ROLE OF WOMEN IN POULTRY FARMING AT HATHAZARI THANA, IN CHITTAGONG DISTRICT

Abstract

In developing countries poultry rearing has been practiced for many years. The study focused on revealing the level of empowerment of rural women and food assurance through poultry farming especially chicken. For the study, a multistage sampling is considered and by which 30 farm women were taken having some conditions fulfilled. Questionnaires were prepared for easy collection of necessary information. The research was conducted over 10 days. Scope of the study was to observe the effects of poultry rearing on the life of rural women and the way it has contributed to her empowerment and food security at household level. It was observed that poultry rearing at household level has not much enhanced the overall household income yet plays role in contributing to sustain household economy. Besides being healthy and nutritious source of food, it somehow contributes in securing dietary needs especially of the young ones. It has made the women self-employed, more confident, socially empowered and more valued not only in their families but also in their community. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to know the extent of involvement of farm women and other family members in the decision making in relation to feeding, management, health care. From the information obtained, it was observed that mostly housewives (80%) contribute in poultry but most of them (66.7%) are belongs to 20-40age. Their predominant religion is Islam (76.7%). Most of them were primarily educated (30%), having <1 acre land (43.3%), lived in mixed type of houses (46.7%) with a family having family member less than 5 (66.7%).

From the collected data it was found that the overall contributions of women are greater than men in dairying on the study area. It was also observed that in decision making, regarding health care (36.7%) and feeding (37.8%) women had highest participation.