On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Re-Livestock project reflects on the importance of ensuring that livestock research is relevant for everyone involved in the sector. Rather than treating gender as a separate topic, Re-Livestock integrates this perspective into its work to better understand the different factors shaping resilient livestock systems.
Recent insights from the project highlight that livestock farms co-led by women often have more diverse income sources, and this diversity can make them more resilient to market shocks. These findings underline that resilience in livestock production is influenced not only by biology and technology, but also by farm structure and decision-making.
Re-Livestock contributes to this understanding through research on animals and production systems, covering areas such as genetics, efficiency and innovation aimed at strengthening the resilience of livestock farming.
At a time when European livestock farming is undergoing a major generational renewal, attracting and supporting more women in the sector is not only a matter of fairness, but also an important element in building more resilient livestock systems.