The impact of new breeds of dairy cows on families’ labor time
Development programs throughout the world, including in Sub-Saharan Africa, have focused on using livestock to help families mitigate poverty and food insecurity. In an effort to increase milk production and household income in Uganda, while also conducting programming that contributes to women’s empowerment, the East African Dairy Development (EADD) program introduced dairy cow crossbreeds (i.e., local cattle bred with semen from breeds in the US and Europe) to families that farm small plots of land (smallholders).
Our study explored how the introduction of dairy cow crossbreeds impacted male and female smallholders. We used a variety of research methods including surveys, in-depth interviews, spatial analysis, and water testing to analyze the impacts of EADD on dairy smallholders in Uganda.
Our findings reveal that EADD’s introduction of dairy cow crossbreeds has gender-specific impacts on labor and time. Crossbreeds produce more milk, but they also require increased labor, particularly as they need more water, feed, and medicine than local dairy breeds. Water emerged as a particularly important issue in our study. The eastern region of Uganda suffers from a general lack of clean, reliably available water — our basic water testing revealed high nitrate levels considered unsafe for people, especially children, and dairy cows.
The task of fetching water for the cows was a significant factor for smallholders in our study because of the time, energy, and distance involved. Our surveys and qualitative interviews revealed that the burden of fetching water for cows disproportionately falls on women and children. This contributes to increased time poverty for women, as time for other activities is no longer available as it is spent fetching water.
Ultimately, the introduction of crossbreed dairy cows increases milk production for dairy smallholders involved with EADD, but it also has unintended social consequences that fall along gendered lines.
Read the full paper — Cattle as technological interventions: The gender effects of water demand in dairy production in Uganda by Elizabeth Ransom, Carmen Bain, Harleen Bal and Natasha Shannon on the FACETS website.
