Participation of Rural Women in Homestead Waste Management towards Integrated Plant Nutrient System (IPNS)

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess the extent of participation in homestead waste management activities by the rural women towards Integrated Plant Nutrient System (IPNS). Besides this major focus, the sources of homestead wastes and their channels of utilization were identified; and relationship between the selected characteristics of the rural women and their extent of participation in homestead waste management activities were also explored. All the women of farm household except the absentees of Babugonj upazila of Barisal district, Bangladesh constituted the population of the study. Data were collected from the sample of 95 farm households selected out of a total of 1000 farm households from the five (5) selected villages under the one (1) selected union of the upazila through multi-stage random sampling technique with the help of pre-tested interview schedule during from the period from 10 August to 20 September 2017. A vast majority of the respondents had medium to high participation in homestead waste management activities in the study area while their efforts were mostly diverted to kitchen wastes, plant/crop harvest residues and ash management. The correlation test showed that rural women’s personal education, farm size, annual household income, family cooperation, daily time allocation for homestead waste management, exposure to agricultural information and seasonal variability of involvement in waste management activities showed significant positive relationship with their extent of participation in homestead waste management activities. While age, family size, area under homestead, perception of IPNS, awareness of environmental degradation and decision making ability in family did not show any significant relationship with their extent of participation in waste management activities.