| ICAR-Central Institute for Women in Agriculture, Bhubaneswar and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have been working in five states including Odisha as part of the Gender-Livestock-Climate Analytic Approach (GLCCA) for livelihood improvement in distressed areas of India. Two districts (Puri and Jagatsinghpur) have been selected from Odisha and baseline survey has been implemented to understand the challenges facing by women livestock keepers during cyclone or any other natural calamities. A one day Multi Stakeholder Workshop was organized at ICAR-CIWA, Bhubaneswar on 9th October 2024 to validate the initial findings and deepen the understanding of the local system dynamics. The aim of multi stakeholder workshop was to identify the major challenges and solutions, and to find the path for future intervention. Dr. Mridula Devi, Director of ICAR-CIWA, Bhubaneswar graced the occasion as Chief Guest and emphasized the role of gender equity in achieving sustainable, profitable, and productive animal husbandry. Director emphasized that development of women friendly technologies as well as their percolation to the stakeholders are the critical necessity for gender mainstreaming. She further advised the project team to explore the link between women’s empowerment, livestock, and resilience to climate change in the context of gender dynamics and norms and to come out with gender responsive approaches to face the challenges of climate on livestock production. |
| During the welcome address, Dr. Arun Kumar Panda, Head, GF&CS Division and PI of the project, gave a brief background of the project and highlighted its key achievements so far. He informed that Odisha was selected as one of the natural disaster (Cyclone) prone state in this project. Women farmers from four villages of two coastal districts (Puri and Jagatsinghpur) of Odisha were studied for Livestock farmer’s Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LLVI), Rural Household Survey (RHoMIS) and Women Empowerment on Livestock Index (WELI). These surveys highlighted the challenges faced by women livestock keepers during cyclone or any other natural calamities. He also mentioned that purpose of this workshop is to validate the baseline survey findings and to identify interventions to overcome these challenges. Dr. Dipti Mohapatra, Additional Director, DAH&VS, Odisha shared her practical experiences to deal with the vagaries of natural calamities with women farmers and urged them to reap the benefits of various Govt. Schemes. Dr. Sushen Kumar Panda, Dean, Orissa Veterinary College, Bhubaneswar, informed that women are integral part of livestock production since ancient times, but the challenges faced by them due to climate shock need to be addressed urgently for suitability of livestock production. He also stressed to strengthen the coping mechanism to alleviate the adverse effects of climate on livestock welfare. Dr. Braja Bandhu Swain, Scientist, ILRI, India shared his experience related to field survey and initial findings. |
| After the inaugural session, The project team made a detailed presentation about the ongoing activities and findings of the project in the state of Odisha. Then detailed deliberation was made involving the farm women, Veterinary officers, officials from line departments, NGOs and FPOs, and experts to prioritize the challenges faced by the women livestock keepers in lieu of climate change, suitable solutions, and to find the path for future interventions. The meeting ended with Vote of Thanks by Dr. Arpita Mohapatra, Scientist, ICAR-CIWA. |
 |
 |
