Gender and livestock
Women make up two thirds of the world’s low-income livestock keepers.
Livestock is the second largest contributor to the global agricultural economy, playing a critical role in food security, nutrition, income generation and poverty reduction. Women and men engage differently in the livestock sector, with their roles often shaped by gender norms and persisting structural inequalities. While there is limited systematic data about gender gaps in livestock, the available data suggests that women tend to manage and control less-valuable livestock species, such as poultry, swine and small ruminants, and are responsible for daily animal care. This positions them as early detectors of disease and main implementors of farm-level preventive healthcare measures. Women also play vital roles in the processing and marketing of animal products, depending on the farming system, context and country. They care for locally adapted livestock breeds and are important in conserving livestock diversity. On average, men own more livestock than women and mainly manage large and more valuable breeds of livestock (cattle, camels and buffalo). While gender gaps in ownership and control are more pronounced for large ruminants, they also affect small livestock.
Despite women’s active engagement in livestock keeping, progress in closing existing gaps in ownership, access to resources, services and decision-making has been slow. The main barriers for women include:
- Limited access to extension and animal health services, credit, technologies, inputs (feed, vaccines, antibiotics and disinfectants) and information.
- Weak participation in household and community decision-making structures and local institutions.
- Poor control over income and assets, limiting their capacity to sell or buy animals, invest in livestock production or respond to family needs.
- Inadequate access to markets and main actors along livestock value chains.
- Higher risk of exposure to food- and animal-borne diseases due to women’s role in animal care and food preparation.
- Lack of sex-disaggregated data and poor recognition of women’s important contributions to livestock and challenges in national policies and programmes.
Securing women’s rights to own and manage livestock - combined with improved access to productive resources, advisory and financial services, information and increased decision-making power at household and community levels—can lead to significant benefits. These include improved animal health and productivity, increased household food security, enhanced women’s economic agency and greater resilience to climate and economic shocks.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) collaborates with ministries of agriculture and livestock, rural organizations, civil society organizations and development agencies to support gender equality and women’s empowerment, and sustainable growth of the livestock sector. FAO implements projects and programmes at country and regional levels to assist women livestock keepers, processors and sellers in different subsectors. Its work focuses on:
- Advising governments to formulate gender-responsive livestock policies and investments.
- Strengthening the capacity of livestock keepers, especially underserved women, and improving their access to productive resources and advisory services.
- Supporting inclusive and equitable extension and veterinary services.
- Facilitating women’s participation in livestock markets and value chains.
- Enhancing the availability of safe and quality animal products and veterinary pharmaceuticals.
- Strengthening the resilience of smallholders and government systems to respond to livestock-related emergencies such as disease outbreaks and climate-related shocks.
Rural women play a critical role in daily animal care, processing, marketing and preserving livestock diversity.
Despite their important contributions, women remain disadvantaged in livestock ownership, particularly for large ruminants, due to local sociocultural norms that limit their control over valuable breeds and associated income.
Empowering women and girls is essential for a thriving livestock sector, which in turn can be a powerful entry point for advancing gender equality.
Gender-responsive policies and inclusive investments are crucial to address the specific challenges faced by women, youth, Indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups in the livestock sector.
Strengthening women’s rights to land, water, livestock and inputs improves animal health, boosts productivity, enhances household food security and income, and builds their resilience to shocks and crises.
Design livestock interventions that intentionally target small-scale producers and entrepreneurs, especially women, youth, Indigenous people, vulnerable groups and pastoralists, to increase their productivity and enhance their resilience, skills and protection from livestock-related health risks.
Collect and use sex- and age-disaggregated data to inform policymaking, guide programming and monitor the gender impacts across the livestock sector.
Facilitate equitable access to productive resources, financial and advisory services and technologies for all livestock producers and entrepreneurs, by supporting women’s participation in livestock-related decision-making and investing in their marketing and literacy skills. Simultaneously, integrate indigenous knowledge in livestock development, particularly on local breeds and animal health.
Raise gender awareness and strengthen the gender capacity of livestock service providers to deliver inclusive and needs-based support to women and marginalized groups.
Apply gender-transformative approaches in livestock development that actively engage men and boys, from household members and community leaders to animal health workers and policymakers. Promoting positive masculinities and joint decision-making improves household cooperation, increases women’s participation in livestock-related training and services, and enhances the overall effectiveness, equality and sustainability of livestock interventions.
In Afghanistan, FAO helped organize over 20 000 rural women in poultry producers’ groups and provided training, improved pullets and equipment, and access to urban markets. Their poultry enterprises now produce 30 million eggs per year.
FAO has worked in Ethiopia to address trypanosomiasis, a livestock disease transmitted by tsetse flies, which affects milk production and availability of healthy draught animals. The project increased the participation of women farmers by integrating tsetse control with improved mixed farming systems. As a result, 700 000 farmers doubled their milk output, drastically reducing the time spent ploughing and the need for veterinary treatment by 60 percent. While in the Gambia, to overcome the limited productivity of small ruminants and poultry due to outbreaks of disease and women’s lack of access to extension services, FAO trained 50 female livestock assistants to deliver extension advice and upgraded animal disease diagnostic laboratories. The project resulted in a reduction in small livestock mortality from disease by 45 percent.
In Mongolia, FAO contributed to inclusive and sustainable development of the rural sector through the generation of quality employment, with a focus on the non-mining sector. FAO also helped enable private sector job creation where Mongolia has potential comparative advantages. Activities included the creation of organized herder groups to supply small-scale dairy processing plants, known as the “Ger Kitchens”, which produced value-added dairy products such as curds and butter, with the active engagement of women.
Under the project “Sustainable Business in Animal Health Service Provision” FAO supports the Veterinary Paraprofessionals (VPPs) in Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa through inclusive training and business support. The VPPs—who outnumber veterinarians 10 to 1—are often the first point of contact for rural farmers, improving their access to animal health services, especially for women. To support gender-responsive service delivery, FAO developed a blended training model that equip VPPs with technical, communication and gender-sensitive skills, leading to greater engagement with women farmers and new opportunities to improve animal health.
Key Resources
Publications
Empowering women veterinary paraprofessionals through gender-responsive training
01/02/2025
Two FAO initiatives have developed and tested gender-responsive training packages for veterinary paraprofessionals to enhance productivity for both...
Publications
Contributing to a world free from hunger, malnutrition, poverty and inequality
01/09/2023
The Framework for Gender-Responsive Livestock Development was jointly developed by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Food and...
Publications
Strengthening gender-responsive climate policies and actions in the livestock sector
01/11/2022
This brief showcases promising research and innovation, particularly from countries engaged through FAO's Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism (FMM) 149...
Publications
Livestock programming for nutritional improvements in children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating mothers
09/03/2022
The Livestock for Health (L4H) project is a collaborative effort that shares the results of the L4H study recruitment and baseline survey carried out...
Publications
Understanding and integrating gender issues into livestock projects and programmes: A checklist for practitioners
15/05/2013
This booklet guides experts in designing, implementing and monitoring livestock projects and programmes in a gender sensitive way. It identifies the...