Goat production system and livelihood security of rural landless households

The goat production system adopted by land-less households in south western semiarid region of Utter Pradesh was assessed. The linkages among various components of the production system and how goat rearing acts as a livelihood security system for the rural poor was examined. The goat rearing provided an opportunity for efficient utilization of family labour. Fifty seven % of income from goat rearing was spent in procuring food for the family. The goat rearing was the first-priority for 39% of respondents, whereas 54% selected goat rearing as second in the priority of enterprises. Agricultural wage was the other major source of income earned by the male members of the family. Income from goats was lost by 15 to 29% due to various constraints. The share of income from goat rearing/total income was estimated to be 33.3, 71.53 and 81.47% for small, medium and large categories, respectively. Paper also identifies leverage points for the development of this enterprise.