Role of Women Entrepreneurs in Agricultural Development: Problems and Prospects

Theme No. 7 Capacity building for encashing technological options and Entrepreneurial Opportunities Role of Women Entrepreneurs in Agricultural Development: Problems and Prospects Dr. C. S Arneja and Gaganpreet Kaur Dept. of Extension Education Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. ABSTRACT The emergence of entrepreneurs in agriculture and allied activities can propel our rural population into self sustaining individuals, who in turn can catalyze the development of economy.

The concepts of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship have been frequently applied to industrial sector. Agriculture, on the other hand, has largely been viewed as non-entrepreneurial traditional activity.

For rural folk it is a way for life. Hence farmers were never visualized as business operators and farming as an enterprise. Not much has been developed to farmers into rational business, sensing individuals or in other words ‘entrepreneurs’. The genesis of entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied activities ,is quite recent.

It is now being widely accepted that increase in production, productivity, of terms, farm diversification, innovation and development of farmers into self sustaining individuals follow inoculation of the entrepreneurial qualities among the farmers.

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Factors like liberalization of the economy have created the right ambience for growth of entrepreneurs in agriculture. It is estimated that presently women entrepreneurs comprise about 10% of the total entrepreneurs in India.

The term “Women Entrepreneurship” mean, an act of business ownership and business creation that empowers women economically, increases their economic strength as well as position in society. Hence women-entrepreneurs have been making a considerable impact in all most all the segments of the economy which is more than 25 percent of all kinds of business .

In India “Entrepreneurship” is very limited amongst women especially in the formal sector, which is less than 5 percent of all the business.

The personality trait of women entrepreneurs includes Risk takers, opportunist, inventor, commercialiser, trader, innovator, flexible etc. There are various problems associated with women entrepreneurs such as problem of finances, family responsibilities, limited mobility factor and domination by male, old and outdated social outlook etc. This paper suggests various problems and future prospects of women entrepreneurs. The emergence of entrepreneurs in agriculture and allied activities can propel our rural population into self sustaining individuals, who in turn can catalyze the development of economy.

The concepts of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship have been frequently applied to industrial sector. Agriculture, on the other hand, has largely been viewed as non-entrepreneurial traditional activity. For rural folk it is a way for life. Hence farmers were never visualized as business operators and farming as an enterprise. Not much has been developed to farmers into rational business, sensing individuals or in other words ‘entrepreneurs’. The genesis of entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied activities ,is quite recent.

It is now being widely accepted that increase in production, productivity, of terms, farm diversification, innovation and development of farmers into self sustaining individuals follow inoculation of the entrepreneurial qualities among the farmers. Factors like liberalization of the economy have created the right ambience for growth of entrepreneurs in agriculture. Women Entrepreneurship:- It is estimated that presently women entrepreneurs comprise about 10% of the total entrepreneurs in India.

The term “Women Entrepreneurship” mean, an act of business ownership and business creation that empowers women economically, increases their economic strength as well as position in society. Hence women-entrepreneurs have been making a considerable impact in all most all the segments of the economy which is more than 25 percent of all kinds of business . In India “Entrepreneurship” is very limited amongst women especially in the formal sector, which is less than 5 percent of all the business. Indian women business owners are changing the face of businesses of today, both literally and figuratively.

The dynamic growth and expansion of women-owned businesses is one of the defining trends of the past decade, and all indications are that it will continue unabated. For more than a decade, the number of women-owned businesses has grown at one-and-a-half to two times the rate of all businesses. Even more important, the expansion in revenues and employment has far exceeded the growth in numbers. The various types of women entrepreneurs are: • Women entrepreneurs in organized & unorganized sector • Women entrepreneurs in traditional & modern industries • Women entrepreneurs in urban & rural areas Women entrepreneurs in large scale and small scale industries. • Single women and joint venture entrepreneurs. Different categories of women entrepreneurs in practice in India are: Category-I – Established in big cities – Having higher level technical & professional qualifications – Non traditional Items – Sound financial positions Category-II – Established in cities and towns – Having sufficient education – Both traditional and non traditional items – Undertaking women services-kindergarten, creches, beauty parlors, health clinic etc Category-III – Illiterate women – Financially week Involved in family business such as Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy, Fisheries, Agro Forestry, Handloom, Power loom etc. Status of women entrepreneurship in India |States |No of Units |No. of Women |Percentage | | |Registered |Entrepreneurs | | |Tamil Nadu |9618 |2930 |30. 6 | |Uttar Pradesh |7980 |3180 |39. 84 | |Kerala |5487 |2135 |38. 91 | |Punjab |4791 |1618 |33. 77 | |Maharashtra |4339 |1394 |32. 2 | |Gujarat |3872 |1538 |39. 72 | |Karnataka |3822 |1026 |26. 84 | |Madhya Pradesh |2967 |842 |28. 38 | |Other States & UTs |14576 |4185 |28. 1 | |Total |57,452 |18,848 |32. 82 | Trends in Women Entrepreneurship In India, women’s’ entry into business is a new phenomenon. It can be traced out as an extension of their kitchen activities mainly to 3Ps viz Pickles, Powder & Pappad. But with growing awareness about business and spread of education among women over the period, they have started shifting from 3Ps to engross to 3 modern E’s viz Engineering, Electronics & Energy. They have excelled in these activities.

Women entrepreneurs manufacturing solar cookers in Gujarat or owning small foundries in Maharashtra or manufacturing capacitors in Orrisa, have proved beyond doubt that given the opportunities, they can excel their male counterparts. Status of women entrepreneurs at international level |Country |Percentage | |Thailand |18. 5 | |India |14. | |Argentina |11. 5 | |Brazil |11. 1 | |China |11 | |New Zealand |10. | |Mexico |10. 3 | |Chile |9. 5 | |Korea |8. 6 | |The United Staes |8. | |Slovenia |2. 9 | |Spain |2. 8 | |Singapore |2. 7 | |Sweden |2. | |Hong Kong |2. 3 | |France |2. 1 | |Croatia |1. 8 | |Russia |1. | |Belgium |1. 5 | |Japan |0. 6 | | | |

Scope of Entrepreneurship among women Women’s contribution to development is seriously underestimated and thus their social recognition is limited. The full visibility of the type, extent and distribution of this unremunerated work will also contribute to a better sharing of responsibities between men and women. Lack of employment in the private sector and reduction s in public services and public service jobs have effected women disprpportionately.

In some cases, employment creation strategies have not paid much attention to occupations and sectors where women predomonate;nor have they adequately promoted the access of women to those occupations and sectors that are traditionally male. Taking, this in consideration, entrepreneurship among women is an area which can help in employment generation and income generation. Women entrepreneurship in India Women have a unique position in the society. Real development cannot take place if it is bypasses women, who not only represent one half of a country's population but also the kernels around which societal revolution take place.

Entrepreneurship enhances financial independence and self esteem of women. Around 50 per cent of India's population is women, yet business spheres such as trade, commerce and industry is still considered a male preserve. Entrepreneurial   work has also been predominantly a man's world in India, are women. Among the states, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka have more women entrepreneurs. Indian women are in no way inferior to men in all walks of life and they can be good entrepreneurs as men in the country. Therefore, it is essential to exploit the potential of Indian women.

Women's participation in trade, industry and commerce, requiring entrepreneurship is still poor, mainly because of the problems associated with their gender roles. Therefore, promotion of entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women poses a challenge to the government, funding agencies and non-government organizations. It is important for these people on the limitations faced by the women and to plan supporting systems to enhance the women entrepreneurship in India. Personality traits of women entrepreneurs Indian women of today have taken many strides towards business ownership.

The broad classification of women business owners include women who establish, inherit, or acquire a business; women who start businesses with spouses or business partners but are either at the forefront or behind the scenes; and finally, women who start fast-growing or part-time or slow-growing firms. Although earlier researches on women entrepreneurs have suggested that significant differences existed between female and male entrepreneurs. However, more recent studies have shown that there are far more similarities than differences between women and men entrepreneurs in terms of psychological and demographic characteristics.

The dominant predictors of success in case of women entrepreneurs are work experience and years of self-employment. In comparison to their women counterparts who established their businesses two decades earlier, women who have started their businesses sometime during the past decade are more likely to have the following: • a higher level of education, previous professional and managerial experience, as well as executive level experience • a greater appetitive for capital, both credit and equity • a strong motivation for autonomy and achievement a dynamic personality • a passion for what they do • creativity to innovate and implement • independence and self reliance • high self confidence • willingness & ability to take risks • alertness to opportunities • ability to marshal resources • ability to respond to market & environment signals Moreover personality traits of women entrepreneurs includes Risk taker |Proactive | |Opportunist |Visionary | |Inventor |Tolerance of ambiguity | |Commercialiser |Desire for independence | |Trader |High energy | |Innovator |Ability to bounce back | |Flexible |Results oriented | |Need for achievement |All rounder | |Internal control |Decisive | |Self confident |Self Motivated | |Pragmatic |Flair | Problems associated with women entrepreneurs Basically all women entrepreneurs almost suffer from two main category of problems, such problems can be designated as follows:- 1) Specific Problems:- I.

Problem of finances arrangement II. Limited mobility factor in case of women entrepreneurs III. Family responsibilities, ties as well as commitments IV. Lack of education and prevalent levels of illiteracy amongst women V. Scarcity of raw materials required for productive capacities VI. Lesser risk and uncertainty bearing attitude 2) General Problems:- I. Lack of self-confidence and optimistic attitude amongst women II. Absence of proper support and back-up for women by their own family members and the outside world people III. Old and outdated social outlook to stop women from entering in the field of entrepreneurship IV.

Cut-throat competition with other group of men and established self-sufficient entrepreneurs V. Domination by male and ideology of male dominated society Steps needed for development of skills among women entrepreneurs A possible set of three inter-linked and inter-dependent clusters of recommendations can be aimed at “pushing” a larger number of women entrepreneurs towards growth opportunities, unlocking their potential as creators of wealth and jobs, and providing a more conducive legal and regulatory framework. These recommendations can also ensure the proper positioning of “pull mechanisms” to enable the growth-oriented women entrepreneurs to expand and grow in terms of investments, markets and profits. Conducting gender analysis for all entrepreneurial support programmes • Examining differential impacts of governmental policies, programmes and actions • Gathering data on women and men entrepreneurs • Applying “target group segmentation” to women entrepreneurs • Promoting mobilization and organization of representative associations • Promoting development of demand-led supports for women entrepreneurs • Promoting more flexible and innovative financial products by banks • Using targeted approaches for priority categories in order to provide additional “push” to women entrepreneurs to the next level of growth • Reviewing impact of existing and new instruments on women entrepreneurs • Identifying those instruments that act as barriers to expansion and growth • Modifying or dismantling these instruments Taking account of the social and cultural contexts affecting policy implementation and redress inequalities and abnormalities • Making use of IT and associations so as to minimize the administrative burdens on women entrepreneurs • Holding regular consultations with key factors like women entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs’ associations, financial institutions, etc, to review progress and identify new bottlenecks. • Encouraging and rewarding dynamic representative associations of women entrepreneurs • Promoting strong links and synergies with existing major economic players • Profiling the economic and social contributors among women entrepreneurs to the national economy • Promoting and rewarding programmes that serve women entrepreneurs • Making full use of data gathered to inform new policies, programmes and supportive actions • Ensuring synergies between (a) women related ministry (b) economic ministry (c) welfare & social development ministry in the government. Future Prospects

Various initiatives are especially useful for women entrepreneurs’ improvement of the entrepreneurial culture. These initiatives are to be further adjusted to appeal to women entrepreneurs. All this is providing immense confidence in the women entrepreneurs and enabling them to exercise their skills, risk taking abilities, uncertainty bearing attitude while working in an enterprise. • To inspire confidence and to “sell one’s idea” is the policy nowadays being adopted by women entrepreneurs. • Women want competent counseling in various fields: such as namely: financing, liquidity, budgeting, etc. • Women entrepreneurs also want more appreciation of their idea on the part of the banks.

Many say, however, that they themselves must also be better at selling their idea. • With increasing government and non-government and other financial institutions assistance for various women entrepreneurs within the economy there can be significant increase brought about in the growth of women entrepreneurship process. • Efforts are being made to coordinate with the enterprise activities of women and providing them utmost financial, morale, psychological support by various institutions working within the economy and worldwide. Conclusion It can be said today we are in better position wherein women participation in the field of entrepreneurship is increasing at considerable rate.

Efforts are being taken at the economy as well as global level to enhance women involvement in the enterprise sector. Thus what is required is to continue with the trend on educating the women, spreading awareness and consciousness among women to shine in all the fields, making them to aware about their rights and strengths. Thus with relevant education, improving economic conditions and financial opportunities more women will definitely be able to be successful entrepreneurs. This will not only change economies of the societies but will change the status of women which will undoubtedly bring drastic positive change in growth and development.

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