The “Community empowerment through livestock development and credit (CELDAC)” is a partnership project of UNDP-Pakistan and Nestlé Pakistan Ltd, where Nestle is the implementing partner in the field. The project integrates community development with the market mechanism where women are empowered to become livestock health care takers and also in related fields of becoming livestock farmers, milk sellers and self driven dairy entrepreneurs. This new project aims to train 4 000 women livestock workers. The project was signed in Sept 2006, where UNDP was inspired by Nestlé’s existing project of training women livestock workers in rural Punjab. Part of the project has also been allocated to Engro Foods Ltd. in the rural Sindh area, with separate management and implementation. This is an ideal public-private partnership between UNDP and Nestlé which encourages capacity building for women in rural areas.
CELDAC was initiated for the purpose of gender empowerment in selected rural areas of the Punjab province. It aims to rectify the situation in which rural women, although they are the primary managers of livestock, have no access to animal healthcare facilities. The veterinarians are almost all men and in the rural setting, contact between them and the women actually looking after the livestock is minimal. Also, there are very few vets to cover the numerous villages in the Punjab, one of Pakistan’s largest milk producing areas. Often the animal in question dies before a vet can arrive, of an ordinary disease or condition like stomach worms which can easily be cured at home if the caregiver knows what to do. An ordinary illness becomes life threatening, and the life expectancy of livestock is severely reduced. This results in severe economic difficulty for the farmers, adding to already abject poverty.
The livestock sector is critical to Pakistan, and provides quality foods like milk, meat and eggs, as well as organic fertilizer for crop production. Millions of rural poor depend on livestock for their livelihood. The livestock sector accounts for almost half the overall value addition in the agriculture sector. CELDAC intervenes at key leverage points to address the existing gaps such as lack of capital amongst women, poor marketing outlets, and eliminating middlemen who take the lion’s share of the profit.
CELDAC incorporates a mandate of UNDP and Nestlé Pakistan to train rural women in basic livestock healthcare as well as providing a platform on which microfinance is made available for them to generate income. Thus the goals of livestock healthcare, gender empowerment and income generation are made possible. This is an innovative intervention in the patriarchal, rural social milieu, where the women can take the lead.
CELDAC is in the process of training a cadre of Female Livestock Workers, on the lines of the rural Female Health Workers scheme and technical expert Master Trainers have already been trained. The project commenced in October 2006 and will run for 3 years. Three zones of the Punjab are involved : Arifwala and Mian Channu are already active, and Bohwana will be activated by the third quarter of 2007. The goal of the project is to enhance income and employment generation of rural women through livestock skills development, improved livelihoods and food security at the household and community level. Trainees are given a month long, hands-on training in basic animal healthcare. Their capacity to deliver primary livestock management, production and extension services is developed. Once trained, they are provided with a training kit comprising medical instruments, medicines and vaccines. They are then self-employed and it is expected that they will earn Rs 100 – Rs 500 (US $ 1.5 – US $ 8) per service provided in the village.
CELDAC is a unique public-private partnership, linking the milk producers directly with the dairy companies and eliminating the middlemen. The project will provide its stakeholders with an improved functioning of output markets by facilitating processing and value addition to livestock products.
To date the project has trained more then 800 women livestock workers and the numbers are growing.
Success stories 01
Shakeela lives in a small village in the Punjab province of Pakistan and has two children. She had no source of income and her overall economic condition was becoming poorer day by day until she met the CELDAC team at one of the Community Meetings in her village. When she learned about women working she decided to join the project and improve her family’s living conditions.
She followed the course and graduated in Basic Animal Health, Treatment and Management and is now working as a VMC agent in her village. Nestlé Pakistan, being an implementing partner, assisted these women with their Milk Collection setup to provide support and employment.
Shakeela is running a very successful business and her financial status has radically changed. Her children are now at school and their quality of life improves day by day.
The CELDAC training has changed their lives and generated income and employment for the whole community.
Success stories 02
Shama is an active young woman from the Punjab Province and lives in a small house with her parents. Her education is very basic as her family could not afford to pay for further schooling.
After 8th class she got married but unfortunately after one year her husband divorced her and she had no maintenance or source of income.
Her father was unable to bear the financial burden of the whole family and their situation worsened as Shama was unable to contribute to the family’s expenses.
On 8th Jan 2007, Shama got a golden opportunity to change her status, by enrolling with the CELDAC Training course. She completed the course, graduated and is now working as an Animal Nurse in her village. Daily she administers 8-10 vaccinations and provides basic animal healthcare.
Shama earns about 7 000-8 000 Rs per month which is not only sufficient to meet her own demands but has also greatly improved her family’s living conditions.
Shama is no longer a burden on her parents, is totally self-sufficient and is now adding great value to her community.
She is a real symbol of CELDAC success.