Economic and Social Impact of Female Home-Makers: A Case Study of the Women Farmers' Organization in the Western Province, Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, 34.5% of the females participate in the labour force. One of the projects launched by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2016, was the establishment of ‘Sithamu’ (Let’s think) the women farmers’ organizations to boost rural development with female participation in agriculture. The purpose of this paper is to explore the Economic and Social impacts of such organizations on the Female Home-Makers; based on Bourdieu’s theory of capital (1986). It was conducted as a case study on a woman farmers’ organization (WFO) in the Western Province selected through convenience sampling. The informants of the study were eight members of the organization. This study included a background information questionnaire, a semi-structured interview schedule, observational field notes and document analysis. The thematic analysis of data revealed that the WFO contributed to the development of their social inter-connections, relevant government officials, resource persons, local agricultural entrepreneurs and other agencies related to agriculture. This paves the way for the development of members’ social capital through developing mutual trust, networks, sharing of information and collective decision making amongst them. The social capital has an impact on alleviating poverty through opportunities for self-employment and development of their entrepreneurial skills, their living standards, their capabilities…etc. Being members of the WFO gave them many opportunities to engage in both non-formal and informal learning. The sources of non-formal learning included instructional sessions, field visits, demonstrations and training sessions organized by the local Agrarian Service Centre. Field visits, meetings and informal interactions among the members provided them the informal learning. They helped members to develop social, cultural and economic capital in various ways. It is recommended to empower women farmers by providing them with more access to government-provided training, funding and social recognition as farmers and also to benefit them with these types of organizations and learning opportunities.