The development and impact of the livestock Guru: Meeting the knowledge needs of poor livestock keepers in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Livestock keepers comprise 2/3rds of the 2.8 billion households living on less than two dollars per day. However, as a group they tend to be marginalised and excluded from formal service provision, particularly in relation to animal health. Therefore, the following paper describes the development of the Livestock Guru, a multi-media learning programme created to meet the knowledge needs of poor livestock keepers in Tamil Nadu, India. The findings from the study illustrate the importance of both appropriate visuals, voice-overs but also the need for addressing issues in the environment in which learning will take place.