Women’s empowerment in integrated cattle-farming systems in Indonesia

Women play active roles in livestock rearing and household finances in low-middle-income countries, including Indonesia. Investing in women within smallholder supply chains is beneficial but challenging because of the complex production and market systems. To overcome these challenges, a holistic approach considering social, cultural, economic, institutional, environmental, political, and demographic factors is essential for effective technology adoption and scaling. This article uses farm-level surveys in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and South Kalimantan to assess women’s empowerment in Indonesia’s livestock sector. A customized tool, adapted from the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI), was used to interview 754 male and female respondents. The index covered decisions about agricultural production, nutrition-related decisions, access to and control over resources, control and use of income, access to and control of opportunities, and workload and control over own time. Results showed that only 3.6% of women are empowered in livestock production, compared to 33.34% in agriculture. Sumbawa in NTB had the highest livestock empowerment at 5.7%, followed by South Kalimantan (4.6%) and Lombok (1.1%). Key drivers of empowerment were income control, resource access, and control over workload. These findings highlight the need for tailored capacity-building strategies to enhance technology adoption and improve household well-being.