The state and the share of rural women on the agricultural entrepreneurship activities in the Slovak republic

Zuzana Kapsdorferová,Petronela Švikruhová,Silvia Jacková

doi:10.5219/1484

Abstract

The economic empowerment of rural women in the recent development of agriculture through entrepreneurship is considered an important challenge. Rural women often manage complex households and pursue multiple livelihood strategies. Their activities typically include cultivation of crops, farming animals, processing and preparing food, working for wages in agricultural or other rural enterprises, collecting fuel and water, engaging in trade and marketing, caring for family members, and maintaining their homes. The research aimed to collect up-to-date data on Slovak rural women dealing with business in the field of agriculture, women's role and status in society in rural areas, on the farm, women's participation in education, training, and agricultural services. The main focus is dedicated to their share on the management of agricultural entities, land cultivation, employment of rural women and men, and their deal on the selected entrepreneurial activities of Slovak agriculture. Women doing business in agriculture dispose of with considerable knowledge and experience in the agricultural and food sectors. The realized research showed that the scale of farms managed by women is 325 hectares. Rural women in the surveyed group are taking care of about 2.5% of the total area of agricultural land in Slovakia and they are employing 2.40% of the working forces in the agricultural sector in Slovakia. According to our survey, rural women are under-represented in managerial and ownership positions of agricultural entities.

Highlights

The mission and tasks of rural women are differentiating according to individual states, regions, continents
Dunnett's method separated the agricultural entities into two groups, A and B
There is a statistically significant difference according to the company size in hectares of agricultural land among shareholding companies and cooperatives on the one side and on the other side between Ltd., individual farmers, and those who do the business upon the trade certificate

Summary

Introduction

The mission and tasks of rural women are differentiating according to individual states, regions, continents. If the rural women would be more involved in agriculture and rural development as the owners of the farms or managers, this would lead to the improvement of their social status and upgrade the living standards of their families. Very essential is the fact that this would generate new working opportunities for females and men It is desirable for women living and acting in the countryside to create appropriate space for their selfrealization and education opportunities through which, the involvement of rural women in entrepreneurial activities can be reasonably upgraded. The main problems of rural women can be divided into four main categories economic, social, family level, and individual. For many rural women and families, the transition from one system to another has meant increased economic problems and a loss of paid labor and unemployment. In many CEE countries, the social infrastructure in the villages was connected with the agricultural production system; giving up the state and cooperative farms led to the loss of Volume 15

Objectives

Results

Conclusion