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Women access to market: a livelihoods and gender approach--case study: Kassala State.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The study has been conducted in Kassala State during the period from May 2007 to February 2008. The main objectives of this study were to identify the factors that affect women access to markets in the study area and to investigate the major obstacles that faced women in markets in the study area. One hundred women who work in the local markets at the study area were selected. Primary data were collected from the sample using questionnaire and secondary data were collected from relevant books, researches, reports and Internet. Primary data were analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results revealed that (64%) of the studied women belonged to western tribes (Hausa, Felata, Berno, Nuba and Hammar), 30% from eastern tribes (Halanga, Hadandawa, Habab and Beni Amier). In addition, food processing, handicraft, trade and sewing were the major activities practiced by 58%, 35%, 4% and 3% of the respondents respectively. On the other hand the, majority of the families (75%) were of low income, in that 84% of them eamed average income ranged from 10-20 SDG, with daily expenditure of approximately the same amount. Results showed that competition, high production cost and low quality of goods, and insufficient capital beside illness, pregnancy, lactation and delivery were the major limitations that constraint women access to market in the area. Finally, findings indicated that Beja women are not represented in Kassala markets in high proportion due to different limitations that constraint their access to markets including tribal traditions, social status, absence of women control on financial resources and wealth, cultural factors and other factors related to Beja women attitudes and culture about marketing and productive work outside the home.

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Introduction

Women-run businesses world wide can be found in emerging sectors such as the production and marketing of consumer goods, commercial banking, financial services, insurance, information services, communications and transport. As owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), women fumish local, national and multinational companies with ideas, technology, supplies, components and business services (Jalbert, 2000). These activities are likely to prove fundamental as developing economies transition from primarily agricultural to industrial production and become more urbanized. Furthermore, as economies liberalize and open their borders, women-owned and operated SMEs are engaging in international trade--enhancing the prominence and visibility of women entrepreneurs globally (Ibid,21,2000).

In Sudan, women constitute 13,880,000 out of the total population of 28,098,000. The latest census of 1993 demonstrated that the ratio of gender is 102 males for every 100 female. The Sudanese women bear an average of 5.7 children at a fertility rate of 6.4 compounded with a high rate of maternal mortality 660 per 100 000 life birth (Practical Action, 2007).

Women's access to the market was the primary route for their empowerment "knowledge and empowerment come through market access" and warned against the livelihood of over work, fatigue and malnutrition. Loans were used to promote women's labour involvement without also promoting their market access. Women entrepreneurs with little more than their labour to sell, are likely to cluster in the informal economy, in small production units that are unregistered and where they may not pay taxes on income, labour of capital (Gibson, et al., 2004). In order to explore the nature and extent of women access to markets, there are some categories: labour markets, financial markets and market for good and services. Each market has unique characteristics that mediate access to a range of productive inputs (Brocklesby, 2003). Women certainly provide most of the labour involved, but do not have direct control over marketing the product, and may not have full control over the amounts husked each week, given that they must relay upon men to provide inputs. The main objectives of the current paper are: to identify the factors that affect women access to markets in the study area and to investigate...

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