Empowering Women to Become Farmer Entrepreneur. Mahabub Hossain and W. M. H. Jaim

Transcription

1 Empowering Women to Become Farmer Entrepreneur Mahabub Hossain and W. M. H. Jaim

2 Session 4 Breakout session 10 Empowering Women to Become Farmer Entrepreneur Case study of a NGO Supported Program in Bangladesh 1 Mahabub Hossain and W. M. H. Jaim 2 Paper presented at the IFAD Conference on New Directions for Smallholder Agriculture January, 2011 International Fund for Agricultural Development Via Paolo Di Dono, 44, Rome 00142, Italy 1 Copyright of the paper is reserved by IFAD. The paper may not be reproduced in part or in full and in any form without written permission of the Conference Organisers at IFAD ( at.rahman@ifad.org) 2 The authors respectively are Executive Director, BRAC and Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University

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4 Empowering Women to Become Farmer Entrepreneur: Case study of a NGO Supported Program in Bangladesh SUMMARY Although NGOs in Bangladesh have benefited millions of women from low-income households, there are few examples of supporting women for agricultural development. The North-West Crop Diversification Project implemented through a Government-NGOs partnership is an innovative project that provides training and credit to both female and male farmers for diversifying crops. The aim of this paper is to asses the effectiveness of the project in reaching women to become farm managers and to be economically and socially empowered. A sample of 30 female and 30 male farmers was selected randomly from two locations under the project implemented by two NGOs, BRAC and RDRS. Primary data were generated through household level interviews. The analysis showed that the project was successful in expanding areas under high value non-rice crops and improving livelihoods of women. The substantial engagement in economic activities has made women socially empowered. 3

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6 I. Introduction The importance of gender as an issue in developing countries was re-emphasized at the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 (United Nations, 1995). The Conference recognized women s work in the productive and social sectors as a key aspect of development. Women s empowerment is defined as the capacity of women to be economically self-sufficient and self-reliant with control over decisions affecting their life options and freedom from violence (Rao and Kelleher (1995:70). Women suffer from different types of powerlessness in social and economic sphere of life. The lack of power or disempowerment reflects in their less education level, less income, less control over their own income, less bargaining power in selling their own produce and labour, less participation in decision making body, less access to production inputs and resources and employment opportunity than men. This vulnerable situation resulted in an overall dependency of women on their male kin through their life cycle all over the world, particularly in developing countries. The dependency makes them as a burden of a family and lowers their value of life in the society. Development practitioners are concerned to raise their empowerment level, which make women capable to challenge their dependency or oppressive situation in the family and society (Basu and Basu, 2001). Women in Bangladesh hardly participate in agricultural activities outside home (Hossain and Bayes, 2009; Abdullah and Zeidenstein, 1982; Farouk and Ali, 1977; Jansen, 1986). Women s economic activities were confined to homestead production and post-harvest operations. A number of studies were conducted on women s activities during 1980s (Abdullah, 1983; Abdullah and Zeidenstein, 1982; Ahsan, et.al, 1986; Begum, 1983; Chowdhury, 1986; Abdullah, 1979, 1985; Halim and McCarrthy, 1985; Westergaard, 1983, Jaim and Rahman, 1988, Hossain and Bayes, 2009). These studies found that women s contribution to socio-economic development were not visible, perhaps due to a set of social norms that enabled men to dominate women (Bose, et. al., 2009). Gender related indicators across countries also show that Bangladeshi women are less empowered despite the efforts of large Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) channeling credit through women for generating employment opportunities, providing training to augment skills, increasing literacy and raising awareness about their rights. With regard to Gender-Related Development Index (GDI) Bangladesh ranks 120 out of 156 countries. According to Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) which takes into account gender inequality in economic and political spheres, Bangladesh ranked 81 out of 93 countries (UNDP 2007). Thus attempts to transform the traditional roles of women in society has had limited success (Asian Development Bank, 2001; Hossain, 1998). Studies (Kandiyoti, 1988; Buvinic, 1987) suggest that economic development program could automatically increase the economic status of women and thereby their overall status in community and family. They tend to focus on economic development program with the expectation of achieving the goals of empowering women with productive capacities and skills for the future. Hashemi, et al. (1996) shows that participation in credit programs is positively associated with a woman s level of empowerment defined as a function of her relative physical mobility, economic security, ability to make various purchases on her own, freedom from domination and violence within the family, political and legal awareness, and participation in public protests and political campaigning (ADB, 1997:15). This implies that women s participation in economic activities can automatically increase the overall status of women and make them empowered. Some studies in South Asia find that economic empowerment has been the entry point for overall empowerment of women if they are organized under a common platform (Carr et al., 1996). There are contrary views however. According to Mayoux (1998) women's empowerment is 5

7 more than simply marginal increases in incomes: it requires a transformation of power relations within households, markets, communities and national and international economies. In this backdrop it is important to see whether women s involvement in agriculture not only helps to increase household incomes but also contributes to their economic and social empowerment. Despite significant expansion in institutional credit provision to agriculture, and the remarkable success of micro-credit institutions in recent years, small farmers in Bangladesh and elsewhere in South Asia continue to lack access to financial markets (Rashid, et.al., 2002). Since micro-lending programs target women and the poorest section of the population, small farmers are often screened out through eligibility restrictions, such as those requiring that the households should be female headed or own less than 0.50 acres of land. Thus, farmers (both females and males) belonging to small size group are deprived of micro-credit from NGOs - the main source of credit in the informal financial market in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Since the recipient women were mostly landless, their farming activities are mostly confined in home based activities like homestead gardening, poultry rearing, livestock rearing, etc. However, there are a few instances for providing credit facilities to small and marginal farmers for crop production activities at the field level. Some of the examples are: Marginal and Small Farm Crop Intensification Project funded by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), European Commission funded Food Security for Sustainable Household Livelihoods FoSHol CARE Project and projects funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through some NGOs like RDRS, BRAC, etc. as well as with Foundation like Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF). For the small farmers development, IFAD has also some projects in partnership with some Research institutes like the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and with the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) (IFAD, 2009). These programs differ significantly from other micro-lending institutions in the country as their main focus is developing small farmers economic conditions. However, their coverage is very limited and most of these initiatives are in the initial stage of implementation. Similar to these programs, North-west Crop Diversification Project (NCDP) has been initiated by the government at the beginning of the present decade. The main objectives of the program is to diversify cropping pattern from rice-based mono type of cropping pattern and to encourage small farmers, specially women to grow high value crops (HVC) like maize, potato, etc. in addition to some vegetables and spices. The project is implemented through some NGOs like BRAC, RDRS, PROSHIKA, etc. who receives credit from a government sponsored Agricultural Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB). For this project, Bangladesh Bank provides credit to RAKUB at a subsidized interest rate of 3.5%. The NGOs like BRAC and RDRS receive the loan fund from RAKUB six percent. BRAC charges 13% and RDRS 12.5% for their to farmers under NCDP project. Loan installment in the case of BRAC is paid monthly while it is weekly in the case of RDRS. The credit is provided to individual farmers organized under different groups consisting of members. Unlike other micro-credit programs, both male and female groups are formed having cultivable land ranging from acres which roughly matches with marginal/small farm holding category in the context of Bangladesh farming situation. The NGOs are also responsible to arrange training for the farmers to grow high value crops as well as other non-cereal crops, spices, vegetables and fruits. The important characteristics of this project involving NGOs is that it has not only facilitated access to credit to small farmers, it has also organized females for performing farm activities outside the boundary of their households like their counter part male farmers. Although there are instances of female participation in various economic activities (Hossain, et.al. 2004, Bose, et.al.,2009, Hoque and Itohara, 2008, etc), the program initiated by NCDP in collaboration with some NGOs is a further step towards reducing gender inequalities and empowering them to achieve sustainable development. 6

8 Women participation on self employment differs across different regions of the world. In South Asia, women work less in agricultural self-employment (World Bank, 2008). However, in recent years, in this region as well as in other regions women have broadened and deepened their involvement in agricultural production. Yet many developing policies continue to wrongly assume that farmers are men (World Bank, 2008). As women participation in different economic activities and intra-family decision making process are important indicators of their empowerment, an attempt has been made in this study to investigate the level of participation of women in different economic activities, especially farm activities. Determinants of women participation in economic activities as well as level of women empowerment in decision making process have also been investigated. Objectives of the Study: The study aimed at achieving following objectives: - To evaluate effectiveness of NCDP for diversifying cropping pattern and improving farm income for economically empowering small female as well as male farmers. - To investigate the level of participation of the women in economic activities and to assess the determinant of their participation. - To assess social empowerment of women considering mobility of NCDP female farmers outside home - To assess women empowerment in relation to intra-family decision making process. II. METHODOLOGY In order to assess social and economic empowerment of female small farmers, rather than selecting female farmers with and without project, female and male small farmers under the same project / NGOs have been selected with the notion of comparing gender specific differences in participation in agricultural activities and related issues given similar supports (credit, training, etc.). However, findings of the study have been compared with other studies which revealed general picture of male and female farmers participation in agricultural activities. 2.1 Selection of Area, Sampling Technique and Collection of Data For this study, among the NGOs operating in collaboration with North-west Crop Diversification Project (NCDP), two NGOs namely BRAC and RDRS were selected purposively as their coverage in implementing the project is more than other NGOs. Sherpur Upazila of Bogra district for BRAC-NCDP and Thakurgaon Upazila of Thakurgaon district for RDRS-NCDP were selected randomly. From each of these two locations, 5 female and 5 male small farmers groups were selected randomly. A list of all the female and male members in these groups under NCDP (each group consists of members) were collected from the concerned officer of BRAC and NCDP. Thus, a list of roughly female and male farmers from each of locations were collected from BRAC and RDRS regional offices. Then from the lists, 15 female and 15 male farmers from each locations (Sherpur and Thakurgaon) were selected using systematic random sampling method. Thus, total number of samples from the two locations was 30 both for female and male farmers. However, two male farmers were dropped in final analysis as they were found to belong in large farm category. Therefore, the study is based on small number of samples which is due to time and fund constraints. Before collecting field level data using questionnaire, focus group discussion with the female and male farmers groups were held with the researchers to assess the survey design and selection of samples. Primary data were collected by trained investigators from the farmers during the end of October,

9 For collecting input-output data for selected crops, the period from Aman season of 2009 to Boro season of 2010 was considered. 2.2 Enterprise Costing Technique Profitability analysis for high value crops like maize and potato as well as local Aman and HYV Boro was done using enterprise costing technique considering both return over full cost and return over cash cost Full cost included all cost items like human labour, seed, fertilizer, etc. as well as interest on operating capital and land rental cost. Interest on operating cost was estimated at the rate of 13% (which is paid to NGOs by the farmers) for the respective crop season. Land rental cost was also considered for the respective crop season. In estimating cash cost, cost of family labour (assuming 50% of labour supplied from family), interest on operating cost and rand rental cost were deducted from the full cost as all these cost were imputed. 2.3 Estimation of Participation Index To assess the nature of participation in economic activities (EAs) all activities related to agriculture and non-agriculture were classified into 9 categories Then to assess extent of participation, farmers were asked to what extent they were involved in all the selected EAs. A 3-point rating scale was used to measure the extent of participation in EAs. Farmers were asked the frequency of their participation as frequently, occasionally and never; accordingly scores of 2, 1 and 0 were assigned respectively. Thus, a farmer s score may range between 0 to 18 for 9 EAs. Frequency counts of responses for each of the EAs were used to measure Participation Index (PI) for each of the farmers. Participation Index was calculated as follows: 9 PI= EAFS i i=1 Where: PI = Participation Index EAFS i = Economic activity frequency score (2=frequently, 1=occasionally and 0=never) i = number of economic activities ranging from 1 to Model for Estimating Determinants of Female Participation in EAs A Probit model was used to capture the participation in economic activities. Probit Analysis is a specialized regression model of binomial response variables. Probit modeling is used for explaining a dichotomous dependent variable with the empirical specification formulated in terms of latent response variable (Verbeke et al., 2000). In this study, dependent variable Y i is a utility index of participation in economic activities where Y i is a function of the different economic activities. Based on the different EAs, the participation index (PI) has been constructed (as mentioned in Methodology) for considering as a dichotomous dependent variable. Women s participation in economic activities was measured as a discrete choice variable based on their PI. If the PI is less than or equal to 4, the respondent was marked as not actively participated in the economic activities where the respondent was categorized as 0 (Y i =0). If the PI is higher than the 4, the respondent was marked as actively participated in economic activities where the respondent was categorized as 1 (Y i =1). Probit analysis is expressed in exponential explicit model form by the following equation: lny = bo + b 1 X 1 + b 2 X 2 + b 3 X 3 + b 4 X 4 + b 5 X 5 + U 8

10 where, ln = natural logarithm bo = constant b b 5 = Coffecients U = error term X 1 = Years of education of head of family X 2 = Years of education of female farmer X 3 = Total family members of active age group (15 years and above) X 4 = Area under high value crops X 5 = Farm size Dependent Variable (Y) = Participation index of economic activities, where Y i =0 if PI 4 and Y i =1 if PI>4 X 1 to X 5 = Independent Variables 2.5 Construction of Women Empowerment Index (WEI) Following the methodology used by Bose, et.al.(2009), Women Empowerment Index (WEI) has been constructed in this article in consideration of women participation in household decision making process in agricultural and non-agricultural activities. We assigned the lowest value (=1) when the decision is taken by male alone, in this case women being lowest empowered. When decision is taken jointly by husband/male and female we assigned value =2. The highest value (=3) is assigned when decision is taken by female alone, that is, when women are most empowered. We considered twelve inter-household decision making indicators where seven indicators are agriculture related and five are related to non-agriculture related. In the case of agriculture, we asked the female farmer who takes decision about (i) selection of crops and variety, (ii) management of production activities, (iii) purchase of inputs, (iv) rearing cattle and poultry, (v) selling of crop/spices/cattle and poultry, (vi) homestead gardening and (vii) post harvest operations of crops Similarly, in the case of non-agricultural activities the female farmers were asked who takes decision about (i) cash management, (ii) Children s education, (iii) buying and selling of land, (iv) travel and recreation and (v) voting in election. The rating values of decision makers have been assigned according to the weight in favour of the female/wife for all the selected indicators. For example, the higher value (K) of an indicator (X) goes to indicate the higher empowerment level of woman, as shown below, where K is (1 to 3): 1 = decision is taken by male alone 2 = decision is taken jointly by male and female 3 =decision is taken by female alone. The above statement can be measured through rating of each decision indicator (X i ): X i = Decision making indicator X 1... X n K = any rating value of each indicator Low High 9

11 Therefore, the average scoring value of X i (i.e., ith indicator) for all households would be the average of the value K i denoted by the following equation: _ X = (1) i K i We used the given value of K on a scale from 1 to 3 for twelve indicators (X i ) to construct the women s empowerment index (WEI). Seven indicators have been used for the agricultural index (WEIag i) and five for non-agricultural index (WEInag i ) are shown in Equations 2 and 3 respectively: 7 WEIag i = ( X i ) / (2) i=1 Where, WEIag i represents the following indicators of an ith household: X 1 = Selection of crops and variety X 2 = Management of production activities X 3 = Purchase of inputs X 4 = Rearing cattle and poultry X 5 = Selling of crop/spices/cattle and poultry X 6 = Homestead gardening X 7 = Post harvest operations of crops 5 WEInag i = ( X i ) / (3) i=1 Where, WEInag i represents the following indicators of an ith household: X 1 = Cash management (income and expenditure) X 2 = Children s education X 3 = Buying and selling of land X 4 = Travel and recreation X 5 = Voting in election Therefore, the overall WEI i stand for an ith household is shown in equation 4: WEI i = (WEIag i + WEInag i ) / (4) Again, to assess the individual empowerment status and position of all women respondents, two randomly defined ranges are arranged as given below: Not empowered WEI i 1.5 Empowered WEI i >

12 III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The existing literature suggests that employment or income generation program or economic development program are some of the important elements of development strategy that brings success in program for empowering women. In this study NCDP credit program organized and managed by NGOs like BRAC and RDRS has been chosen as economic development program. Economic and social indicators have been used to assess the impact of NCDP program on empowerment of women. The level of income increased has been considered as the indicator of the economic empowerment. A successful economic development program should lead to higher level of income to its beneficiaries. This is considered to be the primary goal of any economic development program. Further, to assess social empowerment two indicators were used: a) Mobility of women outside the home; and b) Participation of women in the intra-family decision making process. To address both economic and social empowerment, the findings of the present study have been presented under four broad headings: - Enhancing Economic Empowerment of Female Small Farmers through NCDP - Participation of Women in Economic Activities and their Contribution to Household Income - Mobility of Women Outside Home Facilitating Social Empowerment - Women Empowerment in Intra-Family Decision Making Process 3.1 Enhancing Economic Empowerment of Female Small Farmers through NCDP Normally, NGOs provide micro-credit to landless/marginal farmers women groups for homebased agricultural activities (i.e. homestead gardening, rearing poultry and cattle, etc) while NCDP credit is provided to women small farmers for growing high value field crops including vegetables and spices. In this section, considering NCDP credit support provided through NGOs (BRAC and RDRS), performance of the female small farmers in diversifying cropping pattern and changing household economy have been evaluated. About three-fourth (73%) of the sample female farmers under BRAC joined NCDP in 2002 while majority (67%) of the female farmers under RDRS joined the project only in the last year (2009). Therefore, female farmers under BRAC are more experienced than those of under RDRS. On the other hand, majority of male farmers both under BRAC and RDRS (71% for BRAC and 86% for RDRS) joined NCDP in In order to evaluate the farming activities of NCDP through NGOs in enhancing economic and social empowerment of female small farmers (as well as small male farmers), socio-economic profile of the farmers; crop production activities, income and marketable surplus of the farmers; credit and training support received by the farmers and changes in economic condition of the farmers are discussed below: Socio-economic Profile of NCDP Farmers Although selection criteria of NCDP farmers was to include farmers within the range of minimum 0.50 to a maximum 3.0 acres of cultivated land, the analysis showed that 27% female farmers and 4% male farmers had cultivated land of below the minimum level; on the other hand, 7% female farmers and 21% male farmers had land above maximum ceiling of 3.0 acres. Discussion with the field 11

13 level officers of BRAC and RDRS revealed that this was because of the fact that while forming small farmers groups from a small locality sometimes interested farmers within the range of land was not available. However, two-third of the female farmers and three-fourth of the male farmers belonged to the small farmers group according to farm size criteria of NCDP and their average farm sizes were 1.26 acres and 2.09 acres respectively (Table 1). It was found that average farm size of male farmers was about 1.66 times higher than that of female farmers. It may also be noted that due to religious and social system in Bangladesh, women inherit proportionately less land than males and most of the land in the family is owned by the males. Therefore, female farmers land holding does not mean that the females are the owners of land. However, in the case of female tenant farmers, land rented in or mortgaged in (locally called land taken under agreement) was in the name of the female to qualify for NCDP credit. Findings of the survey showed that 70% of the female farmers were either pure tenant (27%) or owner-cum tenant (43%) while in the case of male farmers 47% of the farmers were either tenant (11%) or owner-cum tenant (Table 1). Therefore, in terms of cultivated land and tenancy status male farmers were in better position than female farmers. Table 1 Basic socio-economic characteristics of the respondent farmers Socio-economic Characteristics Female Farmers Male Farmers Average age (in years) Education Illiterate Average years of education for those literate 40% 3 11% 6 Main occupation (% of household) Agriculture Service Housewife 17% - 83% 96% 4% - Family size (No. per household) No. of female members in active age group ( years) % of female members participate in agricultural 71% 44% activities from active age group Average farm size (acres) Farm size distribution Below.50 acre.50 to 3.00 acre 3.01 to 5.00 acre 27% 66% 7% 4% 75% 21% Tenancy status Owner Owner-cum tenant Tenant 30% 43% 27% 53% 36% 11% Average family size of female farmers household was found to be 4.89 while it was 4.42 for the males. Although the family size of both female and male farmers household was not much different, the participation of female farmers from these two groups of farmers was found to be significantly different. In the case of female farmer, the percentage of female members participated in agricultural activities from active age group (15-60 years) was found to be 71% while the corresponding percentage for male farmers household was only 44%. It was also found that average age of respondent female farmers was 38 years while it was 40 years for male which was very close. This also indicates that farmers selected by the NGOs for NCDP were quite mature to implement the program. 12

14 Large proportion of the female farmers (40%) was illiterate compared to male (11%). It was also found that among those who were literate, average number of years in schooling was three for females while it was six for males. Agriculture was found to be the main occupation for almost all the male farmers (96%) while it was only 17% for the female farmers Crop Diversification of NCDP Farmers In order to diversify crops under NCDP, farmers were encouraged to grow high value crops (HVCs), spices and vegetables through providing credit facilities through selected NGOs. Distribution of cropped area showed that percentage of area under rice compared to other crops is lower than the national average. The percentage of rice area allocated by the female farmers was found to be 69% while it was about 63% for the male farmers as against national average of about 73% for Bangladesh (Government of Bangladesh, 2007). This indicates that a portion of the rice land has been diverted for growing other high value crops, particularly maize and potato as well as some vegetables. In the case of female farmers, maize, potato and vegetables occupied about 10%, 3% and 5% respectively of the cropped area; the corresponding percentages for male farmers were 9%, 7% and 3% respectively. This also implies that as a HVC while maize has got almost same importance in land allocation by both the female and male farmers; production of vegetables by the females has got more importance than males. On the contrary, production of potato has got more importance by the male farmers compared to females. This gender difference in land allocation for growing different crops/vegetables is due to nature of the job performed for production activities. For example, in the case of vegetables, female farmers were found to grow eggplants (brinjal), reddish, ladies finger, spinach, etc. which are labour intensive but the jobs are not so laborious. Table- 2 Distribution of land for different crops of the NCDP farmers Crops % distribution of cropped area* Female farmers Male farmers Rice: Aman Boro Aus Wheat Maize Potato Pulses Mustard Jute Vegetables Spices Total *Total cropped area for female and male farmers were 2.42 acres and 4.27 acres respectively. It was also found that although NCDP also targeted to expand area under spices; allocation of land under spices (i.e. onion, garlic, zinger, etc.) was found to be very low (only about 1%) by both the female and male farmers. This is perhaps due to low profitability of spices compared to other competitive crops. Productivity of the spices is also low as traditional varieties are grown and duration of growing for some spices like zinger is long (about one year) which discourages farmers to grow spices. The land allocation for other crops like pulses and mustard was also found to be very negligible (Table- 2) as these are less profitable crops compared to their competitive crops. The overall findings with respect to crop 13

15 diversification indicate that while the project was successful mostly in allocating proportionately more land under HVCs like maize and potato; it had little success in allocating land for vegetables and almost no success in expansion of spices area. Considering total copped area per female household of 2.42 acres and average farm size of 1.26 acres cropping intensity of the female farmers household was calculated as 192%. In the case of male farmers, total cropped area per household was 4.27 acres while average farm size was 2.09 acres which means cropping intensity of 204%. Therefore, for both female and male farmers of NCDP, cropping intensities were found to be higher than national average of 181% (GOB, 2008) Income from Crop Production Activities and Proportion of Products Marketed by the NCDP Farmers Total value of production per household of the NCDP female farmers was estimated as Tk. 91,500 while it was Tk.1,28,873 for male farmers. It may be recalled that total cropped area of female farmers was 2.42 acres against 4.27 acres for male farmers. In the case of rice, female farmers marketed (sold) 44% of Aman paddy and 51% Boro paddy after home consumption. The corresponding percentages for male farmers household were 56% and 63% respectively implying that the male farmers household had more marketable surplus of rice compared to female farmers as their areas under rice was more than female farmers. HVC like maize is 100% marketed by both female and male farmers while in the case of potato, 78% of the product from female farmers household and 97% from male farmers household was marketed. The male farmers were able to sell more potato than female farmers after their home consumption because of the fact that male farmers allocated proportionally more land for potato compared to female farmers as mentioned earlier (Table-2). In the case of vegetables, more than 90% of the product was marketed by both the female and male farmers. Among other crops, 100% jute was marketed while in the case of spices proportion of the products marketed varied widely for both female and male farmers. The marketable surplus of both cash and non-cash crops provides cash to the farmers for meeting consumption expenditure as well as investment expenditure for the rural household Major Cropping Pattern in HVC Plots and Relative Profitability from Alternative Cropping Patterns The survey showed that as HVC, NCDP farmers mostly grow maize and potato. The usual cropping patterns in such HVC plots are: Aman-Maize-fallow and Aman-Potato-Maize while the traditional cropping pattern is Aman Aus / Jute or Aman Fallow. However, with access to irrigation facilities, the cropping pattern followed is Aman-Boro-fallow. To compare profitability from these alternative cropping patterns, at first profitability of Maize, Potato, HYV Boro and Aman have been estimated while this has not been estimated for Aus paddy and Jute which are less profitable compared to their competitive crops as found in other studies. It can be observed from the cropping patterns that since Aman paddy is grown in different season, it is common in all the cropping patterns while maize sometimes competes with Boro paddy for land depending on soil condition and availability of irrigation facilities. On the other hand, potato may be grown in addition to Aman and maize. Potato is also gown in addition to Aman and Boro as found in other places of Bogra district. Profitability analysis of individual crops showed that although Maize is a highly profitable crop (particularly when we consider only cash cost), it is less profitable than HYV Boro (Table- 3). However, 14

16 farmers, particularly small farmers, prefer to grow Maize as it is a short duration crop, involve less risk in production, requires less cash cost and the output market price is almost stable compared to HYV Boro. It may be mentioned here that rice price in recent years is highly unstable in Bangladesh. With low price of paddy the gross return as well as net return from Boro may fall drastically. Another HVC, potato gives a considerably high return considering both cash cost and full cost. This is grown as a third crop, in addition to Aman and maize as well as Aman and Boro; therefore, it gives an additional income to the farmers without sacrificing any other crop. It may be mentioned here that profitability for some vegetables and spices which are grown by some NCDP farmers has not been calculated as the farmers allocated tiny plots for their production; analysis on per acre basis from such tiny plots would give a misleading result. Discussion with farmers reveals that some of the vegetables were highly profitable (i.e. Brinjal, Ladies finger, etc.); however, vegetables plots follow a different types of cropping pattern (i.e. Vegetable- vegetable- vegetable or Aman Vegetable). Table- 3 Per acre profitability of some important selected crops Particulars of cost-return Crops Maize Potato HYV Boro Aman Gross value of production Total cost Net return over full cost Total cash cost Return over cash cost Net return over full cost and cash cost from alternative cropping patterns can be seen in Table- 4. This shows that on the basis of full cost, cropping pattern of Aman-Boro-Fallow gave highest return than other cropping patterns based on HVCs. However, on the basis return above cash cost, cropping pattern of Aman-Potato-maize gave the highest return. It was also found that on the basis of return above cash cost cropping pattern of Aman-Maize-fallow gave less return compared to the cropping pattern of Aman- Boro-fallow. This is mainly because of high prices of Aman and Boro paddy as mentioned earlier. With the fall in rice price, comparative advantage may go in favour of HVC based cropping pattern. Further, farmers usually grow maize in the land which is not suitable for HYV Boro or irrigation facilities for Boro are not available. For example, Maize is expanding fast in Char land area which is not suitable for Boro production without adequate irrigation facilities. In that case maize is not a competitive crop of Boro; rather it is a competitive crop of less profitable crop like wheat and other low value crops. Production of Maize in combination with other crops like Aman and Potato gives substantial income to the small farmers. Table- 4 Per acre profitability from alternative cropping pattern in HVC plots compared to rice based cropping pattern Cropping pattern Net return over full cost Return over cash cost Aman-Maize-fallow 21,157 44,020 Aman-Potato-maize 28,705 64,780 Aman-Boro-fallow 33,301 54,966 15

17 3.1.5 Marketing Problem of NCDP Farmers Majority of the female farmers (77%) and all the male farmers reported that there is no marketing problem for HVC, particularly for Maize. The female farmers who said that there is marketing problem, they mentioned about low price of product. As majority of the farmers reported that there is no marketing problem (23%) for HVC; they were asked to mention the reasons for that. In response, majority of the female farmers (57%) said that the wholesalers purchase the product from home at higher price while in the case of male farmers, majority of them (61%) reported that products can be sold in the local market at high price. Table- 5 shows that main reason for absence of marketing problem of HVCs was ensured high price while a few reported about good communication system. Table- 5 Reasons for no marketing problem of HVCs Reasons for no marketing problem Female farmers Male farmers No. of responses % of total No. of responses % of total The wholesaler purchase the product from home at higher price Products can be sold in the local market at high price Communication system is good Price of product is higher compared to cost Total Risk in Production of HVCs under NCDP and Farmers Suggestions Farmers were asked whether they face any problem in producing HVCs under NCDP. About 63% female farmers and 57% male farmers reported that they face risk in producing HVCs. About half (53%) of the female farmers and about four-fifth (81%) of male farmers reported about risk of crop damage due to pests and diseases. Other types of risks for crop production were excessive rain and storm (reported by 26% female and 19% male farmers) as well as drought (reported by 21% of female farmers). To cope with the production risk, about 67% of the female farmers and 38% of the male farmers suggested to arrange more training for them to control pests and diseases. Introducing crop insurance was also suggested by about one-third of female respondent farmers as well as one-fourth of male farmers. About 38% of the male farmers also suggested diversifying cropping pattern for which they need training on production of new crops Changes in Economic Condition of the NCDP Farmers With the increase of income from farming operations supported by NCDP credit there have been some changes in economic condition of the small farmers (both female and male) as reflected by improving their housing condition; possessing household and farm assets; investing in children s education; investing in land purchase or mortgaging land; investing in business, etc. With respect to change in housing condition, there have been changes in conditions of roof (i.e. from straw to tin) and wall (i.e. from mud or straw to brick) of some farmers since joining NCDP. In terms of money per household value addition in housing was estimated at Tk. 48,133 for female farmers and Tk. 56,178 for male farmers (estimated at present price). 16

18 Table- 5 Value addition in housing of the female and male farmers since joining NCDP Farmers category Value of house at present (Tk.) Female 94,800 (s.d ) Male 97,214 (s.d ) s.d. = Standard deviation Value of house before joining NCDP (Tk.) 46,667 (s.d ) 41,036 (s.d ) Value addition in housing (Tk.) 48,133 56,178 Since joining NCDP, there has been also some improvement in possessing some consumable household assets like radio, cassette player, television, motor cycle, mobile phone, etc. They also spent money for installing Hand Tubewell for save drinking water as well as installing sanitary latrine in their houses. Average amount spent for possessing household asset per female household after joining NCDP was found to be Tk. 15,723; almost same amount was spent by the male farmers (Table- 6). Regarding investment in productive assets, it was found that the compared to females, male farmers invested more money for possessing farm assets like Shallow Tubewell, power tiller, thresher, etc. as well as purchasing, bullock, milking cow, etc. On the other hand, female farmers on the average invested more than double amount for purchasing land (Table- 6). About 37% female farmers purchased land after joining NCDP compared to 14% male farmers. Female farmers those who purchased land, average amount was 18 decimals while it was 32 decimals for male farmers. However, compared to male, female farmers spent less amount for land mortgaging. About 33% of female farmers and 25% of the male farmers mortgaged land for cultivation. However, the average area of land mortgage by the male farmers was considerably higher than female farmers (32 decimals for female and 51 decimals for males). Investment in business by the male farmers was about four times higher than female farmers. This implies that business opportunities for rural females have not been adequately developed. Investment in the form of paying bribe (Tk.2,00,000) to get a job was also noted in the survey for a female farmer. Although this is morally an illegal investment, it has been possible to spend so much money for a female farmer due to additional income earned from farming after joining NCDP. NCDP farmers were also capable of investing more money for children s education the amount of which was Tk.7,548 for female farmers and Tk.8,748 for male farmers per annum. About 90% of the female farmers and 70% of the male farmers reported that without joining NCDP, it would not be possible for them to spend such an amount of money for children s education. Table- 6 Different types of investment by the small farmers since joining NCDP (Per household in Taka) Investment type Amount of investment / value of assets accumulated since joining NCDP Female farmers Male farmers Consumable household assets 15,723 15,506 Farm assets 32,790 45,198 Land purchase 29,967 13,400 Land mortgage-in 12,929 17,179 Business 4,300 23,036 17

19 Service* 6,667 - Children s education (yearly) 7, *Bribe to get a job Information was also collected whether there was any major disinvestment of the farmers after joining NCDP. About 17% female farmers reported that they had to sell valuable assets like land and cow and received Tk. 83,400 per household. The reasons for disinvestment of their valuable assets were giving marriage to their daughters (40%), for paying bribe to get a service for daughter (20%), for buying land (20%) and to sell land which had difficulty in accessing (20%). However, no male farmers reported about major disinvestment after joining NCDP. The findings related to enhancing income and investment in household consumable goods, farm and non-farm assets as well as in social sectors (education, save drinking water, hygienic latrine, etc.) indicate that the small female farmers as well as male farmers became economically empowered after joining NCDP. It was also found that their ability to hire more wage labour increased which is may be considered as another indicator of improvement of their economic condition. Before joining NCDP, female farmers could hire 39 mandays while during the last year they hired 62 mandays; the corresponding figures for male farmers were 54 and 66 mandays respectively Credit and Training Support of NCDP for Enhancing Economic Empowerment Credit Support On the average female farmers in the first year of joining NCDP received credit of Tk. 5,700 (ranging from TK. 2,000 to 10,000) which rose to Tk. 17,192 (ranging from Tk. 5,000 to Tk. 50,000) at present. This indicates that there is a growing demand for NCDP credit from the female farmers. Similar trend was also found in the case of male farmers who in the first year received Tk. 4,964 on the average (ranging from 2,000 to 20,000) which rose to Tk. 19,000 at present (ranging from 4,000 to 50,000). Besides, NCDP credit, 23% of the female farmers received credit from other NGOs while none of the male farmers received credit from other NGOs as males normally don t have access to credit provided by NGOs. However, only 7% of the male farmers received credit from a nationalized bank. The female farmers who did not take credit from other sources besides NCDP (77%) were asked to specify reasons for it. Half of them reported that they don t need credit while 27% of them reported that interest rate is high, 18% reported about problem of paying installments and 5% reported that other NGOs are not available in their locality. It was also found that in the case of male farmers, 40% reported that they don t need credit besides NCDP credit, and those who need credit have no option besides NCDP. Except one female farmer and two male farmers, no body reported about any problem faced related to NCDP credit. The female farmer and one male farmer reported that credit is not available as per requirement; the other male farmer reported that timely credit is not available. The farmers under RDRS, suggested for making provision of monthly installment instead of weekly installment or paying installments after crop harvest. It may be mentioned here, unlike RDRS, BRAC collects monthly installments and farmers did not have any complain in relation to that Training Support Along with credit, training on producing HVCs as well as vegetables is given to the NCDP farmers. The training is managed by the concerned NGOs and it is given by the Upazila Agricultural Officers. The survey showed that 100% of both male and female farmers under BRAC received such 18

20 training while in the case of RDRS, 53% of female and 64% of male farmers received training. This indicates that BRAC farmers had comparative advantage over RDRS farmers in terms of receiving training on crop production. The duration of training was for only one day and it is mostly for the production of maize followed by potato and some vegetables as received by about 80%, 15% and 5% of the farmers respectively. More than 80% of the farmers feel that one-day training is inadequate since nothing or very little can be learnt from this. In order to utilize experience gathered from training for better production, about 90% of the farmers think that the training should be for more than one day and it should be repeated with some intervals. Farmers were also asked the areas in which they expect more training from NCDP. Majority of the female farmers gave highest priority for the production of maize (37%) followed by vegetables (26%), potato and rice cultivation (11% each). On the other hand, male farmers also gave highest priority to maize (31%), the next preference was potato (19%) followed by rice (15%) and vegetables (12%). Some of them (12%) are also interested to get training for livestock rearing (Table- 7). Table- 7 Farmers opinion about areas of training need Area / subject of need for more training Female farmers Male farmers No. % of total No. % of total Maize cultivation Potato cultivation Rice cultivation Vegetable cultivation Wheat cultivation Poultry rearing Livestock rearing Cultivation of spices All Participation of NCDP Female Farmers in Economic Activities Participation in Farm and Non-farm Activities Farmers under NCDP participated in different economic activities (EA) which were classified into 9 categories: (i) crop production activities in the field, (ii) spices and vegetable production activities in the field as well as in homestead area, (iii) poultry rearing, (iv) goat rearing, (v) cattle rearing, (vi) aquiculture activities (vii) wage labour, (viii) marketing activities and (ix) non-farm activities. To assess extent of participation, farmers (both female and male) were asked to what extent they were involved in all the selected EAs. There were three options of their extent of participation which were: frequently, occasionally and never; accordingly scores of 2, 1 and 0 were assigned respectively. Frequency counts of responses for each of the EAs were also used to measure Participation Index (PI) for each of the farmers as discussed in the Methodology. Findings related to nature and extent of female farmers participation in EAs was found to be a bit different from male farmers. Maximum (frequent) participation of the small female farmers were found in the cases of livestock related activities (i.e., poultry goat and cattle rearing) rather than crop production(table- 8) despite of NCDP credit received for crop production activities. This is because of 19

21 the fact that women in Bangladesh mostly remain at home due to social custom which might be the reason of more involvement in home-based agricultural/livestock activities rather than field level activities outside home. However, considerable proportion of female farmers (about 37%) frequently participate in production activities like vegetables and spices, 43% of them occasionally participate in production activities of crops grown in the field. On the contrary, 100% for the male farmers frequent participate in production activities of field crops (Table- 8). Findings also showed that there was no participation from female in aquiculture activities which was also supported by other studies (Rahman and Naoroze, 2007; Hoque and Itohara, 2008, etc.). Women participation in marketing activities was also found to be nil while 29% of male farmers occasionally participate in marketing activities and 18% of them participate frequently. A few female farmers were also found to work as wage labour. This is due to the fact that economic and food crisis of poor households sometimes bound the women to work as wage labour in crop field. However, the wage rate of female farmers was considerably low (ranging from Tk. 100 to Tk. 135) compared to male farmers (ranging from Tk. 160 to Tk. 200 or even Tk. 250). This is also one kind of deprivation of female labour in terms of paying wage. Other studies (i.e. Bose, et.al. 2009) also showed that employment generation for women remains poor for Bangladesh as a whole and their low wages over time is an indication of continuing discrimination. Disparity in wages of women and men in the labour market may be explained by occupational segregation and the low education of women. Table- 8 Extent of participation of female and male farmers in different economic activities Economic activities Number of female s participation in EAs (N=30) Number of male s participation in EAs (N=28) Never Occassio nally Frequent Never Occassi onally Frequent Production activities in field crops Production activities for vegetables and spices in field Poultry rearing Goat rearing Cattle rearing Aquiculture Wage labour Marketing activities Non-agricultural activities It was also found that participation in non-agricultural activities by the female farmers was found to be scanty while majority of the male farmers (60%) frequently participate in non-farm activities. The overall findings on participation of female farmers in different economic activities showed that whereas women s work remained focused on more home-based activities, men s work concentrated more on market oriented non-farm activities which is also supported by other studies (Bose, et. al. 2009). 20