Livestock is an important source of income for India’s rural population. It contributes a significant degree to India’s agricultural economy. Farming in India is heavily reliant on the whims of the monsoon. Livestock is critical to mitigate risks if crops wither due to lack of rainfall. Rearing small ruminants such as goats, swine, and poultry has proven to have long-term effects in bringing about social change by increasing these people’s incomes. They offer farmers a wide range of products and services. Rural areas continue to be plagued by a lack of credit institutions. Thus, an alternative easy way to store cash for future needs is through the purchase of goats, swine, or poultry. In fact, in some areas, small ruminants are referred to as the “village bank.” Furthermore, goats and swine are kept for economic reasons such as savings and investment, security and insurance, stability, and social functions. Management in terms of feed and fodder is much easy as it is locally available and manageable. The risk factor for loss of livestock is also quite low due to available ethnoveterinary services. Improving rural households’ financial security through small ruminant rearing, inevitably leads to better living conditions for these households and, as a result, instigates social change.

Caritas India, with the help of the community, has identified the importance of small ruminants in the lives of tribal people living in remote forest areas of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh through its Gram Nirman programme. During the conceptualization phase of the programme, the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) tool was used to identify existing assets in the target community. Existing small ruminants and livestock were one of the assets identified by the community, who then made plans to revive and scale up the asset for their own betterment and overall positive change.

Adding value to it, in the month of November 2022 Caritas India with support from Caritas Australia and Australian Aid identified 11 farmers groups (each group consisting of 10-12 members) to support them with 10 male and 2 female ruminants (Goat or swine adhering to the cultural value of the area). Through facilitation from Gram Nirman team, all the groups are trained on livestock management practices and linked with local and village-based animal husbandry departments. They also can avail support from Pashu Sakhi/Pashu Mitra (a cadre of trained individuals who provide doorstep service to livestock rearers) so that the animal can benefit from the timely vaccination and deworming services. The recipient group will own and raise the ruminant, and at the beginning of next year, each group will identify the most marginalised family/families in their own village and give them at least one offspring as a gift. As a result of passing the gift, the entire village will be reached, and each person will have at least one small ruminant to raise to help them in times of need. Considering the estimated scale, the community has planned to take aggregation and sale of small ruminants as a collective activity, which will lead to an increase in their income in the long run.