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Livestock Services and the Poor: A global initiative - IFAD

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<strong>Livestock</strong> can help<br />

cement social networks<br />

16<br />

LIVESTOCK SERVICES AND THE POOR<br />

Table 1.3: Place of livestock in income of <strong>the</strong> rich <strong>and</strong> poor<br />

Country<br />

Ethiopia<br />

Egypt<br />

Kenya<br />

Pakistan<br />

Philippines<br />

Wealth/Poverty<br />

Indicator<br />

household income<br />

l<strong>and</strong>holdings<br />

household income<br />

from dairy business<br />

household income<br />

household income<br />

Stratum<br />

very poor<br />

poor<br />

l<strong>and</strong>less<br />

largest l<strong>and</strong>holding<br />

lowest 1/5<br />

highest 1/5<br />

lowest 1/5<br />

highest 1/5<br />

lowest 1/5<br />

highest 1/5<br />

Household Income<br />

from <strong>Livestock</strong> (%)<br />

6<br />

24<br />

A study by Woodcock <strong>and</strong> Narayan (2000) classifies social<br />

capital into three types: bonding, bridging <strong>and</strong> linking. Bonding<br />

social capital is <strong>the</strong> tie among immediate family members, while<br />

bridging social capital refers to <strong>the</strong> weaker relationships among<br />

persons of differing geographic location, ethnicity, or occupation.<br />

Linking social capital describes <strong>the</strong> relationships between poor<br />

people <strong>and</strong> formal institutions such as NGOs or governments.<br />

For example, in many poor households, livestock is shared or<br />

loaned among relatives <strong>and</strong> friends or reared for absentee<br />

owners (Beck, 1994; Heffernan <strong>and</strong> Misturelli, 2000). These<br />

arrangements can vary widely, from straightforward rental<br />

agreements to more complex loan arrangements in which <strong>the</strong><br />

duration of <strong>the</strong> payback may be intergenerational. Animals may<br />

also be given as gifts, <strong>and</strong>, in this manner, livestock can help<br />

cement social networks <strong>and</strong> community-level obligations among<br />

households (Lesorogol, forthcoming).<br />

However, not all livestock-share arrangements are based<br />

purely on social networks. For example, poor farmers in Bolivia<br />

often participate in Al-Partido, a commercially based livestock<br />

share-rearing arrangement. Most livestock ‘credit-in-kind’<br />

63<br />

14<br />

63<br />

38<br />

25<br />

9<br />

23<br />

10<br />

Delgado et al (1999).

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