Only a few decades ago, rural poor women used to earn some extra money by rearing poultry birds at home side by side with performing their domestic works. Of late, they have established this humble poultry business as a commercial venture, reports BSS.
Besides their poultry business, such women are now more actively playing an important role in agriculture quite independently in some particular places, especially in the country's northern region. In this case, small ethnic groups are traditionally engaged in agriculture.
In the past, rural poor women in the mainstream used to help their males in agricultural cultivation but now the women labourers came forward to work both in agriculture and poultry industry for their dignified living.
Of the total 16.20 million (1.62 crore) women labour force, 77 per cent is rural and 68 per cent of them are directly involved in agriculture, poultry, afforestration and fish production. Like their male counterparts, these women workers are efficiently doing their jobs from seedling to fertiliser and pesticide use, weed-out and even harvesting.
Certain sections of these women are making the best use of their yards around homes to grow vegetables and fruits, which provide food values to their health and also earn some extra money by selling the surplus. This is how they are supporting their families and also contributing to the national economy.
Women workers are on the lead in Bangladesh's northeastern and eastern tea gardens as well as southwestern and southern poultry and shrimp projects, precisely in agriculture as a whole, giving an overwhelming lift to the national economy.
According to a World Bank report in 2008, women are ahead of men by 60 to 65 per cent in terms of contribution to the agriculture sector. Over the last one decade, the number of the women labourers rose to 5.0 million out of the total 13 million additional workforce engaged in the economic activities.
During this period, the total number of the women workers jumped from 3.70 million to 8.0 million with a 116 per cent rise in agriculture, afforestration, fishery and cattle- poultry rearing. As ill luck would have it, women workers are neither properly evaluated, nor do they get justified wages. In some cases, they get a humble wage for their daylong labour.
The contribution of these women workers seldom comes around any talking table while the state even does not care to recognise their selfhood. But experts feel it necessary for state-level recognitions to these women workers for their relentless contribution to the economic progress.
According to official sources, at least 12 million new jobs were created over the last one decade and of them 3.0 million were added to agriculture, afforestration and fisheries sectors. Unfortunately, only 29 per cent poor women were recognised as a part of the overall labour force.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) does only preserve the numerical status of the male farmers, not the female agricultural workers, experts said with a suggestion to incorporate the women agricultural workers in the country's labour law side by side with ensuring their due wages.
Rural poor women turn poultry trade into commercial venture
FE Team | Published: May 24, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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