Women entrepreneurs in agri-business
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Date
2002
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Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture,Vellanikkara
Abstract
The study "Women entrepreneurs in agri business" was
undertaken in Kozhikode, Thrissur and Palakkad District of Kerala to
understand the profile of women entrepreneurs in agribusiness, the push
and pull factors of women entrepreneurship, the major problems perceived
by women entrepreneurs and to measure their level of success. The
sample selected for the study was 60 women entrepreneurs (20 from each
district).
The entrepreneurs were classified based on the products and
services-into seven major typologies as traditional, innovative, on-farm, off-
farm, on-farm cum off-farm, formal and informal enterprises. The food
industry and floriculture were the major areas of agri business in which
large number of women entrepreneurs were engaged. The profile of
women entrepreneurs revealed that 50 per cent of the respondents entered
business at the age of 31 to 40 years. Majority of respondents were
married with nuclear family and most of them possessed medium level of
entrepreneurial traits.
Support from family and group members, support from
developmental institutions, extent of media utilization, training received for
enterprise management and labour relationship along with motivational
factors such as need for independence, earning money/ income,
recognition in society and need to do something new etc., acted as push or
pull factors depending on the profile of respondents. The most important
problem perceived by women entrepreneurs was lack of timely finance.
The high cost of raw materials and low price received for the final product
were also major issues.
The study revealed that majority of respondents had medium to
high level of success in their respective fields. This was measured using
Entrepreneurial Success Index (ESI) developed for the purpose, with eight
dimensions viz., profitability, social recognition, consumer satisfaction,
produce/brand recognition, employee's satisfaction, quality of produce,
capacity utilization and diversification.
Detailed case studies of selected six successful women
entrepreneurs belonging to different typologies revealed the interacting
factors of entrepreneurial management. Lack of technical knowhow and
managerial capacity were observed to hinder the women entrepreneurs
from reaching high levels of success in their respective fields. The study
drew attention to the need for target oriented, and strategic entrepreneurial
training programmes to promote entrepreneurial capacity building, among
rural women of Kerala.
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Citation
171937