Women entrepreneurs in agri-business

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.