Caste, livelihoods and livestock: an exploration of the uptake of livestock vaccination adoption among poor farmers in India

Heffernan, C., Thomson, K. and Nielsen, L. (2011) Caste, livelihoods and livestock: an exploration of the uptake of livestock vaccination adoption among poor farmers in India. Journal of International Development, 23 (1). pp. 103-118. ISSN 1099-1328 doi: 10.1002/jid.1643

Abstract/Summary

The study explores the uptake of livestock vaccination among poor farming communities in Tamil Nadu State, India by revisiting innovation diffusion theory. Overall, 601 farmers participated in the study. We found the adoption of particular vaccines was strongly influenced by socio-cultural grouping i.e. caste, rather than other factors such as income, age, education-level or gender. Adoption was also related to specific knowledge frames regarding disease causality, rather than any wider ethno-veterinary beliefs. Thus, the adoption of livestock vaccination is unlikely to improve without knowledge transfer activities, which acknowledge both social divisions and local epistemologies regarding animal health. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.