Healthier Herds, Heavier Workloads? The Gendered Time and Resource Implications of Herd Health Management in Kenyan Dairy Systems

Strategies for sustainable intensification of livestock are critical for food system transformation. In dairying systems, herd health management is among such strategies. Although adoption patterns and productivity gains have been analysed in previous studies, the social implications are still not well understood. This paper provides insights into the relationship between herd health management and intrahousehold labour demand as well as women's empowerment. We test the hypotheses that the adoption of herd health management practices increases intrahousehold labour demand among male and female household members and, thereby, affects women's empowerment. We use primary data from smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya on time use, women's participation in decision‐making and livestock asset ownership, adoption status of important herd health management practices and household demographic characteristics. We apply censored regression and multinomial logit regression models to test our hypotheses. The results show that adopting herd health management practices is associated with more labour demand in dairy production for both men and women. The magnitude of the change differs across production systems but is always higher for men. Additionally, herd health management practices are negatively associated with different aspects of women's empowerment including women's livestock asset ownership and control over income from dairy. The study underscores the importance for gender sensitivity in the sustainable intensification of livestock production in the Global South.