Livestock Services and the Poor: A global initiative - IFAD
Livestock Services and the Poor: A global initiative - IFAD
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).