Contents
Page
Preface................................................................................................................................................. iii
1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Purpose of the Guidebook....................................................................................... 2
1.2. Definition of terms.................................................................................................. 2
1.3. Target audience..................................................................................................... 3
1.4. Methodology and restrictions................................................................................... 3
1.5. Structure of Report................................................................................................. 4
PART I Women’s Entrepreneurship in green cooperatives............................. 5
2. GREEN COOPERATIVES IN THE DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT............................... 6
2.1. Why promote women’s entrepreneurship in green or “organic” products?.................. 6
2.2. Challenges and opportunities of women farmers....................................................... 6
2.3. Women and rural poverty........................................................................................ 7
2.4. Women’s gendered rural constraints........................................................................ 9
2.5. The traditional role of women in agriculture............................................................ 10
2.6. Promotion of women’s entrepreneurship in rural areas............................................ 10
2.7. Green cooperatives and sustainable development.................................................... 11
3. Promoting Women’s Green Cooperatives................................................ 13
3.1. What is a cooperative?.......................................................................................... 13
3.2. Women’s cooperatives.......................................................................................... 14
3.3. Cooperatives by their functions.............................................................................. 15
3.3.1. Farmers’ and agricultural producers’ cooperatives.................................... 15
3.3.2. Agro and food processing cooperatives.................................................... 16
3.3.3. Marketing cooperatives........................................................................... 16
3.3.4. Agricultural cooperative banks, credit unions, and..................................... 17
microfinance cooperatives
3.3.5. Agricultural consumers’ cooperatives...................................................... 17
3.4. Other types of agricultural cooperatives................................................................. 17
3.5. The agricultural cooperative producer-consumer relationship................................... 18
3.6. The organic products market................................................................................. 20
3.7. The Asian market in organic products.................................................................... 22
3.8. The trend toward product diversification in agricultural development........................ 25
3.9. Policy implications of promoting women’s entrepreneurship in................................. 27
green cooperatives
3.10. Women-led cooperatives: women’s ways in entrepreneurship.................................. 27
4. REGIONAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN COOPERATIVES AND................................. 29
SUPPORT FOR WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP
4.1. Situation of women in cooperatives in the region..................................................... 29
4.2. Constraints on women in agricultural cooperatives.................................................. 31
4.3. Supportive environment for women’s entrepreneurship............................................ 32
and green cooperatives
4.4. Resources needed for women’s entrepreneurship in green cooperatives................... 34
5. GUIDELINES ON WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN......................................... 36
GREEN COOPERATIVES
5.1. How to build a rural cooperative............................................................................ 36
5.2. Marketing of rural products................................................................................... 37
5.3. How to build a network for entrepreneurship.......................................................... 40
PART II E-business in Women’s Green Cooperatives............................................. 43
6. ICT FOR RURAL WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT....................................................... 44
6.1. ICT applications for rural women’s empowerment.................................................. 44
6.2. Gender dimensions and constraints facing rural women in........................................ 46
the adoption of ICT
6.3. Overall status of the use of ICT and e-business...................................................... 49
application among rural women
7. RURAL WOMEN, GREEN COOPERATIVES AND THE........................................... 52
ADOPTION OF E-BUSINESS
7.1. Opportunities presented by e-business adoption....................................................... 52
7.2. E-business application in agriculture....................................................................... 52
7.2.1. Communication and information sharing................................................... 52
7.2.2. Marketing and sales................................................................................ 53
7.2.3. Customer acquisition and retention........................................................... 53
7.2.4. Business operations and logistics............................................................. 53
7.3. Determinant factors for introducing ICT and e-business applications........................ 54
7.3.1. Access.................................................................................................. 54
7.3.2. Infrastructure......................................................................................... 54
7.3.3. Capacity building.................................................................................... 55
7.3.4. Socio-cultural factors.............................................................................. 55
8. GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF E-BUSINESS IN GREEN CO-OPS.......... 57
8.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 57
8.2. E-business planning phase..................................................................................... 57
8.2.1. Activity 1.1 – Raise awareness............................................................... 59
8.2.2. Activity 1.2 – Define objectives............................................................... 60
8.2.3. Activity 1.3 – Select e-business model..................................................... 61
8.2.4. Activity 1.4 – Identify tasks.................................................................... 63
8.2.5. Activity 1.5 – Estimate resources............................................................ 65
8.2.6. Activity 1.6 – Develop schedule.............................................................. 66
8.2.7. Activity 1.7 – Estimate costs................................................................... 68
8.2.8 Activity 1.8 – Develop project document.................................................. 68
8.3. Implementation phase........................................................................................... 69
8.3.1. Activity 2.1 – Procurement..................................................................... 69
8.3.2. Activity 2.2 – Implement off-line infrastructure........................................ 70
8.3.3. Activity 2.3 – Develop e-business website............................................... 71
8.3.4. Activity 2.4 – Finalize the project............................................................. 73
8.4. Operation of e-business......................................................................................... 73
8.4.1. Activity 3.1 – Procurement of e-business................................................. 74
8.4.2. Activity 3.2 – Content management......................................................... 74
8.4.3. Activity 3.3 – Maintenance of the service................................................ 75
8.4.4. Activity 3.4 – Customer relationship management..................................... 75
PART III Case Studies.............................................................................................................. 76
9. GOOD PRACTICES OF WOMEN’S GREEN COOPERATIVE.................................. 77
ENTERPRISES
9.1. Womenlink consumers’ cooperative – Republic of Korea........................................ 77
9.2. Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Cooperative Union – Japan............................................ 81
9.3. Pulmu Agricultural Producers’ Green Cooperative – Republic of Korea................... 86
PART IV CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS........................................... 89
10. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS........................................... 90
10.1. Promotion of women’s entrepreneurship in green cooperatives................................ 90
10.1.1. The need for gender mainstreaming of rural............................................. 90
policy on entrepreneurship
10.1.2. Start-up with women NGO-initiated consumers’ cooperatives................... 92
10.1.3. Public campaigns for the Life of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS)......... 93
10.1.4. Certification system and marketing.......................................................... 93
10.1.5. Capacity-building training........................................................................ 93
10.1.6. Establishment of intraregional e-business.................................................. 94
women’s green cooperatives networks
10.1.7. Elimination of gendered constraints.......................................................... 94
in women’s entrepreneurship
10.2. Promotion of e-business in green cooperatives........................................................ 95
10.2.1. Gender-responsive policies...................................................................... 95
10.2.2. Infrastructure......................................................................................... 95
10.2.3. Regulatory structures.............................................................................. 96
10.2.4. ................................................................................. ICT capacity building 96
10.2.5. Innovative partnerships among stakeholders............................................. 96
10.2.6. Pilot projects.......................................................................................... 96
ANNEXES
Annex I Country Profiles................................................................................................................. 99
Annex II Resources and Toolkits..................................................................................................... 121
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Rural population as percentage of total in 2003............................................................................... 7
2. Cooperation between producers’ and consumers’ cooperatives..................................................... 19
3. Total area under organic management – share for each continent.................................................. 21
4. Total number of organic farms – share for each continent............................................................. 21
5. Female Internet users as percentage of total Internet users, 2002.................................................. 50
6. Activities to execute the five steps of e-business implementation................................................... 58
7. Components of activities............................................................................................................. 59
8. Cost of changes as the project progresses.................................................................................... 59
9. Example of change in supply chain as the result of e-business adoption.......................................... 61
10. Comparison of some options for hosting the e-business website..................................................... 62
11. Example of work breakdown structure......................................................................................... 64
12. Interactions through e-business website....................................................................................... 72
13. Number of glass containers recovered......................................................................................... 84
14. Expansion of the network movement........................................................................................... 86
15. Growth of the workers’ collectives.............................................................................................. 86
16. E-business of Pulmu agricultural green co-op............................................................................... 88
LIST OF TABLES
1. National and international poverty lines of selected countries........................................................... 8
2. Women’s economic activity (ages 15 and above)........................................................................... 8
3. Gender inequality in economic activity........................................................................................... 9
4. Microfinance institutions............................................................................................................. 17
5. Organic farming in selected Asian and Pacific countries............................................................... 23
6. Agricultural products of selected Asian countries in 2004.............................................................. 24
7. Development status and key features of organic agriculture in Asian economies............................. 25
8. Percentage of women in membership of cooperatives................................................................... 30
9. Women’s participation at decision-making level in cooperatives..................................................... 30
10. Gender bias against women in the traditional cooperatives............................................................. 31
11. Service providers and their tasks................................................................................................. 35
12. Some alternative marketing strategies.......................................................................................... 39
13. Internet Users for select countries in Asia and the Pacific............................................................. 50
14. Mobile phone penetration in selected countries............................................................................. 51
15. Distribution of ICT access between urban and rural areas (Thailand)............................................. 52
16. Example of list of tasks based on list of outcomes......................................................................... 65
17. Example of resource estimation based on the list of tasks.............................................................. 66
18. Example of schedule................................................................................................................... 67
19. Yearly status of Womenlink........................................................................................................ 78
20. Activities of cooperative members............................................................................................... 79
21. Categorization of green goods..................................................................................................... 80
22. Total membership of independent cooperatives............................................................................. 81
23. Comparison of retail prices between organic and conventional products........................................ 119
LIST OF BOXES
1. Rural enterprises flourish in China............................................................................................... 10
2. Definition of cooperative............................................................................................................. 13
3. Benefits of all-women’s agricultural cooperatives......................................................................... 14
4. SEWA, the Self-Employed Women Association........................................................................... 15
5. Good practice: Sri Lankan Cooperative in Organic Tea................................................................. 16
6. Good Practice: Hongdong Village in the Republic of Korea........................................................... 20
7. Principles of organic agriculture................................................................................................... 20
8. Good Practice: Jajarkot Permaculture Programme in Nepal.......................................................... 22
9. Good Practice: Integrated Pest Management for Rice in Bangladesh............................................ 22
10. Success Story: Organic India..................................................................................................... 24
11. Strategies to promote women’s entrepreneurship in agricultural cooperatives.................................. 32
12. Community based sustainable organic grower’s cooperative and marketing system......................... 40
13. Inter-city marketing network for women micro-entrepreneurs – India............................................ 44
14. Korea women’s hot line.............................................................................................................. 45
15. Grameen Cyber Society in Bangladesh........................................................................................ 45
16. WICEN (Women in Co-operatives Electronic Network)............................................................... 46
17. People first network................................................................................................................... 47
18. Content of targeted internal training by group............................................................................... 71
19. SC principles on safety, health and the environment...................................................................... 82
20. Brief of Pulmu Green Co-op (2006)............................................................................................. 87
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................. 125 |
Developing Women’s Entrepreneurship and E-business in Green Cooperatives in the Asian and Pacific Region
