The key innovation of the organization is decentralized community-managed livestock health care services backed by integration of capacity building and mainstream linkages. p Organisation replicate the idea of Pashu Nurse by training semi-literate rural poor women from high small livestock density villages. Pashu sakhies are the backbone of The Goat Trust’s work on ground providing regular information and first aid services with following distinct qualities
Doorstep, on-time services
First aid at the first symptom
Low-cost services
Women accessible services
Integration of knowledge and skills with products & services
Community Insurance with community-led services
Pashu Sakhi is a partially literate woman trained under structured classrooms & field practice and then review and support in fieldwork over a period of one year to provide basic improved practices knowledge and preventative and herb-based home remedies at low cost and first symptom. Basically, she is a goat rearer herself who demonstrates, advocates, and disseminates knowledge and skill actively for the betterment of her nearby goat farmers within the village. Experiences by a number of grassroots organizations suggest that a village-based knowledge extension service cum preventative health care service through training local small livestock farming women had proven an effective strategy to improve management and reduce mortality & morbidity on a significant scale.
The features that make this model unique and efficient are:
Empowering rural poor women to take lead in goat health & productivity enhancement. Demonstration, demystification, and promotion by local livestock rearing women. And command the community to select and own service providers.
Decentralization of animal management knowledge and services.
Community insurance to make the system responsible and effective.
Development of participatory training tools and processes to build local capacity.
Linkages with the mainstream on business terms.
Modifying livestock management approach from delivery to demand-based. Creating village-level learning and discussion platform through Bakari Paalak Pathshaala facilitation.
Sustaining Pashu Sakhies on supplementary income streams of input provision and small business unit setup support along with the primary income stream of health aid delivery at doorstep
