Role and Contribution of Working Equines in India
Thanammal Ravichandran, Habibar Rahman and Vijayalakshmy Kennady
International Livestock Research Institute
Stakeholders Meeting of Donkey Project, Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Science
University (MAFSU), Maharashtra, India, 4 March 2020
Better lives through livestock…………

Why livestock matter globally for livelihoods?
o 70% of the world’s rural poor rely on livestock for livelihoods.
o Employs more than 1.3 billion globally
o About 600 million poor livestock keepers in the world, around two-thirds are
rural women.
o Contribute about 40% Agri. GDP
o About 17% of kilocalorie and 33% of protein consumed are from livestock sector
o In the poorest countries, livestock manure comprises over 70% of soil fertility
o 90% of animal products are produced and consumed in the same country or
region

Livestock and working equine?
 What is livestock?
Livestock is commonly defined as domesticated animals
raised in an agricultural setting to produce labor and
commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock)
 Does working equine considers as livestock?
Livestock census includes working equines as well
Few communities in India eat donkey meat*
Traction power of working equines are used for various
sector including agriculture, construction and transport
*(https://newsable.asianetnews.com/andhra-pradesh/guntur-and-vijayawada-people-new-delicacy-is-donkey-meat)

Livestock census Vs working equine
population
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1951 1956 1961 1966 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2003 2007 2012
Trend of equine population (1951-2012)
Horses & ponies Mules Donkeys
(Source: prepared from DADF livestock census data)

Livestock census 2019
61%
57%
Source: http://dadf.gov.in/sites/default/filess/Key%20Results%2BAnnexure%2018.10.2019.pdf

BE
Name of
Department
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Grand Total
(Last 3 years)
DAC&FW 17004.35 35983.69 41855.00
94843.04
(81.39%)
DARE 3691.00 3700.00 6800.00
14191.00
(12.18%)
DAHDF 2136.16 2431.50 2921.00
7488.66
(6.43%)
Total 22,831.51 42,115.19 51,576.00 116,522.70
(Rs. In crore)
Budgetary Allocation

Central budget 2019-20 for Livestock sector
White revolution
70%
Blue revolution
13%
Budget allocation based on
contribution to economy (GDP) livelihood support

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
QUANTITY
YEAR (PRODUCTION SEASON)
Production
(Million ton)
Per Capita Availability
(g/day)
Dairy sector growth, livelihood and nutrition
source: Department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, Government of India, 2017-18
(Accessed from http://dahd.nic.in/reports/annual-report-2017-18)

Information gap on working equines?
Do we have enough data and information to show the
contribution of working equines for livelihood?
- Anecdotal evidence
- Lack of data on population with work type
- Lack of data for contribution to economy and livelihood
- Lack of research programme/ pilot studies to address drastic
decline of equine population
- What is the impact in livelihood due to decreasing
population?

Research objectives
 To identify the donkey and mule population, trend
and their usage pattern
 To specify the communities who own the donkey and
mule population
 To evaluate the human development indicators
associated with these communities which affect the
equine welfare
 To identify the key challenges and opportunities that
impact the welfare of human and equine populations
(one welfare approach)

Study regions
Based on the donkey
and mule population

Where are these working equines?
• Brick kiln industry
• Villages
• Construction industry
• Tourism
• Shrines
• Equine farms

Role of working equines

Role of working equines

Contribution of working equines to landless
communities
• For landless communities especially who are working in brick
kiln with working equines
• Owning equine is an important source of asset for
income generation
• The main source of income is from brick kiln
• Source of credit is only from brick kiln owners
(Source: Zaman et al., 2014)

Economic importance in brick kiln industry
(Source: www.thebrookeindia.org)

Women empowerment
(Source: Kandpal et al., 2014)
Study in UP (Brooke India)- 7 districts

Mapping: Donkey population in Maharashtra
By Mr. Mahesh Kumar, NDDB
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maharashtra_Divisions_Eng.svg)
High density donkey population

Mapping work type in Maharashtra
Source: https://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/maharashtra/maharashtra-forest-map.htm
Brick kiln
River based
Migration

One welfare approach
 Developmental initiatives
 Alternate livelihood to increase income
 Convergence schemes
 Education, health and wellbeing of next generation
 Technologies and innovation
 Disease diagnostics
 Access to inputs and services
 Enabling policies
 Institutional arrangement
 Multi stakeholder collaboration
 Innovation platform

Working animal- productivity and animal
welfare
(Source: McInerney J. Animal welfare, economics and policy: report on a study undertaken for the farm and animal health economics
division of DEFRA 2004 London. Funded by Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs)

Existing Policy towards Livestock Development
AHDF department has been providing assistance to the state
government for the control of animal diseases
Scientific management and Upgradation of genetic resources
Increasing availability of nutritious feed and fodder
Sustainable development of processing and marketing
facilities
Enhancement of production and profitability of livestock
enterprises.

Disease (Glanders) impact on livelihood
(Source: Zaman et al., 2013)

Policy initiatives (Example)

Donkeys in news

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