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Need Assessment for Capacity Building of Women in Practicing Post Harvest Activities of Vegetables

N. Ahmed
BAU, Mymensingh

M.Z. Rahman
BAU, Mymensingh

M.A. Kashem
BAU, Mymensingh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The main focus of this study was to determine the extent of need for capacity building of women for practicing post harvest activities of vegetables and to explore the relationships of the selected characteristics of the women with their extent of need for capacity building. The study was conducted with randomly selected 100 women of Ashulia union under Savar upazila of Dhaka district during April to May 2007. Need for capacity building of women was the dependent variable and the twelve selected characteristics of the respondents constituted the independent variables of the study. The highest proportion (57%) of the respondents had high need while the rest (43%) of them had medium and none of them had low extent of need for capacity building. The women had the highest (22%) need for capacity building in management skill and their lowest extent (18%) of need was for capacity building in physical facilities. Among the characteristics of the respondents, family farm and homestead size, annual family income and use of post harvest technology showed significant negative relationship with their need for capacity building but credit received by the respondents was positively significant. The major problems faced by the women in utilizing the post harvest facilities of vegetables are lack of credit, inadequate marketing facilities and inefficient manpower.

Keywords: Need assessment, Capacity building, Post harvest facilities, Vegetables.

Location: Villages namely Kalma and Charabag of Ashulia union under Savar upazila of Dhaka district

Start Date: 15-04-2007

End Date: 10-05-2007

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Non-commodity: Performance

Objectives:

To determine the need for capacity building of women for practicing post harvest activities of vegetables;
To explore the relationships between 12 selected characteristics of the women with their need for capacity building for practicing post harvest activities of vegetables and
To find out the problems faced by the women in using the post harvest facilities of vegetables.

Methodology:

The study was conducted in two purposively selected villages namely Kalma and Charabag of Ashulia union under Savar upazila of Dhaka district. The reason for selecting the site was that Horticulture Development Project of DAE had been operated in that area. The population of the study comprised 430 households who received training from the project and among them 100 households were randomly selected for data collection. Thus, the sample comprised of 23% of the total households. Data were collected by using a structured interview schedule during 15 April to 10 May 2007. To measure the extent of need for capacity building of women, five dimensions of capacity building were included. These were: need for financial ability (capital, credit, labor purchase and processing-equipment purchase), need for decision making ability (collection, grading, packaging, processing, storing and selling of vegetable), need for access to support services (preservation facilities or cold storage, labor market, marketing channel\facilities, access to credit, transport and development workers for advice), need for management skill (knowledge on post harvest activities, operational ability, market facility exploitation and financial management), and for physical facilities (processing materials\equipment, processing ground, transport\vehicles, store house and sale centres). The dimensions were measured on a four-point rating scale i.e. ‘no’, ‘low’, ‘medium’, ‘high’ and scores were assigned as 0, 1, 2, 3 respectively. Thus, total score of a subject for this variable could range from 0 to 78. To ascertain the comparison among the problems, Problem Facing Index (PFI) was computed by using the following formula after Afique (2006): PFI = (Ph×3) + (Pm×2) + (P1×1) + (Pn ×0) Where, PFI=Problem facing index Ph = Number of respondents having high problem Pm = Number of respondents having medium problem P1 = Number of respondents having low problem Pn =Number of respondents having not any problem at all Descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation test was computed to fulfill the objectives of the study. The analysis of data was performed by using SPSS and at least 5% level of probability was used as a basis for rejecting a null hypothesis.

Source of Information: Bangladesh Journal of Extension Education, Volume 21, No. 1&2, 2009:97-104 ISSN 1011-3916

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

More than half (57%) of the respondents had high need to strengthen their capacities in conducting PHAs of vegetables. So there was ample scope to provide facilities regarding post harvest operations of vegetables which would improve the capacity of the women. Women having small family income and small family farm and homestead size felt more need for capacity building. Again most of the women had small credit received and it was important for capacity building of the women. The highest proportion (67%) of the respondents had medium use of post harvest technology. This variable was negatively correlated with the need for capacity building. Thus, increased use of post harvest technologies facilitated them to utilize more post harvest facilities of vegetables. Women could achieve much more in vegetables production and utilization if agricultural researchers, plant scientists, extension agents and policymakers could play a better role in agricultural development. Specifically, a great potentiality stays behind for the women involvement in practicing PHAs of vegetables although their existing status is not up to the expectation. More support to women in income generating activities (IGAs) through agro-based activities should be under utmost care of the government strategic plan. Based on aforesaid issues and concerns, it is recommended that post harvest facilities of vegetables could be made available and accessible, sale centers should be established in the rural areas. Training facilities have to be increased according to their needs. One of the most important facilities is to improve their transport and communication system by the government.

Knowledge Management: Journal