Impact Study on Empowerment of Women Through Women Farmer
Producer Organization (WFPO) in Tiruvannamalai Districts
R. Nirosha
a
, J. Paul Mansingh
b
and A. Nisha
c
Department of Agricultural Extension and Economics, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
Keywords: Women Empowerment, Socio-Economic Status, Annual Income, WFPO.
Abstract: The study was focused on the topic entitled the impact of the Women Farmer Producer Organization (WFPO)
on the empowerment of women farmers, who play a prominent role in agriculture and allied sectors but face
various challenges and constraints. The study aims to determine the socio-economic and psychological
characteristics of the respondents and to analyze the perceived impact of WFPO on their empowerment in
terms of personal, socio-economic, psychological, and political aspects. This study adopts an ex post facto
research design and uses a random sampling method to select 60 respondents from a WFPO in Tiruvannamalai
district and collected the data on various variables such as age, education, occupation, farm size, social
participation, extension agency contact, training experience, and attitude towards FPO. The paired sample t-
test was used to compare the income of the respondents before and after joining the WFPO by using SPSS
software 26.0. The results show that there is a significant difference between the income of the respondents
before and after joining the WFPO, indicating that the WFPO has a positive impact on their empowerment
and livelihood. It is inferred that the FPO module assisted respondents in raising their income from various
income-generating activities and in their overall income.
1 INTRODUCTION
The women folk play a most prominent role in the
agriculture and allied sectors. Based on the 10
th
agricultural
census (2015 -2016) report, it was noticed that there was a
rise in the total number of operational holdings in the
country from 138.35 million in 2010 -11 to 146.45 million
in 2015-16, which shows a 5.86 percent increase when
compared to the previous census report. This report shows
that the involvement of women was gradually increasing in
the operations of agricultural holdings in the country. Still,
the women in our country lack proper access to market
information, extension agency services, financial support,
technical and technological support, and institutional
support when compared to men who access them much
more easily. So, the women should get provisional access
to capital, and financial support which helps them to start
their firms rather than depending on others. Even though
the self-help groups are contributing to and supporting
women it is not sufficient to face the growing economic
a
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2645-2621
b
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3423-8618
c
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9347-9038
conditions and balance their nutritional status. It also affects
their livelihood. Women should join and make use of the
opportunities available in agriculture and allied companies’
sectors. To empower women and enhance their livelihood
and food security, the government, extension agencies,
public, NGO, and private sectors are also focusing on
Women Farmer Producer
The Farmer Producer Organization was focused on
coordinating the farmers who are living in the same area
and growing the same crop in the village for collective
farming with effective utilization of available resources
based on the membership of farmers who have a common
interest in developing technologies and financial activities
through which maintaining the relationship with the
partners collaborating in their economic and institutional
environment. The services provided by the Farmer
Producer Organization start from the pre-production and
post-production stages, including marketing services,
financial services, technology services, educational
services, welfare services, etc., National Institute of
204
Nirosha, R., Paul Mansingh, J. and Nisha, A.
Impact Study on Empowerment of Women Through Women Farmer Producer Organization (WFPO) in Tiruvannamalai Districts.
DOI: 10.5220/0012950600004519
Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Emerging Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture (ICEISA 2024), pages 204-208
ISBN: 978-989-758-714-6
Proceedings Copyright © 2025 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda.

Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE,2021).
The objective of the study is to determine the socio-
economic and psychological characteristics of the
respondents and to analyze the perceived impact of the
Women Farmer Producer Organization (WFPO) on the
empowerment of women farmers.
1.1 Women Farmer Producer
Organization
After analyzing the crucial role played by women in
agriculture, the FPO has provided problem-solving
solutions on how women in agriculture can get their share
and be registered. The government of India is already
providing special subsidies to women farmers and looks
forward to supporting any viable project for women's
economic empowerment in agriculture.
1.2 Empowerment of Women
Empowerment is a process of enlightenment of power to
recognize one's rights and to accomplish their duties. It is a
multidimensional functional process that enlightens a
person to recognize their capacity and strengths in all
aspects of life. The word empowerment has a remarkable
feature, namely ‘power’, which means the right to control
property assets, intellectual resources, and ideology.
(Mukherjee et al., 2020). Grover (2002) has defined
empowerment as a process of independence and
cooperation. It is performed through the involvement of
individuals and the members of the groups, who frequently
improve their awareness and potential to organize the
meetings and make the change.The empowerment of
women farmers is not only focussing on their sustainable
livelihood improvement and providing food security-
enhancing nutritional status but also on improving the
standard of women farmers in society and making the
invisible women visible. It is achieved by encouraging
women farmers to get access to opportunities, resources,
knowledge, and skills and by making them naturally
empowered and independent. The Farmer Producer
Organization plays the most prominent role in empowering
the small and marginal farmers as well as the women
farmers, which leads to the betterment of their lives. This
study examines the impact of women farmers’
empowerment through the Farmer Producer Organization
in various sectors like Personal Empowerment,
socioeconomic and psychological empowerment, and
political empowerment, followed by (Mukherjee et al.,
2020).
2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
(Mukherjee et al., 2020) discovered that social
participation, extension agency contact, training
experiences, attitude towards FPO, and, most importantly,
income are significantly different at a one percent level of
significance. The attitude towards the FPO was found to be
more positive in the case of members than in the case of
non-members. Also, it was noticed that the majority (73.68
per cent) of the respondents were in the category of the very
high level of empowerment, followed by 26.32 per cent in
the high category, and none of the respondents fell under
either the modern or low levels of empowerment category.
This indicates that member women farmers were more
empowered than that of non-members. A study revealed
that the hill-based farmer producer FPO was highly
effective in empowering women. It was found that FPO
shows a positive impact on the livelihood and well-being of
women farmers.(Bizikova et al., 2020) noticed that Farmer
Organizations could be grouped into six categories: income
yield, production quality, environment empowerment, and
food security (67 per cent). The studies reported that Farmer
Organization membership was associated with in case of
improvement.(Mwambi et al., 2021) revealed that the
respondents were independent and had the right to control
the buying and selling of land was increased by 2.75 per
cent as a household membership.
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study was carried out by choosing an ex post facto
research design. The study was conducted in the
Tiruvannamalai district, with a sample size of 60 women
farmers members in FPO. A random proportionate
sampling method was chosen for sample selection, using
the ranking or run order method, to reduce the bias.
Independent variables are analyzed using the descriptive
statistics method to find the frequency and percentage
analysis. A paired sample t-test was chosen for this study to
compare the respondents before and after joining the FPO
of Women farmers. The paired sample t-test gives a
hypothesis examination of the difference between
population means for a set of random samples whose
variation was often tested in a before-after situation, and it
was calculated using the following formula.
Impact Study on Empowerment of Women Through Women Farmer Producer Organization (WFPO) in Tiruvannamalai Districts
205

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Table 1 presents the results of the study that analyzed eight
variables, including family size, farm size, farming
experience, annual income, social participation, extension
agency contact, training experience, and attitude toward
FPO. The data shows that the majority of respondents were
in the old age group (38.3%), followed by the middle age
group (36.7%) and the young age group (25%). Regarding
educational qualification, only 21.7% of respondents were
illiterate, while 13.5% were educated up to primary school,
18.3% had a high school education or above. Most
respondents (61.7%) had agriculture as their primary
occupation, followed by a secondary occupation (38.3%).
Most of the respondents had a nuclear family size (51.7%),
and around 33.3% were marginal farmers, followed by 35%
of the farmers being marginal farmers and 30% of the
farmers falling under the category of large farmers.
Table 1. Socio-economic Status of the Women Farmers
S.No Variables Frequency Percentage
1. Age
Young 15 25.0
Middle 22 36.7
Old 23 38.3
Total 60 100.0
2. Educational Qualification
Illiterate 13 21.7
Functionally Literate 8 13.3
Primary education 11 18.3
Middle education 8 13.3
Secondary education 5 8.3
Collegiate 15 25.0
Total 60 100.0
3. Occupation
Primary occupation 37 61.7
Secondary occupation 23 38.3
Total 60 100.0
4. Family type
Nuclear 29 48.3
Joint 31 51.7
Total 60 100.0
5. Farm Size
Marginal farm 22 36.7
Small farm 20 33.3
Large farm 18 30.0
Total 60 100.0
6. Farming Experience
Up to 5 years 23 38.3
>5to<10years 21 35.0
>10years 16 26.7
Total 60 100.0
7. Social Participation
Office bearer 28 46.7
member 32 53.3
Total 60 100.0
8. Extension Agency Contact
Never 21 35.0
Sometimes 20 33.3
Regular 19 31.7
Total 60 100.0
9. Training Experience
Exceeded the
expectance
39 65
Met the expectance
level
21 35
Total 60 100.0
10. Attitude towards FPC
More positive 33 55.0
Less positive 27 45.0
Total 60 100
Most of the women farmers had low-level farming
experience followed by medium and high levels. Most of
the farm women had a high level (53.3%) of social
participation. Only 35% of the respondents had low
extension agency contact, while the rest had medium and
high levels of extension agency contact. The majority of the
respondents (65%) shared their perception that the training
experience conducted and organized by extension agencies
through FPO was good and useful. It was also found that
the attitude towards the FPO was good when compared with
the non-members of the FPO, as they are getting more
benefits.
Table 2. Percentage of the annual income of women farmers
in WFPO.
Pair Before and
after joining
the FPO
Annual
Income
in Rs.
Frequency Perce
ntage
1 Before joining
the FPO
annual
income in
Groundnut
20,000 -
40,000
Low
Medium
High
21
27
12
35.0
45.0
20.0
ICEISA 2024 - International Conference on ‘Emerging Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture: Leveraging the potential of Digital
Innovations by the Farmers, Agri-tech Startups and Agribusiness Enterprises in Agricu
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production
and marketing
2 After joining
the FPO
annual
income in
Groundnut
production
and marketing
40000-
60000
Low
Medium
High
22
20
18
36.7
33.3
30.0
3 Before joining
FPO
groundnut
value addition
and marketing
5000 Low
Medium
High
17
22
21
28.3
36.7
35.0
4 After joining
FPO
groundnut
value addition
and marketing
5000-
10000
Low
Medium
High
19
23
18
31.7
38.3
30.0
The above table 2 presents data on the impact of women
farmers joining a Women Farmers’ Producer Organization
(WFPO) on their annual income from groundnut production
and marketing. After joining the WFPO, there’s a
noticeable increase in the annual income range for
groundnut production and marketing, from 20,000 - 40,000
to 40,000 - 60,000. There’s also an improvement in income
from groundnut value addition and marketing after joining
the WFPO, with the range moving from 5,000 to 5,000 -
10,000. The frequency distribution of income levels shifts
towards higher income brackets after joining the WFPO.
The data suggests that joining the WFPO positively affects
the economic empowerment of women farmers in the
context of groundnut production and marketing.
Table. 3. Average increase in income based on their
involvement in groundnut production, value addition, and
marketing after joining the FPO
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
t
df
Signifi
cance
Mean Std.
Deviation
Std.
Error
Mean
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Two –
Sided p
Lower Upper
Pair 1 -
23549.40
0
5012.986 647.17
4
-
24844.39
2
-
22254.
408
-
36.38
8
59 <.001
Pair 2 -
11407.58
3
3261.756 421.09
1
-
12250.18
4
-
10564.
982
-
27.09
1
59 <.001
From the table 3. The paired sample test ‘t’ was
computed by dividing the paired differences mean of
various pairs by the SE of respective pairs. The results were
36.388 and 27.091 for Pair 1 and Pair 2, respectively. The
degree of freedom (df) has been calculated as 59 (n-1) as
the same farm women shareholders of WFPO in
Tiruvannamalai Dist. had shared their perceptions about the
income from various generating activities and their overall
annual income before and after joining the WFPO. Finally,
the probability has been presented in the column titled sig.
(2-tailed) value, which was recorded as (p<001, p<0.05) for
the income of the women farmer shareholders of the
WFPO, Tiruvannamalai, of Pair 1 and Pair 2.
The results presented in Table 3 show that since the p
value is less than 0.05 (p=0, p=<0.05), the null hypothesis
H01 is rejected for Pair 1, i.e. income generating activity
groundnut production and marketing. Hence, it is
concluded that there is a significant difference between
before and after joining WFPO among the income of
women farmers shareholders through the income
generating activity groundnut production and marketing.
Similarly, the p value is recorded as (p<001, p<0.05) for the
income of the women farmer shareholders of the WFPO,
Tiruvannamalai, of Pair 1 and Pair 2. The results presented
in Table 4 show that since the p value is less than 0.05 (p=0,
p=<0.05), the null hypothesis H02 is rejected for Pair 1, i.e.
income generating activity groundnut value addition and
marketing. Hence, it is concluded that there is a significant
difference between before and after joining WFPO among
the income of women farmers shareholders through the
income generating activity groundnut value addition and
marketing.
5 CONCLUSION
The socio-economic profile of respondents in the study
included factors such as age, educational qualification,
occupation, family size, farm size, farming experience,
annual income, social participation, extension agency
contact, training experience, and attitude towards FPO.
Women farmers face challenges in accessing resources and
support in agriculture, and there is a need for provisional
access to capital and financial support. Farmer Producer
Organizations (FPOs) play a significant role in coordinating
farmers and providing services such as marketing,
financial, technology, and educational services. FPO
membership has empowered women farmers, improving
their livelihoods and confidence.
Impact Study on Empowerment of Women Through Women Farmer Producer Organization (WFPO) in Tiruvannamalai Districts
207

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ICEISA 2024 - International Conference on ‘Emerging Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture: Leveraging the potential of Digital
Innovations by the Farmers, Agri-tech Startups and Agribusiness Enterprises in Agricu
208