Impact Of Small Scale Agricultural Entrepreneurship On Sustainable Livelihood Assets Of Rural Poor Women In Bangladesh

This dissertation focuses on two research themes related to sustainable livelihood assets of rural women entrepreneurs. The first theme addresses the impact of small scale agricultural entrepreneurship on sustainable livelihood assets of rural poor women in Bangladesh. The second theme explores the changing role rural poor women play to improving their living of standard. Agriculture is the single largest producing sector of Bangladesh economy since it comprises about20%of the country's GDP and employing around63%of the total labour force the crop sub-sector dominates the agriculture sector contributing about72%of total production. There are approximately55million women in Bangladesh, relatively half of the country's entire population. Sustainable livelihoods depend on the access to and control over assets namely human, social, physical and natural and financial capital. In recent years, several government and non-government organizations were working to raise the socioeconomic status of rural poor women with empowerment by undertaking educational and economic programmes for employment and income generation.Consequently, the overall objective of the study is to find out the impact of the small scale agricultural entrepreneurship on sustainable livelihood assets of rural poor women and to find the improving living standard of households. Besides, the study also aimed at role of microcredit program to changing status of rural women entrepreneurs. The sample size for this study was300.The selected households were located in three upazila (sub-district) of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. The selected women members were concentrated on livestock and poultry raising, vegetable cultivating, and fishery entrepreneurship activities. The survey method was used in the present study. The sustainable livelihood framework was followed in this study as an analytical framework. An important part of the analysis is thus to find out rural women access to different types of livelihood assets (physical, human, financial, natural, and social) and their ability to put these to productive use.The results from tobit regression estimations show the age of the respondents, Bank deposits, access to collateral, are positive and highly significant (1%) associated with financial capital. In this study most of the women entrepreneurs are of an active age, so they are using their capability and energy to run their entrepreneurship activities. It was found that women entrepreneurs prefer commercial bank to other saving system due to their high interest rate. By contrast a microcredit collateral (or flexible collateral) system encourages women to participate in microcredit programs. The amount of credit and shared labor are both positive and has a significant (5%) coefficient with financial capital. It implies that microcredit from NGOs has great impact on entrepreneurship profitability and that profit tends to increase the amount of financial capital. Lack of credit is significant (5%) and negatively associated with financial capital. Those entrepreneurs are disadvantaged due to lack of capital which means their financial capital base is lower than those who have access to sufficient credit. Education, experience and training are positive and significantly (10%) associated with financial capital. Livestock and poultry entrepreneurship is positive and significantly (10%) associated financial capital.The result of the ordered probit estimation demonstrates that land, fertilizer and rainfall and vegetation of the area are all highly significant (1%) and positively associated with natural capital. As a natural resource, land has a direct impact on agricultural production but it also depends on land quality defined by soil type and fertility. Organic fertilizer is a pre-requisite to preserving soil fertility and productivity, and sufficient rainfall tends to increase high production in agricultural sectors. Vegetation has vital role in maintaining a conducive climate, and it maintains an average temperature, humidity and expected rainfall in any particular region or area. Another important variable is that the ground water level is positive and significant (5%) relation with natural capital. Ordered probit estimation also reveals that vegetable entrepreneurship is significant and positively associated with natural capital, because land size, fertilizer, rainfall and vegetation of the area are highly significant in the model.Ordered probit estimation shows that working experience, reproductive health status, source of credit and input availability are highly significant (1%) and positively coefficient with physical capital. Experienced entrepreneurs have known how to manage their money, add inputs use, market communication and develop physical infrastructure at the home surroundings. NGOs'credit program maintains supervised credit so credit receivers are conscious about the purpose of the credit. Availability of input supply enhances market stability in rural areas where entrepreneurs have easy access to it. Ordered probit regression estimation also shows that vegetable entrepreneurship is more highly significant (1%) and positively associated with physical capital than livestock and poultry entrepreneurship (5%).The result of the ordered probit estimation shows that three variables:training with groups by NGOs, household food nutrition and sanitation, knowledge about agricultural production are highly (1%) significant and positively associated with human capital. In this study after taking training most of the entrepreneurs become more efficient than before when they were not engaged in any entrepreneurship or group activities. After involvement in entrepreneurship activities women are offering more support to fulfill their basic needs such as nutritional food and improved personal hygiene. When an entrepreneur's family affords nutritional food and good sanitation facilities, definitely the overall family health improves. In rural areas, women often to apply their indigenous knowledge and technology in their agricultural practices such as how to preserve seed for replanting, how to make organic manure from tree leaves, garbage waste, cow dung etc. The regression estimation shows that fisheries entrepreneurship is significant and positively associated with human capital. Because fish cultivation is harder among the three agricultural entrepreneurships, and it highly depends on entrepreneur's skills and knowledge.For social capital, ordered probit estimation reveals that contact with others entrepreneurs, leadership in NGOs group meetings, participation in social gatherings, water and sanitation condition, political consciousness and support from family are highly significant (1%) and positively associated with social capital. Contact with other entrepreneurs means they have a good networking system i.e if women entrepreneurs organize groups or working networks then they can overcome their obstacles easily. Leadership in NGOs group meetings can increase entrepreneurs'self-esteem and self respect. In this way woman feel more freedom in patriarchal society. Water and sanitation is crucial for human health; it also has a remarkable impact on social life in rural areas. Political consciousness and support from family is a vital issue now a day in rural communities especially for women empowerment. Working experience in their own entrepreneurship is positive and significantly (5%) coefficient with social capital.Livestock and poultry entrepreneurship is significant and positively associated with social capital. What this means is that livestock and poultry entrepreneurs are enjoying more social capital than other entrepreneurs. So we can say that financial and physical capital has a significant role in increasing social capital for livestock and poultry entrepreneurs.The study finds that the increasing role that rural poor women play to improve their own standard of living. Average change in annual income was373.40percent after being involved with different small scale entrepreneurships. The development indicators reveal that, most of the respondents of all three enterprises reported'high'development in different indicators. The different aspects of health status, sanitation awareness increased to the expected level. The overall value of household assets increased by180.03percent after their involvement with different small entrepreneurships. The finding reveals that change in housing unit after involvement is quite the reverse of that of before involvement. There has been great increase in the number of own tubewell ownership (96per cent) after involvement with entrepreneurship and achievement of own tubewell use has increased to100per cent in case of fishery entrepreneurship after involvement.94.67per cent households used sanitary latrines whereas it was only26per cent before involvement. Results show that women's contribution on food items, clothing and child education increased by193.79percent,421.34percent and580.62percent respectively after involvement with different small entrepreneurships. Most of the entrepreneurs were involved with micro credit for long periods, which was66percent in livestock and poultry&61percent in fishery activity. Basically microcredit was the main foundation support to establish the small entrepreneurship activities.The findings show that women have noticeable influence in decision making on taking credit, family planning, marriage of adult children, tutoring young children etc. They play lesser role in making decision about buying and selling of land. Rural women have limited resources at their disposal, and innovative approaches are required to build capital. Private and public institutions can catalyse and facilitate small scale agricultural entrepreneurship development sectors to attain sustainable livelihood of rural poor women.Respondent women noticed some major problems of entrepreneurship which can be included as a vulnerability context such as lack of credit and training, price instability, insufficient irrigation facilities, shortage of seed/feed, and lack of technical knowledge etc. transforming structures and processes are the institutions, organizations, policies and legislation that shape livelihood. They study found several major transforming structures and processes that can facilitate the generation of desirable outcomes from the entrepreneurs production systems such as NGOs microcredit and training programs that help rural women entrepreneurs to run their entrepreneurship activities. Change in income, increased well being, reduced vulnerability, improved food security, sustainable use of natural resources and women empowerment are sustainable livelihood outcome of this study.