The Women Empowerment through Livelihood and Entrepreneurship (WELivE) programme of Bangalore Rural Educational And Development Society (BREADS) is implemented in four districts of Karnataka—Chitradurga, Davanagere, Vijayanagara, and Yadagir, to ensure the generation of sustainable income for rural women. WELivE intends to empower 35 women from each of the rural areas of these four districts (reaching a total of 140 women) through sheep farming/goat rearing.
Don Bosco Child Labour Mission (DBCLM), BREADS’ partner in Davanagere district, is actively implementing the project in 15 villages in Jagalur taluk. As part of the project, 35 women were selected to attend two workshops spanning eight days, for enhancing their entrepreneurial and business skills in sheep rearing/farming. These workshops enlightened them on suitable breeds for stall-fed farming, feed and fodder cultivation, supplements, vaccination cycles, health and disease management, pregnancy and kid management, and other relevant information and skills for commercial sheep rearing.
In order to kickstart the income generation activity, WELivE supports the trained women with seed capital for purchasing a minimum of 2 sheep/goats. On 7 March 2024, the women beneficiaries from Davanagere purchased two sheep each from the sheep market in Chitradurga under the supervision of Mr. Srinivas, Marketing Consultant, WELivE, Davanagere. They are now engaged in caring for their sheep/goats while looking forward to its benefits for themselves and their families.