Pathways to empowerment through livestock interventions in LMICs in Africa, Asia and Latin America: a scoping review protocol

Livestock production supports the livelihoods of 1 billion poor people in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) (Thorne and Conroy, 2017). Besides providing milk, meat and eggs to a growing population, the livestock sector also offers opportunities to improve livelihoods for women and men livestock keepers and actors along the value chains. Livestock offer a unique opportunity for women to progress toward (economic) empowerment, in particular due to the fact that traditionally in some areas women manage the animals and are able to control some of the benefits of livestock (consumption of products, intermittent sale of eggs and milk and use of manure). Livestock is also a key asset that women can own and transfer, unlike land and other physical assets which might need a title deed. On the other hand, in livestock, there are strong and persistent inequalities between women and men with respect to ability to access inputs, services and output markets, decision making, as well as control over assets, benefits and income. Indeed, gender inequality prevents the sector from achieving its full potential and reducing these inequalities is an objective on its own. Unlike the difference between small- and large-scale farmers that is well analyzed in the literature, there are surprisingly few papers and data that address the gender differences in livestock production and systems. Moreover, previous literature tends to focus on only one part of the equation namely women. Also, the last review is about 10 years old and needs to be updated (Kristjanson et al, 2010). The aim of this paper is therefore to assess the channels/ mechanisms/ ways livestock has been shown to support women to progress toward gender equality (or woman economic empowerment) and to develop recommendations that maximize the opportunities for the livestock sector to progress toward gender equality (or woman (economic) empowerment.