Role of Micro Enterprises in Economic Empowerment of Rural Women in Manipur

This paper highlights how micro-enterprises, like weaving and handicrafts, help economically empower women in places like Manipur. There was a time when the elasticity of structural change of occupation of men was higher in women. The occupational structure of women has almost stagnated for decades. In recent times, slowly, those women who engage in agricultural labour have been shifting to other occupations for their livelihood. Furthermore, this paper also studies how rural women started taking up those non-farm jobs and the reason behind the diversification of their jobs from the farm to the non-farm sector. Lastly, this paper attempts to show the significant role of Manipuri women in agriculture and home-based micro-enterprises in earning a livelihood.