Rural women empowerment: horticulture to improve the livelihoods of communities

Rural women entrepreneurship is passing through a transition period. The Indian rural economy is also experiencing an entrepreneurial need. A farm business necessarily requires deliberate decision and proper investment, after assessing risks and available resources to maximize profit. Therefore, entrepreneurship is not simply adoption of new technology but also transformation of technology suited to the rural sector. The main targeted objective of this program is economic empowerment of rural women through building capacity in entrepreneurship and information and communi­cation technology skills to enable them to market their horticultural produce (fruits and vegetables). The program aims to help the women self-help groups to earn improved livelihoods by organizing them into cooperatives. Farmers need to adopt a set of postharvest technologies which are cost effective and appropriate for reducing losses by keeping perishable produce fresh for longer period or processing them into durable products, viz., juice, pulp, concentrate, etc., to fetch a better return on their produce. An integrated postharvest management approach helps in achieving (i) better market access; (ii) nutrition security; (iii) poverty alleviation; (iv) employment generation; (v) environment protection; and (vi) economic transformation of rural populations. Apart from helping farmers to get loans through SHG-Bank linkage, it provides the necessary subsidy and techno-managerial support through training and capacity building so that the women will start making a reasonable profit from the beginning. This paper focuses on, and provides an insight into, the qualities required for rural women entrepreneurs, and the opportunities and challenges faced by them, followed by a brief discussion on entrepreneurship as a career.