2014 Recognition for Global Engaged Scholarship

Empowering Women through Dairy Training in India

Who:  Connie Cordoba, Faculty/Academic Staff

This project delivered dairy and livestock best management practices training to women subsistence farmers in Uttar Pradesh, India. The project was funded by USAID and included the in-country partner Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP). It aimed to promote sustainable agricultural practices by training women who belong to self-help groups in animal husbandry, which facilitates poor communities to take up supplementary income generating activities such as dairy and goat rearing. Although women are the backbone of the agricultural workforce, they are often constrained by limited access to formal knowledge sources, markets, technologies and social networks. The knowledge gained through these trainings enabled women and their families to move beyond subsistence and contributed towards improving the levels of trust and engagement among the community