September 2026
In drought-prone Balangir, Odisha, a community-led Goat Cluster initiative successfully transformed traditional goat rearing into a sustainable, profitable livelihood for the rural households. By establishing local producer groups, training village Goat Cadres, and introducing scientific feeding and preventive healthcare, the project considerably reduced the overall goat mortality.
Balangir district in western Odisha is a drought-prone, climate-vulnerable region where rainfed agriculture and recurring droughts make livestock an essential livelihood source. Goat rearing provides a low-cost, climate-resilient income for smallholders, women and landless families. However, several practical constraints directly affected goat productivity and household returns.
Traditional and extensive production systems, limited availability of quality breeding bucks and uncontrolled breeding reduced opportunities for genetic improvement. Seasonal scarcity of nutritious fodder and feed resources was particularly challenging during the dry period. High incidence of parasitic and infectious diseases contributed to goat mortality, while limited access to timely veterinary and extension services in remote villages constrained effective disease prevention and treatment. Farmers also had limited awareness of scientific housing, balanced feeding and preventive healthcare. In addition, weak producer institutions and limited market linkages reduced farmers’ collective bargaining power and restricted opportunities for better prices.
To address these challenges, Mahashakti Foundation with the support of Reliance Foundation, implemented a community-based Goat Cluster initiative in Gudvella and Saintala blocks, covering 1,136 rural households across 48 villages. The Goat Cluster Development initiative was implemented with the objective of transforming traditional goat rearing into a sustainable and profitable livelihood enterprise by improving productivity, reducing mortality and establishing sustainable community-based livestock extension services.
The Community based approach
The intervention adopted a participatory, community-led approach that strengthened local institutions, built the capacities of village-level livestock service providers and promoted low-cost scientific management practices.
The intervention began with a comprehensive baseline survey and goat population assessment covering all target villages. Household profiling generated information on flock size, breed composition, feeding practices, housing conditions, disease incidence, mortality, breeding systems and access to veterinary services. High mortality was one of the major concerns identified at the beginning of the intervention. The baseline information recorded an average herd size of 5.5 goats per household. Kid mortality was reported at 30–35%, while adult mortality was around 15%. Limited access to timely veterinary services and inadequate preventive care contributed to these losses. The survey also identified existing knowledge gaps and village-specific constraints, enabling the project team to design need-based interventions and prioritize vulnerable households. This evidence-based planning ensured efficient resource allocation and established benchmark indicators for monitoring project outcomes.
Village-level Goat Producer Groups (GPGs) were established to encourage collective learning, community participation and farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange. These groups served as platforms for discussing animal health issues, organizing vaccination and deworming campaigns, sharing locally available feed resources and promoting scientific goat husbandry practices. Regular meetings strengthened social cohesion and enabled members to collectively address production and marketing challenges while encouraging greater participation of women in livestock management. To strengthen institutional coordination, Block Level Goat Clusters (BLGCs) were formed in Gudvella and Saintala blocks.
The cluster approach facilitated collective planning, knowledge sharing, exposure visits and improved access to government livestock development programmes. Organizing farmers into clusters also enhanced economies of scale for input procurement, disease surveillance and future market linkages.
Building local capacity
Demonstrations and practical training programmes introduced farmers to improved goat husbandry practices, including scientific housing, kid management, balanced feeding, breeding management, sanitation and record keeping. Farmers were encouraged to adopt simple and affordable improvements that enhanced animal welfare and productivity without increasing production costs. Practical demonstrations enabled rapid adoption of improved management practices suitable for smallholder production systems. Farmers also received training on preparing balanced feed mixtures using locally available ingredients, thereby reducing dependence on commercial feed while improving animal nutrition and growth performance.
Towards better nutrition and health
To address feed scarcity, low-cost feeding strategies using locally available crop residues, tree leaves and agricultural by-products, was promoted. Azolla cultivation was introduced as a protein-rich supplementary feed that could be produced with minimal investment at the household level.
The rich indigenous knowledge available within rural communities was documented and promoted for managing common goat ailments. Farmers were trained to prepare herbal formulations from locally available medicinal plants for minor health problems, wound management and parasite control. These low-cost practices complemented modern veterinary care, reduced treatment expenses and encouraged sustainable use of local biological resources.
Preventive healthcare formed the cornerstone of the intervention. Regular deworming and vaccination campaigns were organised in convergence with the Department of Veterinary Services to reduce the incidence of infectious and parasitic diseases. Goat Cadres mobilized farmers, maintained treatment records and assisted veterinary personnel during village-level health camps.
This community-based preventive healthcare system significantly improved access to animal health services and contributed to lower mortality among goats. The project reports an early reduction in mortality from around 30% to 10% in the intervention experience. However, as the programme is still continuing and systematic long-term monitoring is underway, these changes need to be tracked further to understand the sustained impact of the intervention.
Goat Cadre as local Livestock Extension Agents
A major innovation of the programme was the development of village-based Goat Cadres as community livestock resource persons. Selected women and youth from intervention villages received intensive training on scientific goat management, disease identification, first aid, feeding practices, breeding management and extension communication.
To further strengthen local technical capacity, selected Goat Cadres underwent advanced training at the ICAR–Central Institute for Research on Goats (CIRG), Mathura. The exposure enhanced their knowledge on scientific breeding, disease management, nutrition, fodder production and enterprise development. On returning to their villages, these trained cadres disseminated the acquired knowledge through farmer trainings, demonstrations and field advisory services, ensuring that advanced technical expertise reached even remote livestock-rearing communities.
These trained cadres became the first point of contact for livestock keepers, providing doorstep advisory services and facilitating timely veterinary interventions. The model substantially reduced farmers' dependence on distant veterinary institutions while creating local employment opportunities for rural women.
Institutional convergence
The success of the Goat Cluster initiative was strengthened through close convergence with the Department of Veterinary Services. The Block level federated institutions linked village producer groups with technical agencies, veterinary departments and markets. Veterinary professionals supported vaccination, deworming, technical training and field demonstrations, while the project mobilized community institutions and Goat Cadres to ensure effective implementation. This collaborative model combined institutional expertise with community ownership, creating a sustainable livestock extension system that can continue beyond the project period.
| Box 1: Bhama’s growing herd The experience of Bhama Bhoi from Bakbahal village in Ghuna Gram Panchayat of Gudvella Block illustrates the potential of regular support and improved management. A 48-year-old tribal farmer, Bhama lives with her four-member family and depends on daily wage labour, one acre of farmland and forest produce for her livelihood. Initially, she owned six goats and did not have a proper goat shed. The animals were kept around 10 km away in Rajkel village, making their management difficult. Through the goat intervention, she received support for a goat shed and participated in training on improved management, timely deworming, vaccination and low-cost feeding. Over two years of support, her herd increased from six to 20 goats. During the last year, she sold two goats for ₹20,000 and used part of the income to purchase two additional goats. Her present herd includes 14 females, including four kids, and six males. Her experience demonstrates how better housing, regular animal healthcare and improved management can strengthen an existing livelihood asset. |
Some notable outcomes
With improved feeding, healthcare and breeding practices, farmers were able to increase goat survival, body weight and market value, thereby enhancing household income and livelihood security. Table 1 provides some qualitative impact that the initiative made on goat farming livelihoods.
Table 1: Some impact indicators
| Indicator | Before Intervention | After Intervention |
| Goat production | Traditional extensive production; limited scientific management | Scientific feeding, breeding, housing and health management adopted |
| Goat mortality | High mortality due to diseases and inadequate preventive care | Regular deworming, vaccination and doorstep veterinary support.Mortality reduced from 30% to 10%. |
| Feed management | Seasonal feed scarcity and dependence on available natural resources | Azolla, crop residues, tree leaves and locally prepared balanced feed promoted |
| Market access | Weak market linkages and low bargaining power | Goat Producer Groups and Block Level Goat Clusters strengthened collective marketing |
| Goat sales | Individual/small-scale marketing | Collective marketing through producer institutions planned |
| Farm income | Low income from traditional goat rearing | Improved productivity, reduced mortality (confirmed, looking at the present growth) |
Lessons from Balangir
The project generated several important lessons for sustainable livestock development in drought-prone regions.
- Community institutions are essential for improving access to livestock services and ensuring long-term sustainability.
- Locally trained Goat Cadres can effectively bridge the gap between livestock farmers and formal veterinary services while creating employment opportunities for rural women and youth.
- Low-cost feeding technologies and ethnoveterinary practices, when scientifically promoted, can substantially reduce production costs without compromising animal health.
- Preventive healthcare through regular deworming and vaccination is more economical than curative treatment and significantly lowers livestock mortality.
- The experience also demonstrated that integrating indigenous knowledge with scientific management and fostering convergence among community organizations, technical institutions and government departments creates a resilient and scalable livestock development model suitable for resource-poor farming communities.
The Community-based Goat Cluster Development initiative in Gudvella and Saintala blocks demonstrates that sustainable goat production can significantly strengthen rural livelihoods when supported by strong community institutions, local technical capacity and low external input management practices. The model offers a practical and replicable approach for promoting sustainable livestock production in other drought-prone regions of India.
Acknowledgment
The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support and institutional facilitation provided by Mahashakti Foundation under Reliance Foundation supported project. Special thanks are extended to villagers for his prompt provision of field-level information essential for the preparation of this study.
References
Mahashakti Foundation.. (2026). Sustainable livelihood through community-based goat cluster development in Balangir district, Odisha: Project documentation. Mahashakti Foundation.
https://balangir.odisha.gov.inGovernment of Odisha.. (2025). Balangir district profile. District Administration, Balangir. https://balangir.odisha.gov.in.
International Fund for Agricultural Development.. (2021). Rural development report 2021: Transforming food systems for rural prosperity. International Fund for Agricultural Development. https://www.ifad.org/en/web/knowledge/publication/asset/42185283
Van Der Ploeg, J. D.. (2008). The new peasantries: Struggles for autonomy and sustainability in an era of empire and globalization. Earthscan.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.. (2011). World livestock 2011: Livestock in food security. FAO.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.. (2023). The state of food and agriculture 2023: Revealing the true cost of food to transform agrifood systems. FAO.
Ashutosh Pal
Agriculture Expert, Mahashakti Foundation
Plot No.-05, HIG, Dharma Vihar,Bhubaneswar – 751030, Odisha, India
Email: ashutoshpal@mahashaktiindia.org
Mobile: 8594895370
