This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Phansalkar, S. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Poor and their Livestock

Meeting the Challenge of Water Scarcity

Sanjiv J. Phansalkar is a senior researcher and team leader at IWMI-Tata Water Policy Programme in Anand, Gujarat. E-mail: s.phansalkar{at}cgiar.org, sanjiv.phansalkar{at}gmail.com

Based on field work carried out in 13 locations across the country, this article aims to characterize the current situation regarding how the poor manage the water requirement for their livestock. It is found that each day on an average the poor require 13 litres of drinking water for animals and about 40 litres for washing and cleaning them. The poor households in western, central and southern parts of the country have a more difficult time managing water requirements of their livestock and in times of water scarcity these difficulties become very severe. They rely on water sources in the public domain and often use the sources created for human drinking end use. Markets for water for the poor appear to exist only in those pockets where livestock rearing has assumed commercial nature. Elsewhere, social norms such as the Jeevdaya tradition of Gujarat and Rajasthan, and reliance on water sources owned by the big farmers, are more the norm. Considering the importance of livestock to the household economy of the poor, greater public attention to this issue is called for.

References

• Devendra, C., J. Morton, B. Rischkowsky and D. Thomas. 2005. ‘Livestock Systems’, in E. Owen, A. Kitalyi, N. Jayasuriya and T. Smith (eds) Livestock and Wealth Creation. Nottingham, UK: Nottingham University Press .
• Dhas, M., V. Kher and S.J. Phansalkar. 2006. ‘ Water for Migrant Livestock: Concerns, Issues and Policy ’. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 18 (9).
• Ghotge, N. 2004. ‘ Livestock Farming Systems: Sustainable Options for the New Millennium and Biotechnology and Livestock ’, presented at Challenges of Agriculture in the 21st Century, Maharashtra Council of Agricultural Education and Research, Pune, India.
• International Livestock Research Institute. 2000. Making the Livestock Revolution Work for the Poor . International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
• International Water Management Institute. 2005. ‘Livestock-Environment Interactions in Watersheds (LEAD): A Study in Semi-arid India’, IWMI, South Asia Office, Hyderabad .
• Joy, K.J., S. Paranjape, A.K. Kirankumar, R. Lele and R. Adgale. 2004. ‘Watershed Development Review: Issues and Prospects’, Centre for Interdiciplinary Studies in Environment and Development (CISED), Bangalore, India .
• King, J.M. 1983. ‘ Livestock Water Needs in Pastoral Africa in Relation to Climate and Forage ’, ILCA Report no 7. ILRI (formerly ILCA).
• Kurup, M.P.G., T. Shah and R. Singh. 1995. ‘India: Livestock Sector Policy Approach Paper’. ( mimeo ).
• Livestock Production Programme (LPP). 2000. ‘ Using Livestock to Improve the Livelihoods of the Landless and the Refugee-affected Livestock Keepers of Bangladesh and Nepal ’. Research Report R8109, Livestock Production Programme. London, UK: Department for International Development (DFID).
• National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development. 1999. Government of India, Report of the National Commission on Integrated Water Resources , New Delhi: National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development.
• Peden, D. 2004, (quoted in) ‘Livestock—the Thirst Makers. New Agriculturist’, 1 September 2004, available online at http://www.new-agri.co.uk/04-5/focuson/focuson5.html.
• Peden, D., G. Tadesse and A.K. Misra. 2006. ‘Water and Livestock for Human Development’ in D. Moden (ed.), Water for Food, Water for Life, A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. Colombo: IWMI–Earthscan .
• Phansalkar, S.J. 2006. ‘ Livestock Water Interactions: Status and Issues ’, Working paper for Annual Partners Meet, 2006, IWMI-Tata Programme (mimeo).
• Planning Commission, Government of India, 1996. National Livestock Policy Perspective Report of the Steering Group, New Delhi, India.
• Renault, D. and W.W. Wallender. 2000. ‘ Nutritional Water Productivity ’, Agricultural Water Management, 45: 275–96 .[CrossRef]
• Seré, C. and H. Steinfeld. 1996. ‘ World Livestock Production Systems. Current Status, Issues and Trends ’. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 127.
• Sonder, K., A. Astatke, A.Wakeel, D. Molden and D. Peden. 2005. ‘Strategies for Increasing Livestock Water Productivity in Water-stressed Agricultural Systems Knowledge Bank’. Available online at http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/theme1/pdfs/livestock.pdf.
• van Koppan, B., P. Moriarty and E. Boelee. 2006. ‘ Multiple-use Water Services to Advance Millennium Development Goals ’, IWMI Research Report 98.
• World Bank, 1996. India Livestock Sector Review: Enhancing Growth and Development; Report no. 14522-IN. Washington DC, USA: The World Bank, p. 33 .
• WOTR. 2005. ‘ A Report on Policy Roundtable on Livestock-environment interactions in watersheds: Policy issues ’, Maharashtra, jointly organized by WOTR and IWMI, Hyderabad. URL ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/nonfao/LEAD/ae760e/ae760e00.pdf.

International Journal of Rural Management, Vol. 3, No. 1, 95-125 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/097300520700300105


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Phansalkar, S. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?