Impact of Income on Livelihood of Tribal Goat Farmers of Odisha, India

The present investigation was carried out to find out the contribution of income in improving the livelihood of tribal goat farmers in the Kandhamal district of Odisha which was purposively selected as this district is highly concentrated with local goats. The sample of 112 goat farmers for this study was selected randomly from sixteen villages which were also selected from four randomly selected blocks of the district. With the help of the pre-tested interview schedule, the data for the study was collected personally by the researcher.  The study employed ex-post facto research design and focussed group discussion to capture field data. Economic impact a component of overall livelihood impact was measured with the help of 10 validated statements in a five-point Likert type scale with scores on a continuum with 1(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) for each of the statement. The study revealed that the farmers’ personal savings, ability to spend money for children education, food, clothing and meeting medical expenses have increased due to goat farming. However, the overall economic impact is medium in nature indicating that the important stakeholders including government agencies involved in promotion of goat farming in the tribal areas should put emphasis on improving the business ability of the famers which will be useful in improving the income level leading to strengthening of livelihood.