Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur, 680 651, India.
*Postal address: Dr. R.S. Jiji, Dept. of Animal Husbandry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, P.O. Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala-695 522, India.
1Part of MVSc. thesis of V. Kavitha, Kerala Agricultural University in the year 2005.
This is a study on the perception of opportunities and threats associated with empowerment process by the members of women SHGs in goat farming, operating under Kudumbashree, in Thrissur district, Kerala. Among a total of 300 members in 30 SHGs engaged in goat farming for at least one year, 150 members were selected for the study through proportionate stratified random sampling. The data were collected through interview method. More than half of the respondents perceived the opportunity to earn income of their own. Other major opportunities reported were provision of children with better education, acquisition and use of property and access to self-employment avenues. Lack of cooperation from family members was the most serious threat. Most of the threats reported pertained to respondents’ lack of access to productive resources such as grazing land, good quality goat breeds, marketing facilities, training, space for rearing goats, good quality feed and veterinary aid.
