**6.3 Women empowerment pathway**

Another major pathway from livestock to nutrition is through women empowerment. Gender bias in food and nutrition security is a much-researched topic recently. Women in households are more prone to food and nutrition insecurity than men, which ultimately causes them nutrient deficiency and non-communicable diseases like anaemia [47]. Studies show that, globally, malnourished people decrease by 100–150 million with women's access to inputs and services. Women's income is found to be spent on their family's nutrition [48]. In developing countries, poultry and small ruminants are often owned by women, the income from which makes them more empowered and their families more nutritionally secure [49]. Women play a critical role in livestock rearing in developing countries, they are often the ones responsible for feeding and care and are the guardians of livestock diversity. Improving women's access to inputs and services has the potential to reduce the number of malnourished people in the world by 100–150 million [50, 51]. Being a non-seasonal source of income and considering the higher involvement of women in this sector, livestock keeping has undisputable potential to empower women as it gives them access to resources and choice of better diets and health practices [52]. Thus, women's empowerment through livestock is important for their as well as future generations' empowerment in nutrition.
