Empowerment Of Women In Rural Areas Research Articles

Government’s Income Support and Women Empowerment: Regional Estimates of a Lower Middle-Income Economy

Investment in women is the smart thing to do. Pakistan has to meet SDGs till 2030, among which the 5th goal is empowering women and gender equality. We have to find the correlates that affects the empowerment of a woman to empower them. For this purpose, the current study was designed. A large sample of 12339 married women aged between 15 to 49 years was taken from PDHS 2017-18. The status of women empowerment was evaluated by formulating an index (ranged from score 0 to 10) by taking the 8 dimensions of women empowerment namely, woman’s decision making autonomy, digital inclusion, educational status, employment status, ownership of house, self-esteem, consent in choosing husband and her inclusion in financial sectors. The extent of women empowerment is observed at urban and rural areas. For analysis, ordered logistic regression technique was applied by using SPSS-23. It was concluded that as compared to women of urban areas, the women belonged to rural areas were less empowered. The disaggregated analyses showed that the determining factors of women empowerment were affecting in similar way in both urban and rural areas, except that of BISP which was increasing women empowerment in rural areas but not in the urban areas.

POTENTIALS OF PRIVATE DAIRY COOPERATIVE IN PROMOTING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN RURAL AREAS OF BANGLADESH: A STUDY ON KAZI SHAHID FOUNDATION

Although Bangladesh has changed a lot due to economic development, most of the people of Bangladesh still live in villages. And, the rural economy of Bangladesh still depends on agriculture. Besides farming and agricultural activities, a large portion of the rural population is involved with dairy production. Our rural women are largely engaged in agriculture and with dairy farming, but often their contribution is unrecognized. On the other hand, due to the traditional rural society of Bangladesh being highly dominated by men, rural women are still lagging in earning income and getting economically empowered. Thus, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local, national and international level donor agencies are aiming to change the lives of these rural women in Bangladesh. One of the popular approaches practiced by different organizations to empower the rural poor women is through lending them cash money. However, there are some other non-profit organizations as well who provide other means, like assets and services (for example, dairy cooperatives) to empower women rather than providing cash money. This paper tries to explore whether the initiatives of a private dairy cooperative offer an organizational approach for promoting women empowerment in rural areas of Bangladesh. From the literature, four interconnected factors have been identified as the operational indicators or the dimensions of women’s empowerment to understand the impacts of a private dairy cooperative on its women beneficiaries. This research used multiple methods (in-depth interviews, focus group discussion, survey) to explore the contact points and interactions of different dimensions of women’s empowerment through studying a private dairy cooperative (Kazi Shahid Foundation). The research findings support that the private dairy cooperative could make a positive impact in enhancing the economic, physical and social assets of women, as well as developing their mobility and leadership qualities. The beneficiaries of the project showed highest participation in economic activities, followed by access to savings, purchasing and marketing activities and decision-making capacity, while achievements in other areas of empowerment were also decent. Importantly, the private dairy cooperative played the key role in empowering rural women in the study area. This research finding asserts that more planned projects and dynamic principles of staff and officials of a private dairy cooperative are needed for empowering rural women as well as to achieve sustainable development and eradicate the overall economic adversities in the rural areas of Bangladesh.

Revisiting Women Empowerment Through a Cultural Lens a In-Depth Analysis of Empowerment Methodologies in Horticulture in Rural Ethiopia.

As previous research in international development has clearly demonstrated (see Banerjee and Prasad, 2008 for an overview), cultural values have an impact on the conceptualization of empowerment. In this paper we explore the implications of Power Distance as a cultural dimension for the use of participatory methodologies toward achieving women empowerment in rural areas in the Global South. Our critical analysis of cultural differences between the intervention facilitator (a Western-based NGO) and a rural community in SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regions) in Ethiopia reveals how discrepancies in the perception of cultural values impacted the different stages of the intervention. These discrepancies ranged from the principles of facilitation (facilitation from the back and its paradoxical effects in such hierarchical contexts) to the focus on tools (on equality between individuals rather than focus on the family as the smallest unit). Discrepancies also surfaced from the selection criteria of participants (highly vulnerable groups; one spouse per family; number of participants from one community all of which prevented the impact of the intervention to be more powerful in the long run) and from how the participants are organized during trainings (the ratio of mixed vs. segregated groups and the criteria of group segregation – this can play a large role in regard to the potential openness of conversations and the creation of safe spaces to explore new identities which are the key to empowerment). Through all the stages of the intervention, we make suggestions on how to better implement such methodologies in the future, in a context-sensitive manner, by considering the cultural differences in assumptions and practices.

UNDERSTANDING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN RURAL COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF SAHIWAL DISTRICT, PUNJAB PAKISTAN

Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study was to analyze the socio-cultural constraints that affect different dimensions of women empowerment in rural areas of Punjab province. Political participation and self-esteem were taken as dominant characteristics of women empowerment among lots of variables that collectively define women empowerment.
 Methodology: A mixed-method approach was used to study different dimensions of women empowerment. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to collect the data from 85 respondents excluding widows and divorced women. Two focus group discussions were conducted, one in each village to further understand the phenomenon or empowerment and constraints faced by women. The data got analyzed by using tables and graphs made in MS Excel.
 Main findings: Findings of the study indicate that although cultural constraints hinder the process of women empowerment a great deal, a husband's education along with a woman's education plays a significant role in women empowerment. Results showed that if the husband is more educated, women are more empowered politically and have higher self-esteem.
 Application of the study: The significant contribution of a single factor in overall women empowerment is very interesting and needs further in-depth studies on different locations. The results can contribute to policy formulation for women empowerment on a larger scale.

A Study on Women Empowerment of Self Help Groups in Thoothukudi District

This study examines the women empowerment of self help groups in Thoothukudi district. It aims to analyze the demographic profile of the respondents and characteristics of the Self Help Group members and to evaluate the impact of service quality of SHGs. The data collected from 125 respondents selected using random sampling method covering the villages of Ottapidaram, Pudur, Vilathikulam and Kayathar. It concluded that the economic activities of SHGs are quite successful. In this way, SHGs in four blocks from Thoothukudi District were very successful in women empowerment in rural areas and poverty alleviation.

A study on economic empowerment of women through self- help groups (IWMP-Morbi Taluka)

This paper focuses on the level of women empowerment in rural areas. Women are critical to a thriving rural economy, especially in developing countries such as India. Rural women today have been suffering a lot due to the feeling of helplessness and lack of decisionmaking capabilities in financial matters. Self-help groups (SHGs) are the most recent development for them which could enable them to come forward and make them self dependent and self employed. The main objective of this study is SHGs Contribution of empowerment level in rural areas women. Self –help groups have been playing considerable role in communication level of members, change in family violence, frequency of interaction with outsiders, change in the saving pattern of SHG members, achieving social harmony and sustainability-financial value.

Participation of women in traditional pig farming in North bank plain zone of Assam

A study was undertaken to know the socio-economic status of women pig farmers, pig rearing system, feeding management, annual income from piggery and constraints faced by women farmers and involvement and contribution of women in backyard piggery in Lakhimpur and Dhemaji district under North bank plain zone of Assam. A total of 577 women farmers involved actively in pig farming were randomly selected and interviewed with a standard questionnaire. Involvement of married (40.9%) and middle aged women (26-35 years) with formal education adopted piggery through low input traditional management practices for fattening purpose (49.04%). The management system followed was scavengingsystem (47.05%). Kitchen waste and leftover of local rice beer along with rice bran were the common feeds offered to pigs. The major constraints to women involvement in pig farming was found to be inadequate capital (37.43%) followed by high cost of medication and commercial ration (28.94%) and pre-occupation with household chores (17.67%). The average age at puberty of pig (16.55±0.11 months) was longer. The average weight gain (2.31±0.01 kg/month), litter size at birth (10.57±0.13) and litter size at weaning (5.76±0.14) were poor. It was found that 70% of the women farmers could generatemedium level of annual income (40-50 thousand) followed by 19.5% with high level income (>50 thousand). The study recommended that easy access to credit facilities from the financial institution and improve technical skills on pig farming may increase the level of involvement and help in doubling the annual income of the women piggery farmers. Backyard piggery may act as way of women empowerment in rural areas and enhance the socio-economic status of the women in piggery.

Complementary Effects of Self-Help Groups in Achieving Gender Mobiliy and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas – A Case Study

Complementary Effects of Self-Help Groups in Achieving Gender Mobiliy and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas – A Case Study

Role of self-help groups in rural credit for women empowerment

SHGs are groups of individuals who are below the poverty line are given micro credit for generating income through small income-generating activities. Women empowerment activities must be given importance to eradicate poverty, increase the economic growth and for better standard of living. In view of these presence study has been conducted in Amravati district of Maharashtra state with objectives to study the income expenditure and savings patterns of SHGs members and to recognize the role of SHGs in providing rural credit. Total 150 SHGs members from three tahsils of the district were selected. The data on three agriculture based activities viz., dairy, poultry and vermicompost was collected by personal interview. The study is related to role of self help groups in rural credit. The study concluded that the selected all three agricultural activities helped in increasing income of the SHGs members to the turn of Rs. 5000 per month there by increase expenditure and savings. The SHGs members loan repayment capacity is 80 per cent. SGHs are quite successful in women empowerment in rural areas.