Women’s Participation and Constraints in Livestock Management: A Case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Pakistan

Women are the prime contributors of agriculture sector including livestock across the developingworld including Pakistan. However, their extent of participation (time allocation) and constraints inlivestock management have not been properly explored yet. To fill in the gap, the present research studywas carried out to determine women’s participation in the types of livestock rearing, their livestock possession,participation in livestock activities, and the major faced constraints in livestock management in KhyberPakhtunkhwa province of the country. For this, a sample size of 117 women respondents was selectedthrough multistage sampling technique and data were collected from the selected respondents using apre-tested semi-structured questionnaire through face to face interview. The collected data were subjectedto analysis using descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, and rank orders. The results revealed thatwomen were involved in buffalo, cattle, goats and sheep rearing with higher possession of small ruminants(goats and sheep), while men were found dominant in large ruminants’ possession (buffalo and cattle). Women’shigher time allocation to livestock management activities depicted their higher level of participationin livestock management was found high as compared to their male counterparts. Women’s participationwas found high in the indoor activities of livestock management like feeding, shed cleaning, and milkingof animal’s women’s participation was found high, while recorded low in the outdoor activities of foddercutting and marketing of dairy products due to their restricted mobility. Costly veterinary services andfeed items, credit need for feed and livestock purchase, and training in animal health care were the majorreported constraints in livestock management. Provision of credit, training in animal health care, and increasingwomen’s livestock possession are suggested not only for the increased participation of women inlivestock management but also for the development of domesticated livestock enterprise in the study area.