Vol. 9, Special Issue 3 (2024)

The livestock sector is growing at an unprecedented rate and the driving force behind this enormous surge is a combination of population growth, rising incomes and urbanization. By the year 2050, the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion and in order to feed this larger, more urban and richer population production must increase by 70% in the livestock sector. Consequently, the long-term viability of livestock systems is now being questioned. The concept of sustainable development combines environmental goals, maintaining economic viability, and the social goals, all of which have to be pursued simultaneously. But the production systems which are predominantly mixed farming systems, are undergoing a steady transformation due to increasing pressure on livestock to produce more. This interaction between crop and livestock production are likely to weaken further giving way to emergence of commercial production systems. These commercialization trends are visible in the case of dairy and poultry production. These changes are threating the traditional farming systems and entail environment and social disturbances which will further weaken the available opportunities for women in rural areas. There is a strong need for supporting traditional mixed farming systems. However, these are not gender neutral and have been criticized on this account. It is argued that gender equality as an goal should be attempted in supporting these production systems.