Description
A cooperative ("coop"), co-operative ("co-op"), or coöperative ("coöp") is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual, social, economic, and cultural benefit.
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment
Jigna Trivedi*, P K Priyan** and Vinay Bhinde***
People of rural India face a lot of hardships to earn livelihood. A majority of them are engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and other ancillary activities. Income from agricultural activity has been as erratic as the monsoon. Hence, rural people are forced to think of generating additional revenues. Since these people are less literate and posses limited skills, the hunt for alternate source of income is constrained to a few occupations. A majority of them choose rearing of milch cattle and selling the milk as a source of secondary income. Cattle rearing is a diversification from existing agricultural activity. Largely, rural women are engaged in this activity. These rural women, besides doing hard household chores, also undertake the taxing job of cattle rearing. They supply the milk to the well-established district cooperative dairies working successfully on the Anand model. The present paper is an effort to study the role of district cooperative dairies in helping the women to be self-reliant, self-employed, self-diligent, and empowered.
Introduction
India has been called ‘a country of villages’. There are as many as 6,38,596 1 villages in India. A study held in 2008 by Max New York Life Insurance and the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) shows that 70%, i.e., 732 million of Indian population, thrives in these villages (Jehangir, 2009). Gandhiji clearly pointed out that villagers are the backbone of the Indian economy (Perumal et al., 2007). The primary occupation in the villages is agriculture supplemented with cattle rearing. India being a rural and agro-based economy, 54% of its workforce is engaged in agriculture, of which 37% are women (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). As high as 78% of agriculture is dependent on monsoon and farmers curse their fate if they do not get a good crop. The rainfall has been erratic and the areas are prone to both drought and floods, rendering agricultural income uncertain for farmers. Most of the time the farmers have to borrow
* ** Lecturer, Shri Jairambhai Patel Institute of Business Management and Computer Applications (formerly known as NICM), Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India; and is the corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Associate Professor, G H Patel Postgraduate Institute of Business Management (MBA Program), Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected]
*** Student (MBA-I), PG Centre (MBA), Shri Jairambhai Patel Institute of Business Management and Computer Applications, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected]
1
http://www.indg.gov.in/rural-india/number-of-villages
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.in Women Empowerment
41
money to meet the cultivation cost of agricultural crops and other social obligations. Since the agricultural income is uncertain and deceptive, farmers easily get entangled in the debt cycle. Moreover, the combination of unfavorable land-to-person ratio and fragmented landholding makes it difficult to support large families on crop income alone. Thus, the underutilized labor potential and a dire need for additional income force farmers to look for subsidiary sources of income. Rearing milch cattle and selling its milk give rise to an additional stream of income. It is a real relief to most of the weaker groups of Indian society. The income from crop production is seasonal. On the contrary, dairy as an occupation helps them to procure stable income year round. In India, dairy is recognized as a substantial contributor towards social and economic development. The nation’s milk supply comes from millions of small producers, dispersed throughout the rural areas. 70-75% of households of small and marginal farmers and landless laborers are wedded to the dairy traditionally since ancient times (Shah, 2000). These small and marginal farmers contribute a large chunk to the milk production. They collectively hold about 70% of the national milk-animal herd. Often one or two milk animals enable these farmers to generate sufficient additional income to break the vicious subsistence agricultural debt cycle. Domestication of cattle occurred about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. The cow was so important to the ancient people of Central Asia, that wealth was measured in terms of the number of cattle held by them (Eckles et al., 1951). India was earlier a milk deficit country. Due to the concerted efforts under the White Revolution, it gradually became a milk surplus country. In the early 1999, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared India as the world’s largest producer of milk. According to FAO Global Food Outlook Report, milk production in India crossed 74 million tons by March 1999. As of 2006-07, the figure stood at 100.9 million tons, while milk production in the US, the second largest producer, was 71 million tons. This rapid growth and modernization are largely credited to the contribution of dairy cooperatives under the Operation Flood (OF) Project. It was assisted by many multilateral agencies, including the European Union, the World Bank, FAO, and World Food Program (WFP) who promoted milk production and animal husbandry. The dairy cooperative system represents more than 13 million dairy farmers belonging to about 1.22 lakh primary cooperative societies, which sell their product to one of the 198 milk producers’ cooperative unions. These unions, in turn, are supported by state cooperative milk marketing federations. The annual rate of growth of milk production in India is between 5-6%, against the world growth rate of 1%. 2 The age of cooperative movement can be traced back to the first and the oldest human society. The domain of cooperatives is capable of meeting many economic needs of a country. The cooperative movement at present covers about 98% of the villages and 62% of the total rural population irrespective of caste, color or creed (Madan, 1994; and Vinayagamoorthy, 2007). Milk and milk products are the second largest contributors to the gross output with
2
http://www.indiadairy.com/ind_world_number_one_milk_producer.html
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The IUP Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. VIII, No. 1, 2011
a turnover of 10,000 cr annually y, next to rice (Shah, 2000). Dairy industry is an agro-based industry that has brighter prospects of development and expansion in the womb of future (Agarwal, 1990). As on March 2005, more than 100,000 dairy cooperatives got integrated through a three-tier cooperative structure, the Anand model, owned by more than 10 million farmers, which procures on average 16.5 million liters of milk every day. The milk is processed and marketed by 198 milk producers’ cooperative unions. Fifteen state cooperative milk marketing federations work under the ownership of milk producers’ unions. It is significant to note that the women members manage more than 70% of the milk cooperatives (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). Certainly women get the advantages of it. The present study intends to see the impact of dairy industry on women with respect to their self-reliance and empowerment.
Objectives
• • • • • • To understand the linkage between cattle rearing and secondary source of income; To understand the three-tier ‘Anand Model’ system; To examine how the number of cattle and milk derived from them contribute to the earnings of dairy farmers; To identify, if there is any association between the place of supply of milk and the corresponding revenue generated from selling the milk; To identify whether education level plays a vital role in empowering women; and To examine if dairy income has led to the empowerment of women.
Research Methodology
A primary research was undertaken to study whether dairy cooperatives, i.e., district level milk producing unions, have assisted women empowerment. The survey was conducted in nearby villages of Gandhinagar. The data of women-run Village Cooperative Society (VCS) and District Cooperative Society (DCS) were obtained from ‘Madhur’ dairy, a dairy organized on Anand pattern in this area. The sampling frame revealed the names of 23 villages which have VCS, run exclusively by women. It was found that in these 23 villages, the total number of women, who were suppliers and members of VCS, was 8,555. A two-stage sampling technique was used to select the sampling element. In the first stage sampling, out of 23 villages, eight villages were selected on a simple random basis which had 860 women as active suppliers and members of VCS. The eight villages chosen were Adalaj, Basan, Fathepura, Indroda, Pethapur, Tarapur, Tintoda, and Vavol. In the second stage, a non-probability-based convenience sampling or judgment sampling was done to select a sample of 100. The households in the villages are referred to as the sampling unit, and the women staying in the house, who are members of VCS/DCS, were chosen as the sampling element, i.e., respondents of the research. The primary data collection was done through a questionnaire. Secondary data were collected from various newspapers, Internet, magazines, books and journals. Different statistical packages were applied for data analysis, like Excel sheets and SPSS 15.0. Tools used for analysis were weighted average mean, chi-square test, ANOVA and phi-coefficient.
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 43
Linkages Between Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
Indian farmers fight for their livelihood against inconsistent monsoon which may either bless them or curse them. Abundant and timely rains lead to bumper crops and scanty rains lead to drought years with lesser crops. In such an uncertain environment, farmers’ income from agriculture is always unpredictable and unreliable in making a livelihood. To fight against this predicament farmers and villagers have to think of other channels of raising income. The other channel for the illiterate and semiliterate people is rearing of milch cattle. In fact, animals are Any Time source of Money (ATM) to the villagers. Farmers can generate multi-point incomes by selling their milk, wool, manure and meat. Thus, animals provide a big support and relief to the farmers during the period of financial crisis and also help to make a quality bottom line. Agriculture and animal husbandry are interrelated and interdependent. Non-milch cattle assist farmers in tilling land, and provide manure which helps in the healthy growth of crops. Milch cattle provide both milk and manure to the farmers. These animals need fodder which is generated from agricultural land. If a villager practices agriculture and milk farming, he has a dual source of income, with considerable amount of cash inflow generated at various activity levels. There exist interconnected cash-flows for a farmer with cattle rearing as an additional source of income. The cash cycle is depicted in Figure 1. Figure 1: Cash Cycle
Agriculture Purchase of cattle feed (non-farming) Cash Outflow Animals Crops Grass Manure
Milk Personal Consumption Sale in the Market
Cattle Feed
Cash Inflow Personal Consumption Sale in the Market
From Figure 1, it can be inferred that animals are providing regular cash flows. They provide immense advantages. Elaborating on the question of animal rearing, we find that women shoulder this task with little support from their counterparts. Male members are engaged in full-time hardcore industrious work of farming. Rural women are multifaceted like urban women; they look after the house and children, doing unending laborious domestic
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chores, and at the same time try to become self-employed by working part-time. They rear milch cattle, sell milk and generate revenue to sustain the family. Thus, women generate recurring income and play the role of chief cashier maintaining her family receipts and payments in balance. As on 2008, the Indian population stood at 1,147,995,904, in which 49% were women. For sustainable economic and social development in any country, it is necessary that all people participate in the economic process. Participation could be in several ways: establishing an enterprise, doing a job, being self-employed or providing services. Any activity that is done with the objective of earning enhances the standard of living of the people. In this race of development, women cannot remain laggards any longer. Besides being obedient daughters, wives and mothers, they also act as entrepreneurs in the modern society to become independent and lend economic support to the family. They are setting up enterprises at more than twice the rate than men (Vinayagamoorthy, 2007). With respect to the dairy business, it is more profound. At present, as many as 130 cooperative societies are operated exclusively by women under the guidance of Social Welfare Department (Vinayagamoorthy, 2007). Women have always tried to prove their role in progress, despite the domestic responsibilities, time constraints, historical prejudices, and limited cooperation from the family (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). Dairy cooperative movement was the genesis of organized milk marketing in India and a pioneering effort that opened a new vista for dairy development in the country. The structure of the famous Anand model is presented in Figure 2. Due to the great success of this experiment, it has been implemented in various parts of Gujarat and selected districts across the country. Figure 2: Structure of Anand Model (Three-Tier Model)
Milk Producer
Milk Producing Village Cooperative Society (VCS)
District Level Milk Producing Union
State Level Cooperative Milk Producing Union (State Level Federation)
Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros-Boutros Ghali once opined that cooperative is a people-centric model which aims to generate productive employment, overcome poverty and achieve social integration. The Anand pattern gave a thrust to establishment of institutions (cooperatives) owned by rural producers. Officially defined as ‘Operation Flood’ or White Revolution that lasted for 26-30 years, it has pivotal achievements to its credit. During this movement, a national level apex body, National Dairy Development
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 45
Board (NDDB), was set up with a mission to make dairying a vehicle of entrepreneurship for millions of grassroots milk producers and to extend the success of AMUL model throughout the country. One of the hallmarks of the AMUL model is the incorporation of women networks and the essence of clustering in networking in its development framework. Women should be a part of dairy development as they primarily shoulder animal husbandry related responsibilities in rural India. Involvement of more women strengthens dairy cooperatives. As on June 2001, there were 10,492 all-women dairy cooperatives in India (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) consists of 12 district level milk unions. They are: Ahmedabad, Banaskantha, Baroda, Bharuch, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Mehasana, Rajkot, Sarbarkantha, Surat, Surendranagar and Valsad. In the present research, members of VCS who supply milk to a district level milk producing union at Gandhinagar and operate under the brand name of ‘Madhur’ were surveyed.
Major Findings and Discussion
All the 100 women respondents in the survey reared milch cattle. It was observed that 84 women exclusively reared buffaloes, four women reared only cows, and 12 women reared both. It was observed that a large number of women reared buffaloes. It was found that as high as 98 respondents milked the cattle twice a day. Only two women, who exclusively reared cows, milked the cattle only once a day. Forty seven women stated that their buffaloes gave on an average 5-10 L of milk a day and they supplied 4-9 L to VCS, whereas 32 women got less than 5 L of milk a day. Only five buffaloes gave more than 10 L of milk a day. On observing the data, it was found that seven women who reared cows and buffaloes got more than 10 L of milk a day. The cows, were maintained nicely and thus, gave milk for longer period (due to calf birth), helping them to supply more milk. They supplied more than 9 L of milk a day to VCS, whereas eight women rearing cows and buffaloes got total 5-10 L of buffalo’s milk a day and supplied 4-9 L to VCS. All the women surveyed retained some milk for family consumption and the rest was sold to VCS. The most critical observation was that for a majority of the sample, income from selling milk was primary. As high as 85% of the respondents mentioned that dairy income was their major source of income. 15% of the respondents had other primary sources of income. When asked about the remittance of this income, about 55% of the women said that they retained the dairy income themselves, while about 33% of women gave it to their husband. The remaining 12% gave the income either to their father, father-in-law or mother-in-law. The age group details showed that there were as many as 11 women falling in the age group of below 25 years, while 20 and 27 respondents fell in the age bracket of 25-35 years and 35-45 years respectively. As high as 42 women out of the 100 surveyed, were in the age group of above 45 years. It was also found that a majority of them were poorly educated, with 86% having qualifications less than SSC, and only one woman was a graduate. It was also found that all the women had the dual responsibility of being a housewife and at the same time being engaged in animal husbandry. Regarding the marital status, it was found that almost all of them (95%) were married.
46 The IUP Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. VIII, No. 1, 2011
Regarding family income, it was noticed that families of 68 women were sustaining on an overall monthly income of less than 5,000 (inclusive of agriculture and other income). It was also observed that 52% of families obtained a meager monthly income of less than 3,000 by supplying milk to VCS. From this, we can infer that a majority of families relied on animal husbandry though the income from it was minuscule. Even when other sources of income were taken into account, it was found that the income was not sufficient to have a better standard of living. 76% of women stated that they have more than four dependent members in their family. As per the technique of cross-tabulation and layering it with a condition for filtering the response, it was found that 38 women having educational qualification of less than SSC relied on less than 3,000 as their primary source of income. We have specifically tested certain hypotheses which were proposed after preliminary discussions. They are: H01: There is no association between the number of cattle reared and the monthly income derived from selling milk. H11: There is an association between the number of cattle reared and the monthly income derived from selling milk. Table 1 shows that the null hypothesis was rejected (0.000 < 0.05) and alternate hypothesis was accepted. This implies that there is a strong association (at phi 0.752 > 0.05) between the number of cattle reared and monthly income derived from selling milk. It supports the general belief that more number of animals imply more milk. However, sometimes we have seen that farmers keep unproductive animals out of emotion, even after their milking life is over. In some other cases, inferior breed are more in the flock. Table 1: Results of Chi-Square Tests for the First Set of Hypotheses
Value Pearson Chi-Square Phi-Value 56.495 0.752 df 26 – Asymp. Sig. (2-Sided) 0.000 0.000
Note: Phi-value measures the strength of association between the two variables.
H02: There is no association between the number of cattle reared and the quantity of milk derived from the cattle. H12: There is an association between the number of cattle reared and the quantity of milk derived from the cattle. Table 2 indicates that the null hypothesis is rejected (0.000 < 0.05) and the alternate hypothesis is accepted. This implies that there is a strong association (at phi 2.783 > 0.05) between the number of cattle reared and the quantity of milk derived from the cattle. This finding supports the previous one. Perhaps, one can infer that farmers choose and keep animals on the basis of economic reasons.
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 47
Table 2: Results of Chi-Square Tests for the Second Set of Hypotheses
Value Pearson Chi-Square Phi-Value 774.656 2.783 df 143 – Asymp. Sig. (2-Sided) 0.000 0.000
H03: There is no association between the place from where the milk is supplied and the income derived from selling the milk. H13: There is an association between the place from where the milk is supplied and the income derived from selling the milk. Table 3 indicates that the null hypothesis is not rejected (0.056 > 0.05). This implies that there is no association between the place from where the milk is supplied and the income derived from selling the milk. Farmers have the options to sell at various counters of any VCS or DCS. The finding suggests that the pricing is purely on the basis of the quality of the milk. The fat content is the deciding factor. It is an objective measure and therefore is justified. Farmers also did not have any complaints about it. Table 3: Results of Chi-Square Tests for the Third Set of Hypotheses
Value Pearson Chi-Square 40.810 df 28 Asymp. Sig. (2-Sided) 0.056
H04: There is no significant relationship between the level of education and the factors mentioned below. H14: There is a significant relationship between the level of education and the factors mentioned below.
• Non-empowerment to take any decision; • Inadequate income to fund the family expense; • Income adequate to meet the personal expense; • Contribution to village development; • Free expression of thoughts; and • Regular source of income.
It can be inferred from Table 4 that there is no significant relationship between the level of education and non-empowerment to take decision, inadequate income to fund the family expense, contribution to village development and free expression of thoughts, as the null hypothesis cannot be rejected in all these cases (as the significant value is greater than 0.05). On the other hand, significant relationship was found between education level and personal expense meeting and regular source of income, as the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted in these two cases (as the significant value is less than 0.05).
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The IUP Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. VIII, No. 1, 2011
Table 4: Results of ANOVA
Factors Between Groups Not empowered to take any decision Within Groups Total Between Groups Income not enough to fund the expenses of family Within Groups Total Between Groups Able to meet personal expenses Within Groups Total Between Groups Contribution to village development Within Groups Total Between Groups Able to express your thoughts freely Within Groups Total Between Groups It has provided regular income Within Groups Total Sum of Squares 4.536 231.624 236.160 3.620 170.380 174.000 12.041 123.749 135.790 0.827 72.133 72.960 0.897 103.613 104.510 13.921 56.189 70.110 df 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 4.640 0.585 7.928 0.000 0.299 1.079 0.277 0.842 0.276 0.751 0.367 0.777 4.014 1.289 3.114 0.030 1.207 1.775 0.680 0.566 Mean Square 1.512 2.413 F Sig.
0.627 0.600
Conclusion
From the findings of the study we can conclude that the income of the respondent is dependent on the number of cattle reared, but the quantity of milk does not vary directly in proportion to the number of cattle reared. This occurs because, (a) all the cattle may not give milk at the same time; (b) at the time of artificial insemination the calving intervals are not timed properly among cattle; (c) difference in length of lactation; and (d) fertility problems in cows and buffaloes leading to low yield of milk. Due to these reasons, the quantity of milk varies, irrespective of the number of cattle reared, and so the monthly income also varies. The findings also suggest that respondents face price discrimination on the basis of the quality of milk, i.e., the fat content, but they do not face any price discrimination with respect to the place from which they supply the milk. Thus, we can say that VCS/DCS observes uniform price determination method. As high as 86% of women have educational qualification less than SSC, however, this was not the prime reason for their non-empowerment. It could be due to the fact that still male dominance is prevailing in villages and therefore women lack empowerment as they
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 49
still believe that only men can take crucial decisions. As 95% of women were married, hence it is inferred that the husbands take majority of the decisions. However, only 33% of males handle the dairy income of women. 55% of women keep the income with themselves, but still lack financial empowerment. In the remaining 12% cases, the income was handled by either father or father-in-law. But the income generated was less than 3,000 in the case of 52% of women. Based on the findings of cross-tabulation and layering condition, it can be concluded that partially qualified women, who earned a meager income of 3,000 by selling milk stated it to be their primary source of income. This indicates the role of diary income in the life of poverty-stricken families. A sizable number of families (76%) had more than four dependent members. This is the major reason for the financial crunch in their families. Thus, women did not have enough financial resource to obtain empowerment. Education level has not contributed to income. A large number of respondents (85%) have stated dairy income to be their primary source of income, out of which 76% had more than four dependent members in their family. This implies that the income is insufficient in the absence of other supplementary income. The higher cost of cattle feed is also one of the reasons for the financial crunch. Other secondary sources of income could not be generated due to lower educational qualification and higher level of other noneconomic responsibilities. The research also indicated that women were not enthusiastic about the idea of support floated by ‘Madhur’ that the revenues generated from selling milk should be exclusively handled by women. They are still in the clutches of male-dominated society. The most preferred options by milk farmers to supply milk to Madhur was the availability of year-end bonus, uniform prices based on the quality of milk and regular money receipts. These healthy practices should be continued. On applying weighted average method for the statements pertaining to the support expected from the district cooperative milk union, it was found that women gave first preference to opportunities for educated women to work as employees of VCS/DCS. They also preferred encouraging women to participate in the meetings of VCS/DCS. They also suggested providing cattle loans, helping women to restart closed dairies, organizing seminars to educate women, reserving at least two seats for women in administration, and allowing two members from one family to become members of VCS/DCS. They gave least importance to the issue of whom to hand over the money generated by selling milk. ‘Madhur’ should address the burning problem of costly cattle feed. It should bring forth the issue to the notice of the government and try to arrange for subsidized cattle fodder. The one-time waiver of agricultural debt of farmers from banks provided by the government is not sufficient to help the farmers. Rather the government should set up a network to supply cattle feed at a subsidized rate to every district cooperative milk producing union, which in turn will supply the same to the milk farmers. This step would grant some relief to the milk farmers. ‘Madhur’ should also take initiatives to educate them about the healthy cattle rearing practices by which they can enhance the productivity of the milch animals and also maintain
50 The IUP Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. VIII, No. 1, 2011
appropriate calving interval. Importantly, they should be encouraged to be empowered financially. ?
Acknowledgment: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by M N Patel, Statistics Department, GU, and Professor Meenal Bhargava, MBA Department, SJPI.
References
1. Agarwal V (1990), Economics of Milk Industry in India: Need for Modernization, pp. 111-146, Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi. Eckles Clarence, Combs Willes and Macy Harold (1951), Milk and Milk Products, pp. 1-20, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi. Jehangir S Pocha (2009), The Marketing White Book, 2009-2010: The Marketers’ Essential Handbook, p. 38, Businessworld Publication, New Delhi. Madan G (1994), Cooperative Movement in India, pp. 3-5, Mittal Publications, New Delhi. Perumal M, Mohan P and Suresh M (2007), Dairy Development & Income Distribution in India, pp. 1-60, Abhijeet Publications, New Delhi. Sapovadia Vrajlal and Achutan Sarla (2006), “Role of a Woman Leader in Cooperative Dairy Movement: Story of NDDB – Woman Empowering Women”, NICM Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 10, pp. 10-14, Gandhinagar. Shah Dilip (2000), Cooperativization, Liberalization and Dairy Industry in India, ABD Publishers, Rajasthan, p. 147. Vinayagamoorthy A (2007), “Women Empowerment Through Cooperative Societies”, NICM Bulletin, Vol. IV, No. 8, pp. 3-5, Gandhinagar.
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Reference # 49J-2011-01-04-01
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A cooperative ("coop"), co-operative ("co-op"), or coöperative ("coöp") is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual, social, economic, and cultural benefit.
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment
Jigna Trivedi*, P K Priyan** and Vinay Bhinde***
People of rural India face a lot of hardships to earn livelihood. A majority of them are engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and other ancillary activities. Income from agricultural activity has been as erratic as the monsoon. Hence, rural people are forced to think of generating additional revenues. Since these people are less literate and posses limited skills, the hunt for alternate source of income is constrained to a few occupations. A majority of them choose rearing of milch cattle and selling the milk as a source of secondary income. Cattle rearing is a diversification from existing agricultural activity. Largely, rural women are engaged in this activity. These rural women, besides doing hard household chores, also undertake the taxing job of cattle rearing. They supply the milk to the well-established district cooperative dairies working successfully on the Anand model. The present paper is an effort to study the role of district cooperative dairies in helping the women to be self-reliant, self-employed, self-diligent, and empowered.
Introduction
India has been called ‘a country of villages’. There are as many as 6,38,596 1 villages in India. A study held in 2008 by Max New York Life Insurance and the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) shows that 70%, i.e., 732 million of Indian population, thrives in these villages (Jehangir, 2009). Gandhiji clearly pointed out that villagers are the backbone of the Indian economy (Perumal et al., 2007). The primary occupation in the villages is agriculture supplemented with cattle rearing. India being a rural and agro-based economy, 54% of its workforce is engaged in agriculture, of which 37% are women (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). As high as 78% of agriculture is dependent on monsoon and farmers curse their fate if they do not get a good crop. The rainfall has been erratic and the areas are prone to both drought and floods, rendering agricultural income uncertain for farmers. Most of the time the farmers have to borrow
* ** Lecturer, Shri Jairambhai Patel Institute of Business Management and Computer Applications (formerly known as NICM), Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India; and is the corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Associate Professor, G H Patel Postgraduate Institute of Business Management (MBA Program), Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected]
*** Student (MBA-I), PG Centre (MBA), Shri Jairambhai Patel Institute of Business Management and Computer Applications, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected]
1
http://www.indg.gov.in/rural-india/number-of-villages
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.in Women Empowerment
41
money to meet the cultivation cost of agricultural crops and other social obligations. Since the agricultural income is uncertain and deceptive, farmers easily get entangled in the debt cycle. Moreover, the combination of unfavorable land-to-person ratio and fragmented landholding makes it difficult to support large families on crop income alone. Thus, the underutilized labor potential and a dire need for additional income force farmers to look for subsidiary sources of income. Rearing milch cattle and selling its milk give rise to an additional stream of income. It is a real relief to most of the weaker groups of Indian society. The income from crop production is seasonal. On the contrary, dairy as an occupation helps them to procure stable income year round. In India, dairy is recognized as a substantial contributor towards social and economic development. The nation’s milk supply comes from millions of small producers, dispersed throughout the rural areas. 70-75% of households of small and marginal farmers and landless laborers are wedded to the dairy traditionally since ancient times (Shah, 2000). These small and marginal farmers contribute a large chunk to the milk production. They collectively hold about 70% of the national milk-animal herd. Often one or two milk animals enable these farmers to generate sufficient additional income to break the vicious subsistence agricultural debt cycle. Domestication of cattle occurred about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. The cow was so important to the ancient people of Central Asia, that wealth was measured in terms of the number of cattle held by them (Eckles et al., 1951). India was earlier a milk deficit country. Due to the concerted efforts under the White Revolution, it gradually became a milk surplus country. In the early 1999, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared India as the world’s largest producer of milk. According to FAO Global Food Outlook Report, milk production in India crossed 74 million tons by March 1999. As of 2006-07, the figure stood at 100.9 million tons, while milk production in the US, the second largest producer, was 71 million tons. This rapid growth and modernization are largely credited to the contribution of dairy cooperatives under the Operation Flood (OF) Project. It was assisted by many multilateral agencies, including the European Union, the World Bank, FAO, and World Food Program (WFP) who promoted milk production and animal husbandry. The dairy cooperative system represents more than 13 million dairy farmers belonging to about 1.22 lakh primary cooperative societies, which sell their product to one of the 198 milk producers’ cooperative unions. These unions, in turn, are supported by state cooperative milk marketing federations. The annual rate of growth of milk production in India is between 5-6%, against the world growth rate of 1%. 2 The age of cooperative movement can be traced back to the first and the oldest human society. The domain of cooperatives is capable of meeting many economic needs of a country. The cooperative movement at present covers about 98% of the villages and 62% of the total rural population irrespective of caste, color or creed (Madan, 1994; and Vinayagamoorthy, 2007). Milk and milk products are the second largest contributors to the gross output with
2
http://www.indiadairy.com/ind_world_number_one_milk_producer.html
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a turnover of 10,000 cr annually y, next to rice (Shah, 2000). Dairy industry is an agro-based industry that has brighter prospects of development and expansion in the womb of future (Agarwal, 1990). As on March 2005, more than 100,000 dairy cooperatives got integrated through a three-tier cooperative structure, the Anand model, owned by more than 10 million farmers, which procures on average 16.5 million liters of milk every day. The milk is processed and marketed by 198 milk producers’ cooperative unions. Fifteen state cooperative milk marketing federations work under the ownership of milk producers’ unions. It is significant to note that the women members manage more than 70% of the milk cooperatives (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). Certainly women get the advantages of it. The present study intends to see the impact of dairy industry on women with respect to their self-reliance and empowerment.
Objectives
• • • • • • To understand the linkage between cattle rearing and secondary source of income; To understand the three-tier ‘Anand Model’ system; To examine how the number of cattle and milk derived from them contribute to the earnings of dairy farmers; To identify, if there is any association between the place of supply of milk and the corresponding revenue generated from selling the milk; To identify whether education level plays a vital role in empowering women; and To examine if dairy income has led to the empowerment of women.
Research Methodology
A primary research was undertaken to study whether dairy cooperatives, i.e., district level milk producing unions, have assisted women empowerment. The survey was conducted in nearby villages of Gandhinagar. The data of women-run Village Cooperative Society (VCS) and District Cooperative Society (DCS) were obtained from ‘Madhur’ dairy, a dairy organized on Anand pattern in this area. The sampling frame revealed the names of 23 villages which have VCS, run exclusively by women. It was found that in these 23 villages, the total number of women, who were suppliers and members of VCS, was 8,555. A two-stage sampling technique was used to select the sampling element. In the first stage sampling, out of 23 villages, eight villages were selected on a simple random basis which had 860 women as active suppliers and members of VCS. The eight villages chosen were Adalaj, Basan, Fathepura, Indroda, Pethapur, Tarapur, Tintoda, and Vavol. In the second stage, a non-probability-based convenience sampling or judgment sampling was done to select a sample of 100. The households in the villages are referred to as the sampling unit, and the women staying in the house, who are members of VCS/DCS, were chosen as the sampling element, i.e., respondents of the research. The primary data collection was done through a questionnaire. Secondary data were collected from various newspapers, Internet, magazines, books and journals. Different statistical packages were applied for data analysis, like Excel sheets and SPSS 15.0. Tools used for analysis were weighted average mean, chi-square test, ANOVA and phi-coefficient.
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 43
Linkages Between Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
Indian farmers fight for their livelihood against inconsistent monsoon which may either bless them or curse them. Abundant and timely rains lead to bumper crops and scanty rains lead to drought years with lesser crops. In such an uncertain environment, farmers’ income from agriculture is always unpredictable and unreliable in making a livelihood. To fight against this predicament farmers and villagers have to think of other channels of raising income. The other channel for the illiterate and semiliterate people is rearing of milch cattle. In fact, animals are Any Time source of Money (ATM) to the villagers. Farmers can generate multi-point incomes by selling their milk, wool, manure and meat. Thus, animals provide a big support and relief to the farmers during the period of financial crisis and also help to make a quality bottom line. Agriculture and animal husbandry are interrelated and interdependent. Non-milch cattle assist farmers in tilling land, and provide manure which helps in the healthy growth of crops. Milch cattle provide both milk and manure to the farmers. These animals need fodder which is generated from agricultural land. If a villager practices agriculture and milk farming, he has a dual source of income, with considerable amount of cash inflow generated at various activity levels. There exist interconnected cash-flows for a farmer with cattle rearing as an additional source of income. The cash cycle is depicted in Figure 1. Figure 1: Cash Cycle
Agriculture Purchase of cattle feed (non-farming) Cash Outflow Animals Crops Grass Manure
Milk Personal Consumption Sale in the Market
Cattle Feed
Cash Inflow Personal Consumption Sale in the Market
From Figure 1, it can be inferred that animals are providing regular cash flows. They provide immense advantages. Elaborating on the question of animal rearing, we find that women shoulder this task with little support from their counterparts. Male members are engaged in full-time hardcore industrious work of farming. Rural women are multifaceted like urban women; they look after the house and children, doing unending laborious domestic
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chores, and at the same time try to become self-employed by working part-time. They rear milch cattle, sell milk and generate revenue to sustain the family. Thus, women generate recurring income and play the role of chief cashier maintaining her family receipts and payments in balance. As on 2008, the Indian population stood at 1,147,995,904, in which 49% were women. For sustainable economic and social development in any country, it is necessary that all people participate in the economic process. Participation could be in several ways: establishing an enterprise, doing a job, being self-employed or providing services. Any activity that is done with the objective of earning enhances the standard of living of the people. In this race of development, women cannot remain laggards any longer. Besides being obedient daughters, wives and mothers, they also act as entrepreneurs in the modern society to become independent and lend economic support to the family. They are setting up enterprises at more than twice the rate than men (Vinayagamoorthy, 2007). With respect to the dairy business, it is more profound. At present, as many as 130 cooperative societies are operated exclusively by women under the guidance of Social Welfare Department (Vinayagamoorthy, 2007). Women have always tried to prove their role in progress, despite the domestic responsibilities, time constraints, historical prejudices, and limited cooperation from the family (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). Dairy cooperative movement was the genesis of organized milk marketing in India and a pioneering effort that opened a new vista for dairy development in the country. The structure of the famous Anand model is presented in Figure 2. Due to the great success of this experiment, it has been implemented in various parts of Gujarat and selected districts across the country. Figure 2: Structure of Anand Model (Three-Tier Model)
Milk Producer
Milk Producing Village Cooperative Society (VCS)
District Level Milk Producing Union
State Level Cooperative Milk Producing Union (State Level Federation)
Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros-Boutros Ghali once opined that cooperative is a people-centric model which aims to generate productive employment, overcome poverty and achieve social integration. The Anand pattern gave a thrust to establishment of institutions (cooperatives) owned by rural producers. Officially defined as ‘Operation Flood’ or White Revolution that lasted for 26-30 years, it has pivotal achievements to its credit. During this movement, a national level apex body, National Dairy Development
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 45
Board (NDDB), was set up with a mission to make dairying a vehicle of entrepreneurship for millions of grassroots milk producers and to extend the success of AMUL model throughout the country. One of the hallmarks of the AMUL model is the incorporation of women networks and the essence of clustering in networking in its development framework. Women should be a part of dairy development as they primarily shoulder animal husbandry related responsibilities in rural India. Involvement of more women strengthens dairy cooperatives. As on June 2001, there were 10,492 all-women dairy cooperatives in India (Sapovadia and Achutan, 2006). The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) consists of 12 district level milk unions. They are: Ahmedabad, Banaskantha, Baroda, Bharuch, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Mehasana, Rajkot, Sarbarkantha, Surat, Surendranagar and Valsad. In the present research, members of VCS who supply milk to a district level milk producing union at Gandhinagar and operate under the brand name of ‘Madhur’ were surveyed.
Major Findings and Discussion
All the 100 women respondents in the survey reared milch cattle. It was observed that 84 women exclusively reared buffaloes, four women reared only cows, and 12 women reared both. It was observed that a large number of women reared buffaloes. It was found that as high as 98 respondents milked the cattle twice a day. Only two women, who exclusively reared cows, milked the cattle only once a day. Forty seven women stated that their buffaloes gave on an average 5-10 L of milk a day and they supplied 4-9 L to VCS, whereas 32 women got less than 5 L of milk a day. Only five buffaloes gave more than 10 L of milk a day. On observing the data, it was found that seven women who reared cows and buffaloes got more than 10 L of milk a day. The cows, were maintained nicely and thus, gave milk for longer period (due to calf birth), helping them to supply more milk. They supplied more than 9 L of milk a day to VCS, whereas eight women rearing cows and buffaloes got total 5-10 L of buffalo’s milk a day and supplied 4-9 L to VCS. All the women surveyed retained some milk for family consumption and the rest was sold to VCS. The most critical observation was that for a majority of the sample, income from selling milk was primary. As high as 85% of the respondents mentioned that dairy income was their major source of income. 15% of the respondents had other primary sources of income. When asked about the remittance of this income, about 55% of the women said that they retained the dairy income themselves, while about 33% of women gave it to their husband. The remaining 12% gave the income either to their father, father-in-law or mother-in-law. The age group details showed that there were as many as 11 women falling in the age group of below 25 years, while 20 and 27 respondents fell in the age bracket of 25-35 years and 35-45 years respectively. As high as 42 women out of the 100 surveyed, were in the age group of above 45 years. It was also found that a majority of them were poorly educated, with 86% having qualifications less than SSC, and only one woman was a graduate. It was also found that all the women had the dual responsibility of being a housewife and at the same time being engaged in animal husbandry. Regarding the marital status, it was found that almost all of them (95%) were married.
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Regarding family income, it was noticed that families of 68 women were sustaining on an overall monthly income of less than 5,000 (inclusive of agriculture and other income). It was also observed that 52% of families obtained a meager monthly income of less than 3,000 by supplying milk to VCS. From this, we can infer that a majority of families relied on animal husbandry though the income from it was minuscule. Even when other sources of income were taken into account, it was found that the income was not sufficient to have a better standard of living. 76% of women stated that they have more than four dependent members in their family. As per the technique of cross-tabulation and layering it with a condition for filtering the response, it was found that 38 women having educational qualification of less than SSC relied on less than 3,000 as their primary source of income. We have specifically tested certain hypotheses which were proposed after preliminary discussions. They are: H01: There is no association between the number of cattle reared and the monthly income derived from selling milk. H11: There is an association between the number of cattle reared and the monthly income derived from selling milk. Table 1 shows that the null hypothesis was rejected (0.000 < 0.05) and alternate hypothesis was accepted. This implies that there is a strong association (at phi 0.752 > 0.05) between the number of cattle reared and monthly income derived from selling milk. It supports the general belief that more number of animals imply more milk. However, sometimes we have seen that farmers keep unproductive animals out of emotion, even after their milking life is over. In some other cases, inferior breed are more in the flock. Table 1: Results of Chi-Square Tests for the First Set of Hypotheses
Value Pearson Chi-Square Phi-Value 56.495 0.752 df 26 – Asymp. Sig. (2-Sided) 0.000 0.000
Note: Phi-value measures the strength of association between the two variables.
H02: There is no association between the number of cattle reared and the quantity of milk derived from the cattle. H12: There is an association between the number of cattle reared and the quantity of milk derived from the cattle. Table 2 indicates that the null hypothesis is rejected (0.000 < 0.05) and the alternate hypothesis is accepted. This implies that there is a strong association (at phi 2.783 > 0.05) between the number of cattle reared and the quantity of milk derived from the cattle. This finding supports the previous one. Perhaps, one can infer that farmers choose and keep animals on the basis of economic reasons.
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 47
Table 2: Results of Chi-Square Tests for the Second Set of Hypotheses
Value Pearson Chi-Square Phi-Value 774.656 2.783 df 143 – Asymp. Sig. (2-Sided) 0.000 0.000
H03: There is no association between the place from where the milk is supplied and the income derived from selling the milk. H13: There is an association between the place from where the milk is supplied and the income derived from selling the milk. Table 3 indicates that the null hypothesis is not rejected (0.056 > 0.05). This implies that there is no association between the place from where the milk is supplied and the income derived from selling the milk. Farmers have the options to sell at various counters of any VCS or DCS. The finding suggests that the pricing is purely on the basis of the quality of the milk. The fat content is the deciding factor. It is an objective measure and therefore is justified. Farmers also did not have any complaints about it. Table 3: Results of Chi-Square Tests for the Third Set of Hypotheses
Value Pearson Chi-Square 40.810 df 28 Asymp. Sig. (2-Sided) 0.056
H04: There is no significant relationship between the level of education and the factors mentioned below. H14: There is a significant relationship between the level of education and the factors mentioned below.
• Non-empowerment to take any decision; • Inadequate income to fund the family expense; • Income adequate to meet the personal expense; • Contribution to village development; • Free expression of thoughts; and • Regular source of income.
It can be inferred from Table 4 that there is no significant relationship between the level of education and non-empowerment to take decision, inadequate income to fund the family expense, contribution to village development and free expression of thoughts, as the null hypothesis cannot be rejected in all these cases (as the significant value is greater than 0.05). On the other hand, significant relationship was found between education level and personal expense meeting and regular source of income, as the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted in these two cases (as the significant value is less than 0.05).
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Table 4: Results of ANOVA
Factors Between Groups Not empowered to take any decision Within Groups Total Between Groups Income not enough to fund the expenses of family Within Groups Total Between Groups Able to meet personal expenses Within Groups Total Between Groups Contribution to village development Within Groups Total Between Groups Able to express your thoughts freely Within Groups Total Between Groups It has provided regular income Within Groups Total Sum of Squares 4.536 231.624 236.160 3.620 170.380 174.000 12.041 123.749 135.790 0.827 72.133 72.960 0.897 103.613 104.510 13.921 56.189 70.110 df 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 3 96 99 4.640 0.585 7.928 0.000 0.299 1.079 0.277 0.842 0.276 0.751 0.367 0.777 4.014 1.289 3.114 0.030 1.207 1.775 0.680 0.566 Mean Square 1.512 2.413 F Sig.
0.627 0.600
Conclusion
From the findings of the study we can conclude that the income of the respondent is dependent on the number of cattle reared, but the quantity of milk does not vary directly in proportion to the number of cattle reared. This occurs because, (a) all the cattle may not give milk at the same time; (b) at the time of artificial insemination the calving intervals are not timed properly among cattle; (c) difference in length of lactation; and (d) fertility problems in cows and buffaloes leading to low yield of milk. Due to these reasons, the quantity of milk varies, irrespective of the number of cattle reared, and so the monthly income also varies. The findings also suggest that respondents face price discrimination on the basis of the quality of milk, i.e., the fat content, but they do not face any price discrimination with respect to the place from which they supply the milk. Thus, we can say that VCS/DCS observes uniform price determination method. As high as 86% of women have educational qualification less than SSC, however, this was not the prime reason for their non-empowerment. It could be due to the fact that still male dominance is prevailing in villages and therefore women lack empowerment as they
The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment 49
still believe that only men can take crucial decisions. As 95% of women were married, hence it is inferred that the husbands take majority of the decisions. However, only 33% of males handle the dairy income of women. 55% of women keep the income with themselves, but still lack financial empowerment. In the remaining 12% cases, the income was handled by either father or father-in-law. But the income generated was less than 3,000 in the case of 52% of women. Based on the findings of cross-tabulation and layering condition, it can be concluded that partially qualified women, who earned a meager income of 3,000 by selling milk stated it to be their primary source of income. This indicates the role of diary income in the life of poverty-stricken families. A sizable number of families (76%) had more than four dependent members. This is the major reason for the financial crunch in their families. Thus, women did not have enough financial resource to obtain empowerment. Education level has not contributed to income. A large number of respondents (85%) have stated dairy income to be their primary source of income, out of which 76% had more than four dependent members in their family. This implies that the income is insufficient in the absence of other supplementary income. The higher cost of cattle feed is also one of the reasons for the financial crunch. Other secondary sources of income could not be generated due to lower educational qualification and higher level of other noneconomic responsibilities. The research also indicated that women were not enthusiastic about the idea of support floated by ‘Madhur’ that the revenues generated from selling milk should be exclusively handled by women. They are still in the clutches of male-dominated society. The most preferred options by milk farmers to supply milk to Madhur was the availability of year-end bonus, uniform prices based on the quality of milk and regular money receipts. These healthy practices should be continued. On applying weighted average method for the statements pertaining to the support expected from the district cooperative milk union, it was found that women gave first preference to opportunities for educated women to work as employees of VCS/DCS. They also preferred encouraging women to participate in the meetings of VCS/DCS. They also suggested providing cattle loans, helping women to restart closed dairies, organizing seminars to educate women, reserving at least two seats for women in administration, and allowing two members from one family to become members of VCS/DCS. They gave least importance to the issue of whom to hand over the money generated by selling milk. ‘Madhur’ should address the burning problem of costly cattle feed. It should bring forth the issue to the notice of the government and try to arrange for subsidized cattle fodder. The one-time waiver of agricultural debt of farmers from banks provided by the government is not sufficient to help the farmers. Rather the government should set up a network to supply cattle feed at a subsidized rate to every district cooperative milk producing union, which in turn will supply the same to the milk farmers. This step would grant some relief to the milk farmers. ‘Madhur’ should also take initiatives to educate them about the healthy cattle rearing practices by which they can enhance the productivity of the milch animals and also maintain
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appropriate calving interval. Importantly, they should be encouraged to be empowered financially. ?
Acknowledgment: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by M N Patel, Statistics Department, GU, and Professor Meenal Bhargava, MBA Department, SJPI.
References
1. Agarwal V (1990), Economics of Milk Industry in India: Need for Modernization, pp. 111-146, Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi. Eckles Clarence, Combs Willes and Macy Harold (1951), Milk and Milk Products, pp. 1-20, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi. Jehangir S Pocha (2009), The Marketing White Book, 2009-2010: The Marketers’ Essential Handbook, p. 38, Businessworld Publication, New Delhi. Madan G (1994), Cooperative Movement in India, pp. 3-5, Mittal Publications, New Delhi. Perumal M, Mohan P and Suresh M (2007), Dairy Development & Income Distribution in India, pp. 1-60, Abhijeet Publications, New Delhi. Sapovadia Vrajlal and Achutan Sarla (2006), “Role of a Woman Leader in Cooperative Dairy Movement: Story of NDDB – Woman Empowering Women”, NICM Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 10, pp. 10-14, Gandhinagar. Shah Dilip (2000), Cooperativization, Liberalization and Dairy Industry in India, ABD Publishers, Rajasthan, p. 147. Vinayagamoorthy A (2007), “Women Empowerment Through Cooperative Societies”, NICM Bulletin, Vol. IV, No. 8, pp. 3-5, Gandhinagar.
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