Project Mesha implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and supported by the Gates Foundation in Bihar has led to goat rearing becoming a key pathway for women’s economic and social empowerment. Studies show that when given control of their finances, women not only improve their status within homes, but they also have greater ability to make decisions and increased power to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families. This includes food to improve nutrition, schooling for children, visiting a doctor, or even building a toilet.

The project supports the development and training of women pashu sakhis (friends of animals): Fee-based health service workers for small ruminants providing vaccinations, de-worming, castration, and other services. Technical training apart, the women receive gender sensitisation and capacity building focused on enhancing women’s agency, access, and control over productive resources and resulting income, as well as their mobility and decision-making at the household and community levels. Today, 87% of women in the project solely decide how to spend their earnings. In 2021, Project Mesha, in partnership with the state rural livelihoods mission (JEEViKA), scaled up across 20 districts (out of the total of 38 districts in Bihar), benefiting over 700,000 women.

Using the existing self-help group (SHG) forum established and nurtured by JEEViKA, the programme identifies and trains women on how to vaccinate, deworm, and provide other preventive care to goats in their community. It has created a cadre of community-based women para-veterinarians dedicated to preventive animal health services, improving the productivity of goat flocks.

The success of such projects, not just in Bihar, but across rural India lies in enabling women with deep ties with the community to steer the change. In the Mesha project, it has rightly also involved building male champions for pashu sakhis by explaining to them that for women to make more money, they need to be freed from some household responsibilities. An interesting game, which could be replicated in other aspects of livelihood enhancement, is one designed by the project where men and women place an equal-sized stone for every task done throughout the day on a weighing scale. This demonstrates how much work a woman does in a day. This simple game facilitates discussion of the unequal work burden of women and how men can support change through shifts in household responsibilities. AKF CEO Tinni Sawhney says, “This exercise brings to light the invisible, without even having to speak about gender norms.” There are currently 6,085 pashu sakhis reaching over 700,000 households with diverse services across 20 districts of the state.

In Muzaffarpur district, where the project was initiated in 2016, almost 60% of pashu sakhis have gone from zero income to ₹3,000 to ₹12,000 per month. In 2023, a women-led and women-managed goat producer company (Mesha Mahila Bakri Palak Producer Company) was set up to ensure the sustainability of interventions and support the collective procurement of inputs and sale of goats.

AKF and JEEViKA plan to support the establishment of a cadre of 10,000 pashu sakhis across Bihar. Going forward, the programme plans to incorporate a climate adaptation lens. Pashu sakhis help communities build resilience against the climate crisis. Another vital input is that by focusing on disease prevention, the programme minimises and eliminates the use of antibiotics in goat flocks, directly contributing to a one-health approach. Pilots for fodder also focus on hydroponics and fodder silage strengthening climate resilience.

Ragini Devi, a pashu sakhi from the first cohort of pashu sakhis trained under the programme proudly states, “We have gone down far on the path, there is no looking back, we have made our homes stronger and we know that our work will also make our communities stronger”.