Empowering Women to Become Farmers Entrpreneurs: Case Study of an NGO-Supported Program in Bangladesh

Conference onNew Directions for Smallholder Agriculture

Mahabub Hossain and W. M. H. Jaim

Empowering Women to Become Farmer Entrepreneur: Case Study of a NGO Supported Program in Bangladesh

Date of presentation: 25 . 01 . 2011

INTRODUCTION

Women suffer from different types of powerlessness in social and economic sphere of life. Gender related indicators across countries show that Bangladeshi women are less empowered.

Gender-Related Development Index (GDI) ranked Bangladesh 120 out of 156 countries.

Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) ranked Bangladesh 81 out of 93 countries.

INTRODUCTION

Studies in South Asia find that economic empowerment has been the entry point for overall empowerment of women if they are organized under a common platform .

Studies also show that participation in credit programs (particularly micro-credit) is positively associated with a woman’s level of empowerment .

However, despite significant expansion in institutional credit provision to agriculture, small farmers in Bangladesh and elsewhere in South Asia continue to lack access to financial markets.

Some studies in South Asia find that economic empowerment has been the entry point for overall empowerment of women if they are organized under a common platform

INTRODUCTION

•Micro-credit, Farmers and Women• Micro-credit programs of NGOs target women and the poorest section of the population (.05-0.49 acre).

Their farming activities are mostly confined in home based activities (homestead gardening, poultry rearing, livestock rearing, etc.).

Both female and male small farmers (.50-2.49 acres) are often screened out through eligibility restrictions of micro-credit.

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

However, there are a few instances of credit facilities to small farmers (including marginal farmers):Marginal and Small Farm Crop Intensification Project funded by GTZFoSHol – CARE Project funded by ECProjects funded by IFAD and implemented through NGOs (RDRS, BRAC, etc.) and PKSF.

INTRODUCTION

North-west Crop Diversification Project (NCDP) is one of the few initiatives for small farmers (specially female farmers’) development.Main objectives of the project:Diversifying cropping pattern Encouraging small farmers, specially women to grow high value crops (HVCs) including some vegetables and spices.

INTRODUCTION

Important characteristics of NCDP: It has involved NGOs (i.e. BRAC and RDRS) to facilitate access to credit to small farmers (.50 to 3.00 acres) for growing high value crops (HVCs), vegetables and spices.

It has organized female farmers for performing farm activities outside the boundary of their households.

INTRODUCTION

Main aim of the present paper is:

To assess the effectiveness of NCDP in reaching women small farmers to become farm managers and to be economically and socially empowered.

INTRODUCTION

Economic empowerment assessed through:

Evaluating effectiveness of NCDP for improving farm income of small farmers.

Investigating the level of participation of the women in economic activities and the determinant of their participation.


INTRODUCTION

Social empowerment assessed through:

i)Extent of mobility of female farmers outside home.

ii) Participation of female farmers in intra-family decision making process.

METHODOLOGY

Among the NGOs operating in collaboration with NCDP, two NGOs namely BRAC and RDRS were selected purposively.

Two districts from north-west region of Bangladesh were selected randomly.

30 female and 28 male farmers under BRAC and RDRS respectively were selected using multi-stage random sampling method.


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METHODOLOGY

To assess the nature of participation in economic activities (EAs), Participation Index (PI) was calculated using frequency counts for each of the EAs.

Frequency counts of score:

2 = Frequently participated

1 = Occasionally participated

0 = Never participated


METHODOLOGY

EAs were categorized into 9 categories:

(i) Crop production activities,

(ii) Spices and vegetable production activities,

(iii) Poultry rearing,

(iv) Goat rearing,

(v) Cattle rearing,

(vi) Aquiculture activities

(vii) Wage labour,

(viii) Marketing activities and

(ix) Non-farm activities.


METHODOLOGY

Probit model was used for Estimating Determinants of Female Participation in Economic Activities. The model is expressed as:

lnY = bo + b1X1 + b2X2+ b3X3 + b4X4 + b5X5 + U

Where,

Dependent Variable (Y) = Participation index of economic activities.

where Yi=0 if PI≤4 and Yi=1 if PI>4

Independent Variables = X1 to X5


METHODOLOGY

Women Empowerment Index (WEI) was constructed in consideration of women participation in household decision making process.

The rating values of decision makers:

1 = decision is taken by male alone

2 = decision is taken jointly by male and female

3 =decision is taken by female alone.


FINDINGS: Economic Empowerment

Aspects for Evaluating Effectiveness of NCDP and to Assess Economic Empowerment of Small Farmers

Socio-economic profile of farmersCrop Diversification of NCDP Farmers Farm income and marketable surplus of the farmers Credit and training support received by the farmers Changes in economic condition of the farmersParticipation of women farmers in economic activitiesDeterminants of women’s participation in economic activities




Socio-economic characteristics of selected small farmers

Particulars Female Farmers

Male Farmers

IlliterateAverage years of schooling

40%3

11% 6

Agriculture as main occupation 17% 96%

Female members participation in agriculture

71% 44%

Average farm size (acres) 1.26 2.09

Farm size distribution Below .50 acre (Marginal farmers) .50 to 3.00 acre (Small farmers) 3.01 to 5.00 acre (Large farmers)

27%66%

7%

4%75%21%

FINDINGS : Economic Empowerment

Findings in relation to crop diversification:Proportion of rice area of NCDP farmers is less compared to national average implying diverting land for non-rice crops.

The project was successful mostly in allocating proportionately more land under HVCs like maize and potato.

However, it had little success in allocating more land for vegetables and almost no success in expansion of spices area.



Gender difference in land allocation :

Production of vegetables by the females has got more importance than males.

On the contrary, production of potato has got more importance by the male farmers.

The gender difference in allocating crop land was due to nature of jobs performed for production activities.



Annual income from crop production per household:

Female farmers: Tk. 91,500 Male farmers: Tk.1,28,873.

The difference was mainly because of differences in total cropped area of female farmers (2.42 acres) compared to male farmers (4.27 acres).




% of products marketed by the small farmers

Products Female farmers Male Farmers

Aman paddy 44% 51%

Boro paddy 56% 63%

Potato 78% 97%

Maize 100% 100%

Jute 100% 100%

Vegetables > 90% > 90%



Per acre profitability from alternative cropping patterns

Cropping patterns Net return over full cost (Taka)

Return over cash cost (Taka)

Aman-Maize-fallow 21,157 44,020Aman-Potato-maize 28,705 64,780Aman-Boro-fallow 33,301 54,966



investments since joining NCDP (in Taka)

Type of Investment Female farmers

Male farmers

Improving housing condition 48,133 56,178Consumable household assets 15,723 15,506Farm assets 32,790 45,198Land purchase 29,967 13,400Land mortgage-in 12,929 17,179Business 4,300 23,036Service* 6,667 -Children’s education (yearly) 7,548 8748



Credit support from NCDP

Farmer category

First year (in Taka)

At present(in Taka)

Change(no. of times)

Female 5,700 17,192 3.02

Male 4,964 19,000 3.83


Training support and need assessment

Training was given mostly for the production of maize and the duration of training was for only one day.

Gender specific demand for more training:Female farmers: Maize and vegetables.Male farmers: Maize, potato and rice.




Extent of participation of female farmers in EAs(Total number of farmers = 30)

Economic activities (EAs) Never Occasionally Frequent

i) Crop production activities 5 13 12

ii) Vegetables and spices production activities in fields

13 6 11

iii) Poultry rearing 6 3 21

iv) Goat rearing 11 3 16

v) Cattle rearing 6 3 21

vi) Aquiculture 30 0 0

vii) Wage labour 27 2 1

viii) Marketing activities 30 0 0

ix) Non-agricultural activities 28 1 1



Personal income of the female farmers from different economic activities

Activities Average / household (Tk.)

% of total income

Production activities in field crops 2,127 26Production activities for spices and vegetables in field

1,05013

Poultry rearing 877 11Goat rearing 908 11Cattle rearing 1,727 21Aquiculture 0 0Wage labour 740 9Non-agricultural activities 647 8Total 8,076 100



Determinants of women’s participation in economic activities: Estimates of Probit Function

Explanatory variables Coefficient Z-ratio

Years of education of head of family (X1) 0.360 1.884*

Years of education of female farmer (X2) 0.131.

804

Total family members of active age group (X3) 1.070 1.122

Area under high value crop (X4) 0.046 2.089**

Farm size at present (X5) -0.013 -2.011**

Intercept -7.317 -1.616χ2

34.071*** Note: *** denotes P≤0.01, **denotes 0.01<P≤0.05 and * denotes 0.05<P≤0.10

FINDINGS: Social Empowerment


Mobility of NCDP female farmers outside home

Reasons for mobility Degree of mobility outside home(% of females)

Never Occasionally FrequentlyPurchasing inputs from non-local shops

67% 30% 3%

Selling products 97% 3% 0%

Attending meetings/workshop 13% 70% 17%

Depositing loan installments 0% 13% 87%

Shopping/travelling, etc. 3% 87% 10%



Participation of women in decision making processDecision making parameters Decision is taken by: Average

Women Empowerment

Index (WEI)

Male alone

Male and female jointly

Female alone

Agriculture related 1.86Selection of crops and variety 3 27 0 1.90

Management of production 3 27 0 1.90

Purchasing inputs 2 28 0 1.93Cattle and poultry rearing 1 27 2 2.03Sell of crop / cattle and poultry 0 30 0 2.00Homestead gardening 0 15 3 2.17Post harvest operations of crops 1 29 0 1.97



Decision making parameters Decision is taken by: AverageWEI

Male alone

Male and females

Female alone

Non-agriculture related 1.83

Cash management 2 28 0 1.93Education of children 1 27 0 1.96Land purchase and sell 1 22 0 1.96Traveling and recreation 2 28 0 1.93Casting vote in election 2 28 0 1.93Agri. and Non- agriculture 1.85Number of female farmers’ household = 30Empowerment Status: Not empowered, if WEIi ≤ 1.5 and Empowered if WEIi > 1.5

CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Usually by the term farmer, we understand male farmers specially in Asian countries. It is also well recognized that women activities are mostly confined in home-based production activities.

The study showed if the women farmers can be organized under common platform and if credit and training supports are provided they are likely to became successful farmer entrepreneur like male.



However, gender specific differences in selection of crops/vegetables should be recognized as women are involved in production activities which are more labour intensive but less labourious.

Credit from NGOs should not be confined within landless / marginal farmers (< .50 acre) and also not only for the women.

This should also include small farmers (both males and females) who are capable of effective utilization of credit for agricultural production.



For successful implementation of crop diversification programme, more training on the production of high value crops as well as vegetables and spices is urgently required.

To make spices profitable and competitive with other crops, more research is needed to develop high yielding new varieties.

More extension services is also needed for already developed varieties.



To reduce crop production risk, particular attention should be given to insect and pest management which the farmers think as greatest threat for their production.

Further, to cope with production risk, introducing crop insurance may be thought of as demanded by some farmers.



Crop production activities particularly for the production of HVCs like maize and potato generated considerable income for both male and female small farmers which have made them economically empowered and capable of investing money for different purposes.

However, gender differences were found in investment activities. While male farmers invested more for possessing farm assets female farmers on the other hand, invested more for purchasing land implying female farmers’ interest in farming.



As the demand for NCDP credit for small farmers has substantially increased over time, the maximum ceiling of the credit (Tk. 50,000) may be increased for those who are interested.

Further, like BRAC, RDRS may also think of receiving monthly installments from the farmers instead of weekly installments.



There exists gender differences in participation in different economic activities. While females were more involved in livestock and poultry rearing activities, involvement of males were more in crop production activities.

Participation in non-farm activities was also found to be dominated by males, implying limited non-farm opportunities created for rural women.

A few female farmers worked as wage labourer at low wage compared to male implying deprivation in wage payment for women.



Functional analysis showed that area under high value crops has a significant impact on participation of women in economic activities.

However, farm size has significant negative relationship with respect to participation of female farmers in economic activities which implies that female participation in different economic activities is discouraged from economically better-off families.

Education of household head also had positive impact on participation of women in farming.



Mobility of the small female farmers outside home has increased due to involvement in NCDP, particularly for depositing loan installments and attending meetings of the concerned NGOs.

This implies that involvement of women in projects like NCDP supported by NGOs contributed women to become socially more empowered.



Women Empowerment Index showed that women under NCDP were reasonably empowered in intra-family decision making process both for agriculture and non-agricultural activities as well as in overall economical activities.

In this study women were found to be empowered above the level of average which is due to the fact that concerned NGOs motivated them to take decision jointly (by both male and female).



The overall findings indicated that the project was successful in reaching women to become farm managers and to be economically and socially empowered.

Such an initiative may be encouraged in order to improve socio-economic condition of the women small farmers in Bangladesh as well as in similar other developing countries.

However, this calls for urgent attention to gender-specific constraints in production and marketing.


Thank You


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Empowering Women to Become Farmers Entrpreneurs: Case Study of an NGO-Supported Program in Bangladesh