The one common factor among all entrepreneurs — regardless of gender, age, region or religion — is that they face challenges in accessing capital, markets and mentors. But when the entrepreneur is a rural woman starting out in the agricultural or allied sectors, these challenges get multiplied many folds. India's rural women are beset with little or no education, limited mobility, almost no industry knowledge and lack of access to professional networks. They are still weighed down under their traditional gender roles and are not encouraged to take up entrepreneurial endeavours. Even when they manage to break free of these social constraints, they are responsible for taking up the burden of family and business needs.
It could be assumed from the above that India would naturally have very few women entrepreneurs. Happily, that is not the case. The country has 13.5 to 15.7 million women-owned enterprises — representing a whopping 20% of all Indian enterprises — as per a Bain & Company report conducted for Google on Women Entrepreneurship in India. According to the report, most of these are single person enterprises and provide direct employment to about 22–27 million people.
About 80% of rural Indian women are engaged in agriculture. The rapid feminisation of Indian agriculture has led to growth in the number of women farmers choosing to become entrepreneurs naturally as well as strategically.
But these numbers could be much higher. The reality is that women entrepreneurs work part time and the work they do is part of a wider livelihood strategy. They are not seen as 'entrepreneurs' because their work pattern does not fit into the conventional definition of an enterprise. This point is well illustrated by the fact that rural women are heavily involved in animal husbandry, right from taking care of the cattle to milking them and supplying the milk to the dairy. But it becomes difficult to separate what is seen as a usual household chore from professional work. So these women are not labelled as 'entrepreneurs'.
Indian agriculture has a trillion-dollar potential. This potential can be leveraged by promoting the growth of women-led agri-enterprises. The potential of women agripreneurs is largely untapped and India as a nation lag in recognising the few out of the hundreds that exist. Over the years, government schemes and initiatives by state and private institutions have drawn women towards entrepreneurship. NABARD's Bank Linkage Programme; support, training and capacity building by central and state agriculture departments; and empowering women agripreneurs with digital skills by corporate organisations and NGOs are aimed at uplifting women entrepreneurs. The Centre has announced schemes like Mudra Loan for women, Annapurna Yojana, Women Entrepreneurship Platform and Stree Shakti Yojana, among others, to support women entrepreneurs. Many of these schemes are not exclusive for rural women or agri-entrepreneurs; but irrespective of where they come from, women entrepreneurs can use them to gain access to markets, capital and logistics.
Women-specific haats, marketplaces and exhibitions provide a platform to both rural and urban women entrepreneurs. They are able to draw on agri-commerce inputs, trade solutions and market linkages provided by several funding agencies and non-profit organisations through these platforms. This has helped them become part of the agri-value chain.
Already, there are some very encouraging examples where women have shown that they can be pivotal and not just peripheral players in India's economic progress.
Take the case of Sushma Gupta of Karma Masud, a small village in Bihar. The village residents regard her as a doctor. But Sushma is neither a medical doctor nor does she hold a Ph.D. She is an agripreneur whose journey began as a mushroom farmer and progressed to a mushroom health tonic provider. This tonic earned her the moniker of 'doctor'. Sushma began cultivating mushrooms in 2013; she gradually branched into offering value-added products like mushroom flour, jams, jelly, pickles and mushroom health tonic. She leveraged her entrepreneurial spirit to address the issue of preventing surplus mushroom crop from going to waste.
Sushma was fortunate to have personalised mentoring and hand-holding support in establishing and scaling up her business. This is something that many other rural women entrepreneurs, particularly in the agri-sector, lack. She owes her success to the timely guidance and support that she received across domains like marketing, advertising and finance. This support came from the Kisan Vikas Kendra (Aurangabad) and Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA).
Another example is that of Atram Padma Bai. She is a woman farmer-turned-entrepreneur from Telengana. Her 3-acre farm gave her a modest income before she set up a business that lends agricultural tools to poor farmers at nominal rates. Padma Bai soon became the sarpanch of eight villages and, with her business acumen, was able to channelize government funds to provide her village with clean drinking water through reservoirs and rainwater harvesting.
But gaps still persist, and they need to be addressed in the following manner:
- Establishment of relevant financial products and services that cater to rural and women-specific businesses.
- Recognising the diversity of rural women's business models, products and sectors.
- Better representation of women-led small and micro enterprises in business associations.
- Social security and childcare schemes to help women concentrate on setting up their ventures.
- Better collection and analysis of data regarding rural women entrepreneurs that can feed into future policies and schemes that cater to their specific needs.
- Technology training and mentoring.
Encouraging women-led businesses in rural and agricultural streams will have ramifications that go far beyond the economy. It will help the country reduce poverty, generate employment, drive social development and move towards a more gender-equal society. In order to boost innovation and enhance women's financial independence, education and social health, India must concentrate on creating more women entrepreneurs. This is the only sustainable path to progress.
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