scarcely any justification for the skewed representation of women in the cooperatives.
Women dairy farmers spend, on an average, four to four-and-a-half hours a day at work, one hour more than their male counterparts,
“The dairy sector offers women ample scope for income generation. The report is meant to help the State government design specific projects for enhancing their livelihood,” S. Sreekumar, Director, Dairy Development, said.
