Would you be okay if you visited a veterinarian and instead of finding a professional, you found the doctor’s child, who assured you that he would treat your pet exactly like the doctor because ‘he knows the procedures’? You are unlikely to believe the child and in fact, you may not visit the doctor ever again.
But in Assam, this is exactly what happened when the son of a village field assistant working with the state veterinary department decided that he knew the ‘scientific’ process of castrating male goats. The results? Almost many of the goats died. To make matters worse, the official’s son also charged a pretty penny to execute the ‘scientific’ process.
From doctor shortages to lack of awareness, one can list innumerable challenges that livestock farmers face in Assam. This is despite Assam being one of the most livestock-friendly states: unlike other parts of India, livestock rearing is not so specific to certain communities and there is no taboo associated with this trade. A visit to Rural Assam testifies that from poultry to pig to cattle and goats and fish, every household owns some form of livestock.
And this is precisely why despite so many challenges, the Goat Trust, which works across a value chain of goat-based livelihood, believes rural Assam has one of the brightest prospects in terms of livestock farming, especially for goats.
Demystifying production technology, building institutions and promoting standard marketing and linkage across the globe are some of the key areas that The Goat Trust works on. Talking to EastMojo, Dr Salima Siddika, who is working on the Assam chapter in The Goat Trust, pointed out that despite goat rearing being such a profitable business, the locals, especially women, were yet to understand the True Value of this business. A survey conducted by The Goat Trust team in two districts: Goalpara and Kamrup Rural, Dr Siddika said, revealed alarming facts. One which stuck out was while 98.26% of women participated in household decisions, 1.3% of women participated in community decisions. This is why, Dr Siddika says, that The Goat Trust has a Pashu Sakhi (friend of animal) model that seeks to not only train women through capacity building and extensive workshops but also empower them by making them nodal heads to further train other women in their locality/village/district. “Our only condition for the position of a Pashu Sakhi is that a) she should be able to do basic calculations, she should be a resident of the village and she must have no taboo regarding taking care of animals,” Dr Siddika told EastMojo.
A promising start, but more to achieve
Even though The Goat Trust started work only from July 2023 onwards, they have already made tremendous progress, engaging over 50 Pashu Sakhis as Livestock Business Councillors. “The idea is that each of the 50 Pashu Sakhis can train at least 20 women each,” Dr Siddika says, adding that the problems are more due to a lack of awareness and well-trained veterinary professionals. “In most of rural Assam, the treatments are done by compounders…we were told about doctors not being available at the right time due to set vet protocols. This perhaps explains why there is such a high mortality rate (42% among males, 34% overall) among goats. This also discourages people from taking this up as a commercial business. This is precisely why we step in and The Goat Trust not only helps participants learn more about how to learn about the business side of things, we also help them understand their goats better so that they are always taken care of. This also means ensuring only safe, sound and correct methods of treatments,” Dr Siddika added.
One of the best things about rearing goats, The Goat Trust points out, is that the entry point can be as low as Rs 5,000 as investment (the price of one young goat). Also, they do not require any special diet, especially in areas with ample grazing areas. Given that goat meat can sell as high as Rs 800 or more a kilo, goats are also a much more profitable business than say, chicken and/or pork.
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The Goat Trust core team said the landscape of Assam’s livestock rearing can change if the locals get timely and adequate access to doctors. The story of a VFA’s son castrating goats, the TGT team says, is not an isolated incident. “Our survey showed that over 95% of the goats are not vaccinated and/or dewormed. How will it be a profitable business if your product (goat) is neither treated on time nor fed the correct amount/mix? A deworming medicine costs Rs 10 but not giving the same can cost you thousands of rupees,” the team added.
This is again where Pashu Sakhis step in, Dr Siddika adds. “Through our programs, Pashu Sakhis are educated about timely deworming and vaccinations. They, in turn, teach the other women and this way, it becomes a united effort. As a result, we can organise deworming camps, wherein the doctors and officials can come and conduct the necessary procedure to ensure healthy goats.”
This is part one of a two-part series on goat production in rural Assam. In the second part, we will talk to the beneficiaries, their experiences, and how they plan to take their businesses to the next level with support from The Goat Trust.
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