Abstract
In the wake of liberalization in India inclusiveness of the development process has become a major concern. Among other disadvantaged groups, it is felt that women lack the opportunity to participate in the growth process or reap its benefits. Meanwhile, the approach to agricultural development broadened towards diversification and value addition and towards integrating agriculture with mainstream industry and market. This paper argues that agroprocessing needs to be partly embedded in agriculture, exploiting the indigenous skills, modern training facilities, and entrepreneurial abilities of women in farm households in order to strengthen the linkage between growth and human resource development.
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Notes
- 1.
An entrepreneur is a ‘person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so’ is the definition given in oxford dictionary. Further, Oxford American dictionary describes enterprise as an undertaking that is ‘difficult’ and also defines an entrepreneur as a person who undertakes a ‘commercial risk for profit’.
- 2.
This notion was shown to be untrue in other societies where women do operate and maintain machines (Wasnik 2005).
- 3.
The gender disparity observed in farm wages is often attributed to the fact that men and women perform different kinds of operations. While it is true that jobs done solely by men such as plowing, irrigation, leveling, and transporting invariably command higher wages, it has been pointed out that even in those jobs that are done by both men and women or perhaps better done by women such as picking and transplanting, the wage rates given for women are less than men. The supply factor in the rural labor market even when viewed as moderately competitive could also be playing a significant part in creating the gulf. Household responsibilities make it difficult for women to migrate creating abundance in the rural labor market. The concern for immediate household sustenance sometimes makes their participation appear as distress labor.
- 4.
Today the precise role of the CSWB is under evaluation and there are proposals of restructuring the Board.
- 5.
The twentieth century has been witnessing landmark actions at the international level, gradually and steadily changing the gender order in society, bringing women toward the mainstream society and economy. Beginning with the UN’s first World Conference on Women in Mexico in 1975 there were subsequent conferences in Copenhagen, Nairobi and Beijing. The UN decade for women (1976–1985) began an epoch of self-exploration among the nations on their internal policies. In 1990, the millennium development goals (MDG) further reinforced the resolve of including components relating to women’s welfare and development.
- 6.
The NPEW seeks to create an enabling environment for women to exercise their rights both within and outside their homes, reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, ensure that at least 30Â % of funds and benefits flow to women in all development sectors by the Women Component Plan (WCP), to organize women into self-help groups and increase credit flow to women.
- 7.
The Tenth Plan has also emphasized women’ empowerment alongside its focus on employment generation but unfortunately combines women with disadvantaged groups like children and disabled devoting a chapter on ‘Women and Children’ although it is important to realize that women’s disadvantages are more man made than natural or biological and their constraints, concerns, and opportunities of the two groups are vastly different.
- 8.
A noted Gandhian and civil rights leader Dr Ela Bhatt is associated with the founding of SEWA. SEWAs’ main office is located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat but it works in several states of India with a large number of members.
- 9.
This was made by the National Commission for Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector.
- 10.
This distinction is made from the NSSO defined ‘Self-employed’ that includes also helpers in household enterprise who ‘assisted the related person living in the household in running the enterprise’. This assures the inclusion of only individuals who have ‘autonomy’ and ‘economic independence’ for running the enterprise and receive ‘remunerations determined by the sales or profits of goods and services produced’. For a unpaid family helper these specifications need not be satisfied.
- 11.
This is an approximate figure only. A population of 230 million (1999–2000) is worked out based on NSSO data. There is usually a discrepancy between NSSO projected and Census population figures so that scholars usually project Census data to the survey period and make adjustment. This is not attempted here.
- 12.
It is also seen that even among non-workers 41% perform jobs that could be potentially priced if market is created.
- 13.
Tobacco, perfumery (including agarbatti) and craft are the activities that are found to have high share of women entrepreneurs (96, 100 and 70% respectively).
- 14.
The processing group includes (i) food processing activities like Flour milling, Dal milling, Rice milling, Processing and grinding grains, vegetable milling, flour of meal of dried leguminous vegetables of roots and tubers of edible nuts, breakfast foods by swelling and roasting cereal grains, starch and sago products, glucose syrup, gluten, corn oil, animal feed, bakery products, sugar, gur, khandsari, cocoa, chocolate, confectionery, sweetmeats, macaroni, noodles, tea, coffee, edible nuts, malted and infant foods, spices, papads, vitaminized high protein flour, dried dal and cereals, Manufacture of Beverages (non-alcoholic); (ii) Textile-based processing such as Spinning and weaving of cotton fiber, of silk fiber, wool, other animal hair, manmade fibers, Durries, druggets, rugs, carpets, rugs, coverings of jute, mesta, coir, other floor coverings of textiles, sunhemp, cordage, rope, tine, netting, thread, jute rope and cordage, coir rope and cordage, mesta, nets, Embroidery, laces, fringes, zari, ornamental trimmings, linolium, mantles, canvas goods, sanitary towels and tampons, metalized yarns, gimped yarn, rubber, water proof textiles, knitted, crocheted fabrics of cotton, woolen and synthetic substances, textile garments and accessories, raincoats, sheetings, hats, caps of waterproof textiles, leather apparels and (iii) Crafts like Basketry, grain bins, bamboo and reeds works, wooden containers, canes, rattan, bamboo willow, grass, leaves, wooden, industrial goods, cork products, bamboo and cane articles, and fixtures thatching from reeds, grass, broom sticks, wooden agricultural implement, shopping bags and ornamental boxes, costume articles, trays, table-lamps, fancy baskets, table mats, vessel holders.
- 15.
Bidi industry spanning most states in India may be as old as 119 years (since 1887) in India. A number of activities such as procuring Tendu leaves, cutting leaves to specific sizes, filling with tobacco, rolling and tying with yarns and curing in oven, and selling make up the major functions in the industry. Factory production of bidi is known for its sub-human conditions but processing mostly has a home-based and unorganized character managed by contractors. The flexibility of a home-based avenue of earning possibly attracts women (and even children) constituting an estimated 68% of total workers encompassing the whole industry. The pitiable conditions of working in this industry, (SEWA 2005, Varma and Rehman 2005) as also the decreasing production and consumption of beedi/tobacco, known to cause 3 million deaths per years in the world and facing curbs from government policies raise the need for suitable alternative livelihoods for women.
- 16.
Outsourcing of work by formal processors is not uncommon and contracts are most common in beedi making.
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Ghosh, N. (2013). Promoting Entrepreneurship Among Women in Agriculture . In: Banerjee, S., Chakrabarti, A. (eds) Development and Sustainability. Springer, India. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1124-2_8
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