Women empowerment through Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs): A case study of Aurai Block, Bihar

Abstract

As per the thought of Amartya Sen, “Empowering women is key to building a future we want.” Empowerment is the process of enabling an individual to increase control over their lives, to gain control over the factors and decisions that shape their lives, to increase their resources and qualities and to build capacities to gain access in order to gain control. Empowerment is now increasingly used and connected to social development groups such as poor people, rural women, farmers, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and marginalized people. Empowering women means encouraging them for their socio-economic development. Farmers Interest Group (FIG) is a self - managed, independent group of farmers with a shared goal and interest. A study was conducted in Aurai block in two Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) namely, Hari Om ATMA Group and Chandani Mahila ATMA Group. Data for this study were collected through survey with the help of an interview schedule. After having interaction with the women beneficiaries and complete understanding of study area, the researcher was drafting a schedule to capture various aspects related to this study. It is observed that there is a positive transformation in the life of women after being a part of the Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs).