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Empowering women in dairy cooperatives in Bihar and Telangana, India: a gender and caste analysis

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  • Ravichandran, Thanammal
  • Farnworth, Cathy Rozel
  • Galiè, Alessandra

Abstract

Dairy animals enable women to put food on the table and to earn money. India is a leading dairy economy with a vast number of milk producers organized into women-only and mixed-gender cooperatives. We use focus group discussions, interviews, and ethnography to analyze four dairy cooperatives in Bihar and Telangana and to investigate the effectiveness of these cooperatives in including women and in strengthening women’s control over dairy income. In three of the four cooperatives analyzed, gender and caste norms restrict women’s inclusion and limit their control over income. The fourth cooperative emerged from self-help groups and is part of a women-only dairy union. In this cooperative, we find women-only leadership, empowerment of women of all castes, and successful engagement of men as supporters. Our findings suggest that dairy cooperatives can be empowering for women when they emerge from women’s activism.

Suggested Citation

  • Ravichandran, Thanammal & Farnworth, Cathy Rozel & Galiè, Alessandra, 2021. "Empowering women in dairy cooperatives in Bihar and Telangana, India: a gender and caste analysis," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 338772, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea21:338772
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.338772
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bidner, Chris & Eswaran, Mukesh, 2015. "A gender-based theory of the origin of the caste system of India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 142-158.
    2. Carla Dohmwirth & Ziming Liu, 2020. "Does cooperative membership matter for women’s empowerment? Evidence from South Indian dairy producers," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 133-150, April.
    3. Kilby, Patrick & Mukhopadhyay, Raktima & Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, 2019. "The eect of patriarchal norms on women farmers when men migrate: a case study from West Bengal, India," Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender), Africa Centre for Gender, Social Research and Impact Assessment, vol. 4(1), October.
    4. Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie & Ayala Wineman & Sarah Young & Justice Tambo & Carolina Vargas & Thomas Reardon & Guigonan Serge Adjognon & Jaron Porciello & Nasra Gathoni & Livia Bizikova & Alessand, 2020. "A scoping review of market links between value chain actors and small-scale producers in developing regions," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(10), pages 799-808, October.
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