Women in Mymensingh, Netrakona keen for income generating works: Study

Rural women in Mymensingh and Netrakona districts are very keen to get involved in income generating works to ensure food security for their families, according to a recent study, reports UNB. The study revealed that in the food-insecure group, about 80 per cent of rural women in the two districts are willing to take up more income generating works to support their families. Of them, over 75 per cent responded that they are willing to work outside their homes. Principal Investigator Rushidan Islam Rahman, Anwara Begum and Harunur Rashid Bhuiyan of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) carried out the study with technical support from the 'National Food Policy Capacity Strengthening Programme (NFPCSP)' of the FAO and the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, and financial support from USAID and EU. The study, titled 'Impact of Paid Employment and Self-Employment on Income and Prospects of Food Security', was undertaken to analyze the household status of food security in Mymensigh and Netrakna districts. Among the food-secure households in the two districts, the study found that on average about half of the women expressed their willingness to do more work to augment their income. The share of such women is slightly lower among the self-employed heads of households compared to the wage-earners. In the wage-earner group, about 56 per cent of women were found keen to work more. Of them, nearly 43 per cent were willing to take work outside their homes. In terms of distribution by number of days of food insecurity, the study showed that the share of female-headed households experiencing severe food insecurity (more than 36 days a year) were much higher than male-headed households.