Targeting Disadvantaged Women – Advancing Women’s Empowerment through Library Entrepreneurship Workshops

Barugo Leyte Region in the Philippines consists of a society where socio-cultural patriarchic values are still deeply rooted in Leyte behaviors and perceptions. Women, particularly in rural areas, lack choices and opportunities to improve their living standards and to play as economic agents with potential to contribute to local development. They are restricted by poverty, cultural stereotypes, and poor access to education and health care services. These strong socio-cultural restrictions perpetuate gender discriminations. However, women are aware of their potential and are stepping into improved livelihoods for the future through entrepreneurship facilitated by the rural library. Although the economy of Barugo Leyte is still strongly dependent on agriculture, land is not available to everyone, particularly the very poor families, and farm and livestock activities are no longer profitable enough to improve living standards in rural areas. Moreover, women are becoming freer from traditional burdens and are willing to work towards their economic independence. Therefore, the rural non-farm economy is growing hand in hand with women entrepreneurs committed to non-farm activities and thus, playing an important role in economic local development. It is widely recognized that the involvement in income-generating activities by means of female entrepreneurship is a valuable precondition for economic growth, household-level poverty alleviation and women´s empowerment. Nevertheless, given personal conditions and external environments, not all nonfarm women entrepreneurs are able to achieve the same extent of business success. Therefore, this research aims to get insight on what key factors are influencing the success of recently library started or strengthened ongoing microenterprises of rural women engaged in non-farm income generating activities, in Barugo Leyte, Philippines. Subsequently, the research aims to address the contribution of female entrepreneurship facilitated by rural libraries to women´s economic empowerment.