Goat doctors in Muzaffarpur turn vegetable entrepreneurs

Small lush green vegetable gardens, barely 20x30 ft., hemmed in by colourful saris and green netting to save them from marauding goats and cattle, are changing the rural landscapes of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. It found that although the 350 women pashu sakhi, trained by the foundation to look after the goats, were earning about ₹3,000 a month, they seldom had vegetables to eat. So, to counter the nutrition deficit and to empower them financially, AKF selected 11 pashu sakhis and trained them to become nursery entrepreneurs. Bounty in trays Laxmi Devi, 31, a mother of three, of Bishanpur Bakhi village in Muzaffarpur, has passed Class VIII and is today one of the successful nursery entrepreneurs of her district. Collaborating with other nursery entrepreneurs, she successfully marketed and sold these plants to other goat doctors who in turn sold them to village women who had small vegetables patches.