Separate formats were used to collect information on household/individual profiles, their plans, their aspirations, and the constraints in visualizing and attaining their aspirations, their main and secondary source of income etc.

While some of these details are relatively easy to collect, understanding the aspirations and the kinds of activities they would like to undertake for improving their livelihoods took more time and interactions.

For designing any programme or project, it is critical to know whether women’s aspirations are considered that at the design stages. It is important to determine what women are aspiring to earn their livelihood and what activities they would like to engage in. We found that many women found it difficult to articulate their aspirations. However, by engaging with women in small groups, this information can be collected.

In the sample area of Tamil Nadu, the aspirations of the women broadly come under the following heads:

• purchase of assets,
• value addition aspects,
• non-farm sector, which includes running petty grocery shops, tiffin centres, cloth retailing, rice retailing, expansion of existing business, street vending etc.

Many women aspire to set up similar non-farm business, which already exists, in the same village without knowing the demand. In the fishing community, women are not equally the breadwinners of the families. They remain as housewives. Even though they have the urge to learn something and want to be economically empowered, their husbands dominate them. Most of the women aspire to do something useful in the village itself and they need to be trained in the village itself.

In Orissa, the aspirations of the women are broadly as follows:

• Proper education for their children
• Build better houses, health centres near their villages
• Capital to expand current business or to start new business
• Land rights
• Assets that can tide them over in emergencies
• Purchase plain land and/or enhance agriculture
• Training/information to start new activities that would add to their incomes.
• As far as Gumma Block is concerned, women had full of hopes and plans. However, in Meghalaya, most of the women did not have any plans, as they were not thinking beyond the day-to-day needs. Not many women have long-term plans.

The aspirations of the women broadly are as follows:

• Sending children to higher education
• Non-farm sector activities, which includes running petty grocery shops, tea shops, securing government jobs, expand their livestock (pigs) and sell it for higher returns, expansion of existing business, learning tailoring, getting assured labour work for at least 1 person/household in the village itself to tide them over lean days

They need useful and correct information on government schemes and programme, useful information on new and better seeds, ways to improve agricultural productivity, build better houses for themselves which would not need repairs in rainy season.

Each individual was asked about their plans/aspirations, which would improve their livelihood. They were also asked to contemplate the course of action they would be willing to undertake to fulfil these aspirations and what were the possible constraints they faced in realizing these goals.

Each individual was also asked to enlist three support needs (finance, market access, information, credit, infrastructure, license permission etc) and the possible sources of services. However, many of the individuals were not able to express more than one activity. Majority of the respondents expressed that lack of access to finance as the only major deterrent in fulfilling their aspirations.

Aspiration

Details

Agriculture/Horticulture Owned/Leased land

Aquaculture

Business Non farm activity

Employment

Fisheries

Labour Agriculture

Labour Non-Agriculture Skilled

Livestock

None

NREGS

Others

Post harvest activity

Rent on Assets