Does social enterprise empower women? : a case of wild honey enterprise, Koh Kong Province , Cambodia | |
| Author | Sar Dimdaline |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.GD-12-03 |
| Subject(s) | Small business--Cambodia Women in business--Cambodia |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Gender and Development Studies, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. GD-12-03 |
| Abstract | The research focuses on comparison in case of wild honey social enterprise (SE) and micro - and small scale enterprise (MSE) , whether SE would be more effective to achieving up women’s empowerment in household and community than a purely profit oriented MSE , to explore the reas ons behind this issue , to explore the business performance of wild honey SE and MSE from gender perspective, to understand the gender division of labor in SE and MSE and reasons associated with the issues, to explore the factors affecting women ’ s participation in SE , and to develop recommendation s for improving performance of wi ld honey SE linking with gender concepts . The methodology of the study is an exploratory and explanatory type. Three out of five wild honey SE s l ocated in Phnom Torp Cheang Community Forestry, Chi K ha Leu and Kandaol Community of Protected Areas in Koh Kong province were purposivel y selected for this study. Various second ary d ocumentations, 100 household survey s , k ey informants interview s , group discussions, and in - depth interviews were major tool s for secondary and primary data collection. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used for data analysis. The stud y revealed that t raditi onal society of Cambodia mainly causes gender division of labor such as enterprise activities , household work, and community work, which differently reflect s to male and female - type work , differentiating gendered value as women do unpaid and un derva lued work; men are engaging more in enterprise and e conomically valuabl e contribut ion to household . This division r eflects to women’s lesser worth, lesser power, and women’s economic dependence on men. The research also explore d that factors affect ing women ’ s participatio n in SE are economical, social and environme ntal, and institutional factors. T here is no different type of factors , but the ranking is different according to gender. Wom en tend to get interest in market, location, and saving resources more than other fac tors because women concern on the resources spent more than capacity building p rovided by wild honey S E , whereas men give more value on good market, good location, and awareness raising in common standard/sustainable for har vesting than other factors. In addition to, r easons of women and men for not participating in wild honey SE reflect by the weakness and constraint s of business performance of wild honey SE and culture barriers. Overall conc lusion, it is clearly shown that wild honey SE does provide numerous benefits. However, its weakness are related to the statute with have no gender policies , no quota system for women at management level, program packages do not design to maximize the equa l benefits for women and men to encourage women’s participation, and traditional culture barriers are also majorly obstacles resisting women’s mobility to participate in activities of wild honey SE. Therefore, participation in wild honey SE empowers women less than individual operation by MSE as MSE women participate in enterprise activities more than SE women. Meanwhile, the recommendations need to focus on revising and initiating future service delivery with gender friendly activities, adding gender policies in statute with quota system for women at management level, request for more support from NGOs, which have concern on gender issues, to motivate more participati on , and enhance strong honesties and solidarity in the whole operation. |
| Year | 2012 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. GD-12-03 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Gender and Development Studies (GD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Kusakabe, Kyoko; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Doneys, Philippe;Ebbers, Theo; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst ( DAAD ); |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2012 |