Market networking and trading: Transforming women's lives in Southern Philippines

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Date
2009
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Abstract

An informal group of rural women residing in a Southern Philippine watershed community demonstrates that networking and market participation are viable means for self-transformation amidst limited opportunities. Based on network analysis and qualitative interviews, this article delineates the women's marketing ties and experiences as vegetable biyahidors (traders) who hurdle constraints like capital shortage, losses incurred from grading and transporting perishables, increasing market competition, and lack of organized response to problem solving, through marketing practices established individually as well as collectively. The article underscores the necessity of institutional support through responsive market policies and programs to ensure the sustainability of the women's entrepreneurial endeavors.: Rural women, market network, trading, Philippines

Description
Keywords
Market supply, Local markets, Market demand, Women, Leadership development, Empowerment, Rural women, Market networks, Trading, The Philippines, Watershed
Citation
Professorial Chair Lecture presented at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines, February 26, 2009