Women Weavers in Mizoram: Sustaining Livelihood through Cluster Development

Abstract

The handloom industry continues to play an important role in the Indian economy, providing employment to 27.83 lakh households. Nearly 77 per cent of this workforce comprises women who are located in rural areas. This article is a study of Thenzawl handloom cluster in Mizoram, a remote corner of India's north-east, which has become a model of entrepreneurship for underprivileged tribal women. The researchers undertook the mapping of Thenzawl handloom cluster and observed that of the 205 micro handloom enterprises operating there interestingly, 98 per cent of the entrepreneurs were women. We highlight the impact of micro handloom enterprises on livelihood in terms of the extent of dependence of entrepreneur households on handloom enterprises, the proportion of small weavers (on the basis of looms owned) and income earned from the enterprises in the cluster. The article also offers suggestions to initiate cluster development activities in the cluster to enable it to sustain their initiative and grow.

Relevance of social capital in women’s business performance in Bangladesh

“…China (8.7%) and India (5.2%) (Mascarenhas-Keyes, 2006). On the other hand, evidences suggest that business activities of women improve their personal income, dignity (Awusabo-Asare and Tanle, 2008), and livelihoods (Moller, 2012;Ramswamy and Kumar, 2013). Successful women businesses also accomplish growth by the use of social interactions, social relations (for instances, relationships with friends and relatives) and developing interpersonal relationships i.e.…”

Entrepreneurship against the tide : Business performance of women entrepreneurs in a constrained environment. A survey in Bangladesh

“…Especially in developing countries where people live in poor circumstances, entrepreneurship is a vital driver to reduce poverty 4 (Acs et al 2011;Moller 2012;Bruton et al 2013;Ramswamy and Kumar 2013). Women represent about fifty percent of most developing countries' population (GEM 2010).…”

“…Women's business activities in developing countries are crucial to improve their individual and their family's livelihood (Ramswamy and Kumar 2013). Profit of their business might provide them not only with personal income and dignity (Awusabo-Asare and Tanle 2008), but also creates for them a resilient livelihood (Moller 2012).…”

“…Entrepreneurship for women in developing countries represents a feasible occupational basis to contribute to the income and livelihood 25 of themselves and their family (Awusabo-Asare and Tanle 2008;Al-Dajani and Marlow 2010;Moller 2012;Ramswamy and Kumar 2013). Women entrepreneurs are labelled as 'rising stars', 'new vehicles' (Mboko and Smith-Hunter 2009;Acs et al 2011;Vossenberg 2013), 'untapped source' (Minniti and Naudé 2010;Vossenberg 2013), 'the way forward' (Hausmann et al 2012) and 'the new movement for women' (De Bruin et al 2006;Brush and Cooper 2012;Vossenberg 2013;Welsh et al 2016) when looking at their potential to stimulate the economy and reduce poverty in developing countries (see Chapter 1, section 1.1.2).…”

Relational exploration of the effect of work-related scheme on job satisfaction

“…The schemes are designed to remove the bottlenecks in the preproduction, production and post production of the handloom weaving. Chanderi handloom cluster (Madhya Pradesh), which was declining in the earlier decade, has demonstrated striking accomplishment in the recent past (Ramswamy and Kumar (2013). The welfare regimes which foster work or employment have a positive impact on job satisfaction by improving working conditions and creating a better work life balance (Fasang et al, 2012).…”