The lanes and backyards of Lakhamapur Village, Chandrapur, are, literally, teeming with goats. Families here are busy expanding their herds and growing their small, but thriving, backyard businesses – the incessant song of bleating goats rings through the air at every turn...
Here, goats are gold – having literally turned the fortunes of these marginalised families around over the last 5 years. And the driving force behind it all, is Kalpana Madavi – locally known as ‘Dr. Tai’!
When Ambuja Foundation called a meeting in 2017 and called for volunteers to train as Pashu Swasthya Sevika (PSS), only 2 women stepped forward, and Kalpana was one of them. There was no remuneration as such, but Kalpana saw the potential to develop herself by learning something new, and to earn by offering doorstep veterinary services. In her heart, she knew her life would somehow change. And change it did – along with the lives of 192 families out of 492!
Of course, in the beginning, the going was tough. People knew Kalpana as an agricultural labourer only – what did she know about goats and what qualifications did she have to be treating them as a vet? But Kalpana forged on – offering competitive and affordable services to vaccinate and deworm goats, and better still, educating goat families on how to better keep and look after their herd.
The proof in the pudding came after the first monsoon. In a regular year, goat mortality would be high during the rains, with communities losing 72 goats on an average every year, but in her first year as PSS, there was a stark reduction in mortality rates during monsoon. It seemed Kalpana knew what she was talking about! And so the goat business in Lakhamapur took off from there – with the number of families and number of goats almost doubling between 2017 and 2024. With healthier goats and a better understanding of how to market and sell them also, family incomes surged with an average additional Rs. 25,000-60,000 flowing into each household every year based on the number of goats.
And of course, there was a ripple effect from that in the village. Families paid off loans, built toilets, redeveloped their houses, installed RO systems, sent their kids for higher education ... the village transformed!
What about Kalpana? Where once her income was just Rs. 10,000 per year, today she earns Rs. 90,000. She has built up her own herd of goats to 28 and has her sights set on buying her own parcel of land, building 2 sheds, and establishing a fully-fledged goat setup – taking her goat business to an all-new level!
The villagers too have big aspirations. They are investing in expanding their goat-rearing businesses with fodder management; are exploring innovative ways to utilise goat manure in agriculture; and plan to set up a community market unit within the village, to establish a centralised facility for selling goats.
Indeed, a goat revolution is taking place in Lakhamapur!
