2008

Women Entrepreneurship Opportunitiesthe date] [Pick in Chitral Regional Women Empowerment (Counting the Work of Women) Project, Chitral

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... BACKGROUND......................................................................................................................... STUDY GOAL......................................................................................................................... RESEARCH OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................ WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP....................................................................................................... LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................ POTENTIAL ENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE CONTEXT OF CHITRAL:.......... POULTRY FARMING:............................................................................................................. PRODUCTION & MARKETING OF MILK & ITS BI-PRODUCTS:.......................................................... KITCHEN GARDENING:........................................................................................................... VALUE CHAIN FOR THE NRM SECTOR:.................................................................................... LADIES SHOPS:................................................................................................................... HANDICRAFTS:.................................................................................................................... BAKING OF (HIGH QUALITY FRUIT CAKES ETC.)............................................................................ TRADITIONAL FOOD SERVICE:................................................................................................. MOBILE FOOD SERVICE.......................................................................................................... BEAUTY PARLOR:................................................................................................................ PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES:................................................. MUSHROOM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING:.............................................................................. FRUIT DRYING:.................................................................................................................... PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC JAM AND KETCHUP:.......................................................................... HANDICRAFTS:.................................................................................................................... APICULTURE:...................................................................................................................... CASE STUDY ON HONEY PRODUCTION...................................................................................... LADIES SHOP:.................................................................................................................... COLLECTION OF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC HERBS:....................................................................... CONCLUSION:......................................................................................................................... PREVAILING CHALLENGES AND ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN IN CHITRAL................................................................................................................................ LACK OF INTEGRATION:......................................................................................................... NON- FUNCTIONAL VALUE CHAINS:............................................................................................ HIGH TRANSACTION COST:...................................................................................................... LACK OF CAPACITY:........................................................................................................ VALUE CHAIN GOVERNANCE:................................................................................................... BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT:....................................................................................................... LACK OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP ATTITUDE:................................................................................... UP GRADING (TO INTEGRATE THE MSES AND SMALL HOLDERS INTO THE LARGER VALUE CHAIN NETWORK):......................................................................................................................... ESTABLISHMENT OF WOMEN SHOPPING CENTER IN CHITRAL:........................................................... BRANDING AND PACKAGING (VALUE ADDITION):...........................................................................

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION This study attempts to explore entrepreneurship opportunities for women in Chitral through market analysis of some of the products available in the local market. The focus is both on those products which are grown at local household level by women as well as those emerging opportunities which could potentially be developed as women specific income generating activities if linked to the market. BACKGROUND In Pakistan women face the issue of exclusion like those in other developing countries of the world, and do not enjoy the same opportunities as for men. Embedded in the very traditional lifestyle women are deprived of their right to have access to basic needs such as education, health, clean drinking water and proper sanitation, which become main hindrance in their competition with their male counterparts. The crude activity rate (% of labor force in total population) for women in rural areas is 10.7% and 6.3% in urban areas) and the refined activity rate (% of labor force in population of persons having 10 years of age and above) for women in rural areas is 16% and 8.8% in urban areas. However, women are entering more and more in the job market especially in urban areas of Pakistan.

Women in Chitral have traditionally been involved in the production of vegetable, shu, dry fruit and other handicrafts in order to sell them in the local market, and to supplement the household need of cash income. In such activities the women enjoyed authority over what to produce, when to produce, where to produce and to some extent over the decision of where to sell the product. With the interventions of development organizations over the last two decades in institutional development and capacity building activities, the local economic activities have diversified both at farm and non farm level. The issue is that working space outside the immediate household has been occupied by men, and every new opportunity outside the traditional set up is immediately captured by men once it is introduced. This has further excluded women from economic activities, and has created the issue of lack of empowerment of local women. Very little research has been done to understand the implication of emerging income generation opportunities for women, and their role in the emerging market economy.

This paper studies entrepreneurship opportunities for women in Chitral in the traditional as well as emerging sector. STUDY GOAL To identify the sectors where women have the opportunities to start their own business independently RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 1To carry out market research to identify women entrepreneurship opportunities in both on and off farm sectors 2To conduct value chain analysis of the potential opportunities identified 3To identify prevailing challenges and issues associated with entrepreneurship development for women in Chitral 4To suggest short, medium and long term recommendation for women related enterprise development in Chitral METHODOLOGY The following methods were used for this study: Focused group discussions were organized with women groups in urban as well as rural Chitral to identify the entrepreneurship opportunities for the women and the availability of resource and skill base which is critical for the sustainability of the enterprise sector. For market assessment interviews were conducted with local retailers, wholesalers and hotel owners. Group discussions were held with the actual and potential producers. While it is not possible to carry out survey and assess the dimensions of imports and exports, however efforts have been made to find out the gaps between supply and demand in the local market through individual and group interviews. The products and services identified through a detailed assessment were further analyzed for screening on the basis of their future potentials, production capacity, market and production trends and resource availability. As the opportunities for women in enterprises in the rural context were completely different than the opportunities in the urban context based on the resource availability, market accessibility and environment conditions, therefore all the identified products or enterprise sectors were divided into urban and rural categories.

WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The use of the term entrepreneur and entrepreneurship in the context of the scope of this study remains contested. The focus in this study is on identification of business opportunities for Chitral women so that they could generate descent income as a supplement to household income. While the definition of entrepreneurship as a pursuit of a discontinuous opportunity involving the creation of an organization (or sub organization) with the expectation of value creation to the participants does not capture the present and potential business activities at individual level in Chitral. However, when such businesses are organized at cooperative level or with some organizational structure to link the producers with the market, the activity then falls under the entrepreneurship definition. When it comes to the definition of entrepreneur as an individual (or team) that identifies the opportunity, gathers the necessary resources, creates and is ultimately responsible for the performance of the organization (Carton and Hofer, 1998) at present level the Chitral women could be termed as producers rather than entrepreneurs. However, when an outside agency helps and facilitates them in identifying opportunities and organizes around business activities they will become entrepreneurs. In this sense entrepreneurship will be a means by which new organizations will be formed with their resultant job and wealth creation, and more importantly will provide goods and/or services to the society and to the local market of Chitral. The terms entrepreneurship and entrepreneur in this study, therefore, slightly moves away from the conventional definition of self engagement of the individual agents in the business activities. That does not mean that the formal definition of entrepreneurship cannot be applied in the context of Chitral, but rather women in Chitral have mainly been producers, and rarely been involved in entrepreneurship activities. LITERATURE REVIEW Very little studies have been carried out in connection with women entrepreneurship opportunities in the rural mountain economies. Studies of women entrepreneurship in Latin America show that women business in Brazil and Mexico are smaller and younger than their male counterparts, and women are mainly involved in production, which is much similar to the ways women are engaged in economic activities in Chitral. The study also shows that women in Latin America face the issues of access to capital and technology. In case of Chitral this issue compounds with the tradition of lack of access of women to public space dominated by men, which hinders women direct intervention in the distribution and marketing process.

Conventional study on entrepreneurship opportunities focus on problems as being associated

with small business such as lack of finance and lack of market information, while little attention has been paid to entrepreneurship, which is underlying factor to the development of any business. Balunywa (1998) in his study of small and micro entrepreneurship opportunities in Uganda argues that micro and small business cannot grow or succeed until they are entrepreneurial and proposes that efforts must be placed on the development of entrepreneurial behavior in small business. Boettke and Coyne (2003) in their study entrepreneurship and Development: Cause or Consequences? argue that for economic development to take place certain institutions must be present in order for the entrepreneurial aspect of human action to flourish. Buame (1996) describe and analyse socially embedded social and cultural values impact on the development and organizing of entrepreneurial historical, economic and institutional context of Ghana. Challenging some of the mainstreamed arguments underlying the conventional wisdom of entrepreneurship that lay emphasis on psychological attribute of the entrepreneurs the study argues that nature and quality o the environment in which the entrepreneurial activity is initiated and organised becomes very crucial to success development and survival of any entrepreneurial activity.

Literature on women entrepreneurship opportunities in Pakistan is documented in writings on women participation in economic activities. The World Bank Country Gender Profile of Pakistan terms the participation of Pakistan women as the lowest in the world. (UNDP, 1996) Another study describes the strong inside/outside dichotomy in Pakistan, where women are restricted to the inside space of home and household, embodied in the tradition of veiling. This restricts women's access to education, employment, training opportunities and social services (Samina, 1997). However, veiling is only one of the factors which hinder the participation of women in economic activities. Samina also highlights another important aspect by stating that the social disapproval of women working outside the home translates into the invisibility of women in the labour force. Although they participate actively in the family and farm affairs, their unpaid work is perceived as a social duty rather than an economic contribution. Stiglitz (1998) in his paper on gender has lamented the poor indicators of Pakistan compared with other developingcountries.

Evidences, though based on studies in more industrialized nations of the world, show that fostering entrepreneurial activities in general and women entrepreneurial development in particular, is associated with greater economic growth (Reynolds; Hay and Camp: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 1999). The study makes a genuine case that countries with higher

entrepreneur activities have higher economic growth, and the higher the participation of women in entrepreneur activities the higher the economic growth.

Most of the women specific enterprise activities such as vegetable, shu and honey products, sold by women in the local market, are managed in an informal way, which has, therefore, not been captured by a study on sex disaggregated data in Chitral, carried out by AKRSP, Chitral. The study, on the other hand, covers only the formal public and private sector employment of women, literacy rate and women political representation. The study concludes that government policies are not conducive for giving equal opportunities of education, career development and employment to both the sexes. Gender mainstreaming in public sector is 20%, while this ratio is 38% in civil society organizations (Faizi: 2005). While, after the introduction of local government system, women political representation has improved.

One of the constraining factors for women to participate in production and distribution process of economic development is the observance of Pardah (veil). This is very much effective in case of distribution process where women have to go outside the household to deal with alien men. At household level, especially in villages, women do not observe pardah while working with the male members of the household in the fields. Houses along the public roads construct pardah wall so that women could work in the backyard without any annoyance. When one moves towards villages from the town areas where people have personal relations with each other women do not practice pardah. In case of Kalash women they do not observe pardah within and outside the village and carry out most of the work in the village farms from cropping to grazing animals.

Traditionally Chitral women have significant management and productive role in agriculture and animal husbandry, in addition to their child care and food preparation activities. The female head of household commands considerable respect within the household (Magrath: 1986). She manages the household including women labor, cattle, poultry and vegetable production, processing and production of all agriculture products, cooking and distribution of food. Significantly, in some cases the female head of the household also controls the earning from the sale of poultry, vegetables, eggs, or handicrafts depending household requirements and her personality. She usually keeps the household money and informs the male head of the household of family needs so that they can arrange for their purchase. The female household head is powerful person in the society where life is focused around the household and women

have a significant role in the production (Magrath: 1986). Only the Kalash women are not involved in animal husbandry because of ritual construction of women being indecent and (tsetu) impure.

In agriculture traditionally women are involved in weeding crops, collecting crops, threshing and winnowing and cleaning grain, while men carry out labour intensive jobs of plughing, sowing, carrying manure to fields, irrigating the fields and harvesting. However, in some parts of Chitral women and men jobs are mixed.

In animal husbandry men take care of sheep and goats taking them up to high pastures, and women take care of cows grazing them around the fields. Men bring fodder from high pastures for animals to feed them in the winter. Goat and sheep keeping is exclusively men job in the Kalash society, and women are not supposed to go near the sheds, but they are exclusively involved in looking after the crops from sowing stage to harvesting stage. Conversely Muslim women are responsible milking and processing of milk products. Also vegetable growing, fruit processing, poultry and handy craft making are carried out by women.

However, women participation in public and private sectors as well as in political arena is negligible. Women occupying decision making positions within public, private sectors or in civil society organizations is not significant.

CHAPTER 2

POTENTIAL ENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE CONTEXT OF CHITRAL Based on our discussions with women groups, individual interviews with entrepreneurs and major players in the retail and wholesale market for the identification of potential products and analyzing their market potential based on the information collected through primary and secondary research the following enterprise opportunities were identified as the opportunity sector for the women entrepreneurs in the context of Chitral. The sectors have further been divided into rural and urban opportunities based on the access of women, their opportunities for business and access to resources. Opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the urban areas of Chitral

POULTRY FARMING Chitral is the net importer of poultry products (meat and egg) and the demand for these products has increased in the last few years mainly due to the following reasons. The population of the district has increased disproportionately during the past decades. Chitral was used as trade route of livestock from Afghanistan during and after the Russian war. The influx has since been stopped; this has resulted in drastic decrease in the supply of red meat in the local market. The prevailing drought conditions in the northern part of Chitral have exacerbated the meat supply situation as the farmer were forced by circumstances to sell their livestock for want of fodder and in other parts conservation conscious communities are prevailing upon goat farmers to dispose off their livestock. Livestock population has also decreased for education, as parents now prefer to send their children particularly girls to school rather than tending livestock. The cost of mutton has shot up from Rs.60/kg a few years hence to Rs.200/kg now, more than 3 times increase. Chitral retailing of chickens is very different than the other parts of the country as here the retailers sell the birds at random price and they do not use weight of the meat as a unit of measure. The price of birds varies from Rs. 140-160 but in winters it goes far up. The whole value chain for the supply of chicken to Chitral is dominated by few non local traders. As revealed by the interview from the major poultry traders in the town that around 400,000 chicken birds are imported per annum from down country which is more than 80% of the total

consumption. The price for chicken meat has increased by 30-40% since last one year and it is not only because of the increased purchase price or increase in the cost of transportation but also because of the gap in the supply and demand. Similar situation is witnessed with the supply of eggs as it is also imported from down country by few wholesalers and the price of one egg at the time of writing this report is Rs. 7 in the retail market in Chitral whereas in the down country it currently fluctuates between Rs.4-5 per egg, but even with the high price in Chitral the supply situation is not satisfactory as most of the time there is shortage of eggs in the local market. In the winters when there is an increase in the demand of eggs; the supply side fails to satisfy the demand therefore there is a huge gap in the supply and demand. But for the last two years local entrepreneurs have again started keeping layers to supply eggs to local market specifically focusing the winter season. Total estimated annual supply of eggs to Chitral is around 50,000 dozens while the actual demand could not be less than three times of what is supplied. Previously the poultry sector in Chitral was better off than the current situation as some local entrepreneurs had established poultry farms around Chitral town. But in the last few years things have changed as most of the entrepreneurs have stopped their operations creating huge opportunities for down country traders of poultry chickens and feed. The major reason the local entrepreneurs discontinued with their business was, the horror and risk of bird flu and also because of the movement of some of the entrepreneurs to down country to avail the attractive job opportunities in Kashmir after the October 2005 Earth quake. As this sector was dependent on local individual entrepreneurs for some of the very important functions in the value chain; like, input supply and disease control, therefore it faced a crisis situation when these entrepreneurs discontinued with their businesses and moved down country to avail new opportunities. The above mentioned situation offers whole new opportunities for the micro entrepreneurs (women) to start poultry farming at their household level. But it is not possible without implementing a functional value chain system where the micro level poultry farmers should organize viable cooperatives so as to not only be able to influence the market forces but also to access the support services such as input supply and capacity building support from government and NGOs by leveraging their collective resources.

PRODUCTION & MARKETING OF MILK & ITS BI-PRODUCTS

Majority of the commercial as well as household consumers of milk in the Chitral town depend on the packaged milk available in the market like Nestle, Olpers, Haleeb, Nido etc. but it is very rare to find local milk bi-products in the main bazaar of Chitral. There are few tea shops and hotels that are linked with some households in the peripheries for the supply of limited quantity of cow milk but still it is not a common practice. The souring prices of packaged milk due to high transportation cost and seasonal shortage of packaged milk in the winter season makes life even more difficult for the consumers both at household and commercial level as they become entirely dependent on the packaged milk. Some individual entrepreneurs in Chitral had started dairy farming at commercial level but none of them could make it a success mainly for the following reasons: the inability to implement a sustainable supply and demand chain, lack of entrepreneurship attitude and high cost of managing the firm in winter seasons. The market survey shows that the demand for milk and milk related products has an increasing trend but at the supply side there are still problems, this offers some good opportunities for micro entrepreneurs to fill this gap by innovative value chain solution. Keeping cow for milk production at household level is a common practice in Chitral and all the villages in the periphery of Chitral town do produce milk at their household level for domestic consumption. if there is a regular demand from the market with a workable supply chain network the small scale women producers of milk can easily be motivated to increase the production of milk to be sold in the market. But that is only possible when groups of milk producers in a village form dairy womens cooperative which will make the supply chain to function in a sustainable manner. Major bottleneck in the development of this sector are the missing links in the value chain and lack of integration at producer level to upgrade their capacities from producers for household consumption to small scale entrepreneurs, sustainably selling their surplus milk in the market. Availability of sufficient fodder during the winters is also an inhibiting factor that could create another link in the chain.

KITCHEN GARDENING Chitral has been facing a net deficit in fresh vegetables from times immemorial but in the last three years things have changed. As the net export of off season vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, peas and onions exceed the net imports. For the rest of the vegetables there is still a deficit situation as for most part of the year the vegetables are imported from down country markets. For winter season Chitral is completely dependent on the import of vegetables as there is no practice of producing winter vegetables excepting a few villages in the south. The

above mentioned vegetable exported down country are produced in the rural parts of district Chitral while the urban parts are not involved in the production of fresh vegetable at the commercial level; however they produce vegetables in a small scale for their household level consumption. The price of vegetables coming from down country in the winter season is double the price in the normal season which offers huge opportunities for the small scale local producers to organize production of fresh vegetables in the off-season by applying plastic film technology. No established value chain exists for this enterprise which is the major bottleneck and makes it difficult for the small producers to govern the value chain without having horizontal integration at the producer level. This situation offers opportunities for the small scale producers. By organizing themselves into groups they will have the opportunity to access the services of support sectors like, finance, input supply and technological and information support. Such cooperatives will gain the economy of scale by collective marketing of their commodities.

VALUE CHAIN FOR THE NRM SECTOR

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FIGURE 1 - VC MODEL NRM SECTOR Scenario 1: In this scenario the small scale producers through their cooperative are connected with a wholesaler who will purchase the product and resell it to the retailers or directly to the consumers. The middle men could buy the milk from the cooperative and sell to the retailers in the market and also directly sell it to households or hotels and tea shops. Scenario 2: This is much more like scenario 1 but the only difference is that the wholesalers can also do retailing by opening a retail shop in the bazaar. Scenario 3: Under this option the cooperatives of a specific sector can directly be involved in the retailing by some sort of collective arrangement. For example if the women cooperatives decide to open their own outlet in the main bazaar where they can not only supply to other retailers but also do

retailing on their own. They can hire a male sales person for this outlet but ownership and overall management will be the responsibility of the cooperative. Scenario 4: Under this option the cooperative is not going to any intermediary arrangement but directly sells to the consumers. A good example in this regard is, if the cooperative enters into contract with large hotels in the town to supply fresh salads.

LADIES SHOPS Traditionally in Chitral women do not go to Bazaar for shopping its the mens duty to purchase all the essential food items and clothing for the household. Although women hold 52% of the total population of the District but still there is no separate space for them in the market. In the main Chitral bazaar major part of the retail and wholesale businesses are controlled by nonlocals, which creates entry barriers for local entrepreneurs in this sector. With the non entrepreneurial attitude of the local people and the strong collaboration of the non-local traders it is very difficult to create some opportunities for the local men. In the last few years some women in Chitral town have come forward to start women shops at their houses and with the passage of time the number of these shops is increasing in numbers. But these women shops only sell women related products, mostly shoes, cloth and other essential commodities while there are opportunities for these shops to sell a variety of other items to meet the house hold needs. The above mentioned situation where 98% of the total wholesale and major portion of the retail market is dominated by non-locals shows a negative picture of the current situation and if it is not tackled properly, it may set an economic trend where local entrepreneurs will not be able to avail the opportunities in the post Lawari scenario. And this may lead to a situation where they will have to sell out their resource base for survival which will further diminish their role in the future economic scene. The current purchasing trend in Chitral where women do not have the opportunity to purchase the household consumption items from the main bazaar, and women being in majority in the total population of the district, offers good opportunity for women entrepreneurs to enter into

this sector. They can gradually take away the market share from the wholesale and retail market which is more than 40% of the total market size. This will not only create a competitive environment among the existing retailers, but will open up new business avenues in the trading and services sector. The ideal situation would be to establish a market area where women entrepreneurs have the opportunity to start innovative business and to target a major portion of the women population. This will also lead to change in the purchasing trend where women will take up the role of purchasing consumption goods from men at household level. The women retailers in Chitral town will also have the opportunity to serve the shop owners in the rural areas by providing them wholesale solutions at a single point in Chitral which is normally beyond the capacities of local women to organize bulk purchasing from the down country wholesale markets. The idea with the promotion of ladies shops around the district where all the items for the basic needs of the households will be available is to change the market realities for the benefit of the local entrepreneurs and it is only possible by promoting women entrepreneurship at district level. There does not exist a functional value chain system for the promotion and the development of this sector but working with the existing entrepreneurs and the educated young women with the capacity and the will to do their own business, it is quite possible to successfully develop this sector.

The Value Chain Model ( for Ladies wholesale & Retail Shops):

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FIGURE 2- VC LADIES SHOP

HANDICRAFTS The handicraft sector of Chitral is quite rich, with a huge variety of skill, product range and ethnic influences. This sector has received a maximum possible attention of the NGO sector in Chitral and the existing of Shubinak (a project of AKRSP Chitral for handicraft development) for almost 10 years is a good example in this regard. Although this project could focus on very few handicraft sectors but achievement of this project with the embroidery sector is a role model for other developing sectors in the local and national level. It is a good example of upgrading the position of small scale skill workers in the value chain where women embroiderers of Chitral have integrated themselves with the value chain at international level. (please quote examples) Apart from Shubinak model (explain Shubinak model for new readers)there are other sources of supply chain for handicraft sectors not covered by Shubinak. Women in Kalash valleys do produce handicraft related to Kalash costumes and they sell majority of their products to the

tourist market through retail outlets owned by individual women or groups. Basketry, frame making, weaving, knit and crochet work are some of the key strengths of the women in urban Chitral, and the opportunities associated with all these skill crafts can be explored for the benefit of women entrepreneurs by intervention for product and market innovation.

Value Chain Model for Handicraft sector (Urban Chitral):

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FIGURE 3- VC HANDICRAFT SECTOR

There are 4 options for the promotion and marketing of handicrafts: Option 1:

Under this option, the producers will sell out their handicraft products to wholesaler cum retailers in the local market. These retailers will have their own outlets in the local market and they can also wholesale these products to other retailers in the down country after some value addition. Option 2: Option two represents those handicraft groups who own their own outlets for retailing of the products they produce in the local market and they also sell to other retailers in the local and national market. Option 3: Third option talks about a model which already exists through MOGH Limited. In this case MOGH Limited plays the role of buying house working with thousands of producers of handicrafts and other products. The products bought by MOGH Limited are sold to reprocessors like Looptex who after value addition sell the final products through their `own outlets or in partnership with other retailers in the national and international market. In this case the possibility for brand partnership also exists between the two partners in the value chain. Option 4: In the last option there are only two players operating between producers and end consumers. In this case the label owner gets the production done by the producer groups in Chitral and after the final value addition the products are sold online. This is possible with highly specialized product line like, pllly&me (a fashion label owned by an Australian lady).

BAKING OF (HIGH QUALITY FRUIT CAKES ETC.) Bakery sector in Pakistan has gone through a large scale product and service innovation in the last 10 years where some new bakery brands in Pakistan have changed the whole sector by focusing on value addition and service delivery. Cake is a major bakery product, but there are also some outlets in the major cities of Pakistan where they specialize only in cakes. Cake holds major importance for special events like Eid, birthdays and marriage ceremonies where people serve the guest with cake or give away as a gift. In Pakistan, there are lots of religious and cultural events round the year hence creating a huge demand for all kind of bakery items including cakes. In Chitral opening of bakeries is a new trend as it is not part of the traditional food basket of

Chitral. Some people from Kashmir came to Chitral to start this business initially but later on the number of bakeries increased around the district. Some local people and also few Afghans have also established bakeries in the Chitral town and in the suburban markets like Booni and Shoghore. After a survey of some bakeries in the town and discussion with the consumers it was found that most of the bakeries do produce a standard form of cake for general consumers while only Kashmir bakery makes some varieties of cakes on order basis but still the quality is not sufficient to satisfy the high end consumer segment. Although the district is full of fresh fruit and dry fruit resources for most part of the year, which can be used as basic ingredients to make fruit cakes for a specific segment of the market including the tourist market. The opportunities associated with this sector can easily be exploited by encouraging women entrepreneurs in the town area by imparting some capacity building trainings in this regard and most importantly by establishing a specific value chain for the supply of the raw materials and for the distribution of finished products to the end markets. Fresh fruits (apricot, cherries, apple, grapes etc) which are produced in Chitral and bulk of that goes into wastage due to the lack of access to the markets, can be preserved, as the basic ingredients for fruit cakes. These cakes will be produced on order basis and will also be sold on some standard retail outlets in the main bazaar. Some standard hotels like Terichmir View and Hindukush Heights may also buy these cakes to serve their guests and some of them are even willing to do retailing of these cakes for high end segment of the market.

TRADITIONAL FOOD SERVICE Chitrals traditional food basket is very rich in terms of variety of foods and the taste. The hotels and guest houses around Chitral town and in the valleys like Bamburat, Booni, Mastuj and Garamchashama cannot offer these traditional foods to their guests, because for most of the dishes they will need to stock different kinds of milk products, and also some dry fruits which sometimes are quite expensive. Our survey of hotels regarding their demand for local foods confirms that they would prefer to offer local dishes on their menu if made available from reliable sources. Developing this sector will not only create opportunities for small scale women entrepreneurs to enhance their incomes but it will provide an opportunity to promote the traditions of Chitral and will ultimately have a positive impact on the tourism sector of Chitral. The problem areas in the

way to develop this sector are; lack of capacity for hygienic food production, lack of proper catalogue or menu to communicate these products to the potential customers and lack of coordination among the key players in the value chain.

MOBILE FOOD SERVICE Our interviewees in the girls schools and colleges in and around Chitral town eagerly wish to have light foods such as samosa, pakora, chholay, tea or dal chawol if these are made available during the break times in the schools and colleges. There are several girls schools and colleges in Chitral town enrolling thousands of students. The school and college students are the potential market for light food items. For the organized groups of women entrepreneurs from the villages around the colleges this is a feasible business. College or school canteens can be outsourced to these groups of ladies to bring their own cooked food to the canteen to serve the students there.

Value Chain Model for food service sector:

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FIGURE 4- VC MODEL FOOD PRODUCTION & SERVICE

Option 1: In this option the producers put their products with retail outlets like bakeries in town or some standard hotels in the town who want to retail bakery items, particularly high quality cakes. In this case the producers group can sell out the product to the retail outlets for a price or there can be a commission based arrangement. Option 2: This option will work in a situation where the food cooperatives or groups have the opportunity to retail their products. In the case of mobile food service the members of the cooperative can sell and/or retail their products in the girls colleges and schools in their vicinity. It is also possible that the food cooperative can open their own outlets in the market in direct competition to other service providers, but with some product and service innovation to differentiate their

product. Option 3: Here the producer groups are directly selling their products to the end customers. No retailing or intermediary function is performed. It is the case of order based service; it will work in the case of providing traditional food services to standard hotels in the town for their clients. Here the end buyer is not the guest but hotel because hotel has placed the order and she has to buy that product in any case.

BEAUTY PARLOR The survey in this sector reveals that there is need for more beauty parlor shops with better quality service. The reason behind this demand as put by the interviewees is more access to media and information that has changed the life style of the people of Chitral over the years. Other reasons for the change they referred to are: increased literacy rate, opening of opportunities for women in the form of education, job and political participation. With the changing life style young women have become fashion sensitive and the need for beauty parlors is increasing with the passage of time. There are very few beauty parlors in the town and also these beauty parlors are not accessible to most of the people. There is demand for services such as hair cutting, facial, massage, herbal therapies, etc. Opening of beauty parlor can be an attractive business for young women entrepreneurs. A major bottleneck in this regard is the lack of skill, information about the fashion trends and capital to invest. But with a capacity building training to some really interested entrepreneurs and partnership arrangements between them it is not much difficult to develop this sector for the benefits of women entrepreneurs. We do not need to draw a value chain model for this as this service is directly delivered to the end consumers. Opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the rural areas of Chitral

PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES The climatic conditions of Chitral are very favorable for production of certain kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is also part of the culture of the local people to grow a variety of fruit plants at homestead so that they could get fruits for domestic consumption. But growing fruits and vegetables at commercial scale is a very recent phenomenon. Apricot, apple, grape, pomegranates, pear, cherry, plum, pear, berries, Russian olives, walnut, pine nuts are some of

the famous varieties of fruits in Chitral. The changing elevation and topographical diversity has blessed Chitral with an opportunity to get fruits for almost 7 months of a year. Potato, tomato and peas are the famous vegetable crops of Chitral and Chitral is the net exporter of these vegetables. Garachahsma valley in Chitral is famous for potato as the annual export volume of potatoes to down country is almost 5000 tons per year. Karimabad produces off season peas and tomatoes to be sold in the local as well as national wholesale markets. Growing vegetables and fruits as a major cash crop for rural farmers is mostly a male dominated activity while women also play a major role in the management of these crops in the field. The opportunities for small scale women entrepreneurs of the rural areas do exist in the processing sector of these fruits and vegetables. Some of the opportunity areas are given below:

MUSHROOM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING Rural areas of Chitral provide highly favorable conditions for mushroom production at household level. Mushrooms are the high value food product and can be produced at household level, in a specific environment condition within a temperature range of 12-15 degree centigrade. The critical factor in this regard is the management of the processes involved which takes around 45 days to complete. The demand for mushroom (fresh & dried) is available at local and national level and the current purchase price of mushroom in the local market is Rs.400/kg but nobody produces mushrooms at commercial scale. So this sector offers a huge opportunity for educated young women in the rural areas to produce and sell fresh mushrooms and also dry them for sale during off seasons.

FRUIT DRYING Dry fruit production and marketing is one of the lucrative business sectors in Pakistan and in Chitral, it is mostly a female specific job. Chitral holds a huge potential for dry fruits as the number of fruit bearing trees has increased in the last few years with interventions of the government and the NGOs. Some of the local fruits such as pears and apples already have a market at local level as well as outside the district in the fruit market of Pakistan but in the case of apricots and some other verities of apples and pears it is very difficult to market them in the national level wholesale markets as they are highly perishable items. Lack of packing service sector in Chitral is also a main hindrance in the marketing of some varieties of fresh fruits. In this situation fruit drying is another option and dried apricot fetch a good price in the market. The experience of the Mountain Fruits Limited (MFL) is a role model in this regard as they have

successfully done the value addition in drying the apricots and exporting the product to UK. In Chitral traditional methods are still used in drying fruit. Therefore producers of Chitral do not get a good price in the market, limited quantity of the overall production reaches to retail market as most of it is sold for re-processors in the down country for very low prices ( Rs. 20-30/kg). In the retail market of Chitral dry fruits such as apricot produced in Gilgit are sold at a price more than double the price of the local product. There is potential to dry good quantities of mulberry fruit as well, this product has good market in the North-West Frontier Province. Drying mulberry is also a traditional job that women in Chitral usually perform, but the produce is mainly for domestic consumption, however during the recent years the mulberry dried for domestic use is being sold to Pathan traders. The production of dried mulberry can be increased by applying modern drying techniques. Women will have to be trained in the new techniques.

PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC JAM AND KETCHUP In the focus group discussion in various places a common concern was raised by women. Their concern is about halting the wastage of fruits. They agreed that roughly over 50% of the local fruits go waste and part of the fallen stock is fed to animals. The greater loss is in fruits such as mulberries, apples and apricots because of the strong cross winds inside the valleys of Chitral. This is a great loss and can be saved to a great extent by proper wastage management through organized cooperative prevention of losses strategy. The prevention of losses strategy may include extensive processing arrangements through turning the wind fallen fruits into other valuable forms such as proper collection and drying or making pulps, jams, etc. Micro Reprocessor plants could be established for value addition. Production of organic jam, jelly and tomato ketchup is a whole new potential area for small scale producers in rural areas of Chitral as the fruit and vegetable in these areas are grown under 100% organic conditions. If the bi-products of these fruits (jam, jelly & ketchup) are also produced through an organic process, without using chemicals as preservative, then there is no doubt that this sector will make a real break throughs in the lives of the women entrepreneurs. Skill development training for production of organic jam and ketchup has recently been completed by foreign consultants in Chitral, with the support of Aga Khan Economic Planning Board, AKRSP and LSOs. The initial results are very encouraging but there is an immediate need to work on the other functions of the value chain (certification, branding and marketing) as well. An important bottleneck toward the successful intervention is the direct competition with national

level brands and high level of standardization and certification issues.

Value Chain models for fresh fruits and vegetable production & processing sector:

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FIGURE 5 - VC MODEL FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE

HANDICRAFTS Some of the famous skill crafts of rural Chitral are, Shu making in the Garamchashma, Laspur and Torkhow valleys, knitting of woolen sweaters at Madaklasht and making Palesk (a goat hair rug) and Namda (felted rugs) in most part of Mastuj sub-division. So far Shu production is the only craft which is produced on commercial scales. Shu production and marketing has great imprints on the history of Chitral as it has been a major source of clothing and cash income for the traditional people of Chitral. It was also used as major items of barter trade among the people. Shu is still produced in Chitral by applying the same centuries old tools and techniques

and within 100% organic conditions. The availability of machine made Shu from Sawat and China in the local and national markets had a very negative impact on the Shu producers as they had to face the price competition which ultimately made this sector less attractive for them and many families in the rural areas started to disengage themselves from this sector. But with the intervention of AKRSP through its Shubinak project the situation has been reversed as it has been ten years since then and still producing Shu and making money. The role of Shubinak in the last 8 years has been very positive in terms of organizing the women around guild associations, and providing them with skill development trainings for the quality improvements, as a result of that prices of Shu has also improved. The prices of Shu have fluctuated to a great extent in the last few years due to the war like situation in the tribal areas as they are the major buyers of Chitrali patti- and also because of the intervention of Shubinak as a major buyer of good quality Shu from women producers. For the year 2007-2008 the average sales price of Shu at the household level was between Rs.125-140 per yard and it is expected that this year the price will get appreciated by 20 %. Shu is still a major source of cash income for the rural parts of Chitral and in the current situation the total sales volume of Shu from Tehsil Garamchashma is around 100,000 yards. Establishment of MOGH Limited - a subsidiary company of AKRSP Chitral- is a major breakthrough with regard to Shu sector, trading of Shu and launching Shubinak brand in the high end consumer market in the national and international market are the major objectives of this company. The basic idea behind the establishment of MOGH Limited was to provide a holistic value chain system where the small scale rural producers of Shu and other crafts should have the opportunity to be the major holders in the overall value chain. The small scale producers of Shu and other crafts are now the shareholders of MOGH- a public limited company- and they are the real owners of this company and its portfolio of brands and services. With this new model they have got the opportunity to leverage their capacities to a level where they can govern the value chain. MOGH Limited is working on a partnership model. Its strategy is to maximize the opportunities for the small holders by working with them to develop all the potential enterprise sectors and streamline the value chain and outsourcing some of the key functions in the value chain to its partners in the national and international market. Partnership with Looptex Lahore, poly&me are some of the good examples in this regard. The success of this model will naturally open avenues for all the other sectors including knitting and crochet, basketry and rug making.

Note: (Value Chain Model for Handicraft Sector in the above case will apply here also.)

APICULTURE: This section explores strengths and opportunities for women entrepreneurs in honey bee farming. Honey bee farming has not been an organised economic activity in Chitral. Apiculture is traditionally practiced in Kalash society. The production of the indigenous bees is although less in quantity but rich in quality. The bee hive has spiritual significance and considered as Oshniru or pure in the Kalash communities, and the bee hive is looked after by males and women are not allowed to go near the bee hive. Commercial production of honey in other parts of Chitral is a recent phenomenon

Chitral offers huge opportunities for the production of natural honey because of the availability of flora and the seasonal variation around the valleys. Chitral is the 20% land mass of NWFP covering an area of 14850 sq. km., out of which only 3% consists of agricultural land, 4.7% Forest, 1.2% shrubs and bushes, 62% rangeland with sparse vegetation, 4.1% rocks, 24.39% 2001). There are 32 valleys with topographic variation ranging between 1500-27000 feet. This variation in the elevation creates the natural and conducive environment for honey bee farming. The diversity in the flora and fauna is also a unique characteristic of this area but the honey of Chitral is specifically famous for the contents of Rubinia and Russian olive. Additionally floriculture is part of Chitrali culture and people love to grow flowers in their front yards. The honey bee farmers try to get maximum production out of their honey boxes by moving them around the valleys according to the flora season which moves from south to north. The production of honey can be increased many fold if the producers at the valley level team up with each other in the form of association and move their boxes around the valleys and learn from each others experiences. But the problem is that honey bee farming has remained a specialized activity among group of farmers in a specific location in Chitral. There is a need to replicate these successful models in the other valleys of Chitral where there are huge potentials for honey bee farming.

onian" (the bees go to the hole while the sun is yet to set down), she says. She says that on the spot training is more useful than workshops, because on

glaciers and snow, 0.46% riverbeds, 0.02 % lakes the main habitation covers 0.13%. (IUCN.

The total production of natual honey from Chitral was 4 tons for the year 2007 and it was produced from around 350 boxes. During the survey it was found that a box can produce 30kg

of honey in a year but it depends on the season. If the season is favorable the production is good but if the season is not favorable there is even no production at all.

The honey produced in Chitral is sold in the local market through retail outlets in the villages and main bazaar of Chitral and there were no arrangements for bulk trading of honey to down country. Farmers told that they only produce enough quantities to meet local demand, as they dont have opportunities to sell the excess production. In the year 2007, MOGH Limited did a pilot of wholesaling the honey from Chitral to Hashoo Foundation Islamabad. Initially 948kg of honey was sold to Hashoo Foundation on cost basis just to check the market situation and based on that Hashoo Foundation placed an order for 8 tons for the year 2008. Keeping in view the market response the farmers increased the production capacity from 350 boxes to 500 boxes. But the year 2008 remained very bad for farmers as the season was not favorable for the honey bees. Even with the increased production capacity the total production of honey for the year 2008 remained less than 2 tons and out of that MOGH Limited could source only 400kg for Hashoo Foundation, as the farmers were not willing to sell their honey for prices agreed with between MOGH Limited and Hashoo Foundation. The above situation shows that there still exists a huge supply and demand gap for the natural honey of Chitral hence creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs to enter into this business.

With all the varieties of honey available in the market there is still a potential for Chitrali honey as it is natural and tasty. People use honey not only as a food item but natural honey also holds a great deal of medicinal value for the health conscious consumers. To introduce and sell Chitrali honey in the general consumer market there is need to fix realistic and competitive prices so that it is compatible with other honey products in the market. Currently the following prominent brands and varieties are selling in almost all the big and small stores of Rawalpindi and Islambad. 1Langnese 2Marhaba. 3Sue Bee 4Youngs 5Salmans 6Billy Bee. Imported Local Imported Local Local Imported

Price Analysis of prominent brands selling in the market Brand Langnese Marhaba. Sue Bee Youngs Salmans Bily Bee Retai Price / Kg (Rs.) 1060 364. 616 380 330 600

If we target a sale price between 600 to 700 per kg for Chitrali honey at the consumer level including the commissions for retailer and distributor and also the cost of packaging and marketing then ideally our wholesale price should fall between 250- 350. For Hashoo foundation packaging, distribution and selling of honey is a new experience therefore we need to wait till next year to get real market information. They also want to explore export market and to get organic and fair labor certifications. Value Chain Model for production & marketing of natural honey:

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Scenario 1: This is the existing scenario with most of honey bee producers in Chitral as they keep their products for sale ,with the shops in their respective villages or in the main bazar of Chitral.

Scenario 2: In this case, a bulk trader of honey at local purchase the raw honey from the farmers and sales it to the processors in the down country. After the the value addition processes the final product is sold to the final consumers through retail outlets or to the commercial buyers through direct selling. Scenario 3: This will be the scenario when a local trader, establishes its own processing plant and launches a brand, based on the unique characteristics of local honey. In that case the bulk buyer of raw honey will do all the value addition process to get the final product and then, sell the final products through a chain of retail outlets in the national market. Scenario 4: This will be the case when the producers of natural honey through their cooperative or association are linked-up with the processing houses in down country, and directly sell the semi processed honey to them, for final processing and marketing.

LADIES SHOP The need for ladies shops in the rural areas is increasing with the passage of time as the population of educated young women with changing life style and complex needs is increasing with the passage of time. An exposure to the fashion trends with the opening of media, the personal needs of rural women have evolved into a very complex nature, making it very difficult for the male members of the family to do shopping for women members to the level of their satisfaction. Non availability of women related products in the village settings has forced the women population to visit the urban markets to make their needed purchases. Particularly, for marriage related shopping women are completely dependent on the town markets. During

interviews women complained of having no options in Chitral to make bridal purchases, most of the people who can afford, make it to down country markets to do shopping for marriage occasions. These facts offer new opportunities for the educated young women to start off women shops in the rural parts of Chitral, where they should not only focus themselves to the fashion related items for women but they can also sell food items of daily use. The partnership arrangements between shop owners at rural settings and in the urban markets where the urban entrepreneurs can serve the rural shop owners as the wholesalers, will work best in this case. The value chain model developed for women shopping center in the urban market also covers this section therefore there is no need to draw a separate value chain map.

COLLECTION OF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC HERBS Traditionally, when there were no hospitals and allopathic medicines the people of Chitral have been using medicinal and aromatic plants to cure themselves from different kinds of diseases. This knowledge base about these plants and their medicinal values is still available among the old men around Chitral, which if collected can be a great source of information for future research. After discussion with Karimabad Area Development Organization (KADO) staff who have completed a pilot project on herbal and aromatic plants as a source of income for rural communities, in collaboration with IPRP (a project of SDC-IC) in the Karimabad and Arkari valleys- it was found that they have identified more than 60 different species of herbal and aromatic plants in the area. They have also got tested and certified some of the species and launched three brand of medicinal tea in the market. All these herbs are grown naturally in the high altitude mountain areas where village women , organized into target groups for a particular variety of herb are engaged in the collection and marketing of these herbs with the support of KADO. In KADO area 2,565 people organized into 271 target groups that are engaged in collection and marketing of medicinal herbs. As a result of collective marketing they have gained bargaining power and sell their products in at profitable rate. KADO is trying to create market links for these high value products but so far the supply limitation is the only issue to attract industrial buyers from down country. These resources are available in all other parts of the district also, so the need is to work in partnership with some research organization such PCSIR and to implement a value chain where the rural women could benefit from these resources in a sustainable manner. The value chain established for this case will not only be limited to this sector but for other high altitude forest

products, like wild mushrooms, pine-nuts, caper etc.

CHAPTER 3

CONCLUSION As a result of this study it can be concluded that there are enormous opportunities for women entrepreneurship in District Chitral, but lack of value chain solutions, skill, and some cultural barriers restrict the exploitation of these opportunities. The opportunities were identified separately for rural context and for urban context as the resource base and market realities differ for both. Most of the enterprises opportunities identified through this research are based on whole new ideas and niche available for these products and services. Lack of integration, non-functional value chain, unavailability of support market is major issues related to the development of women enterprises. Most of the suggested enterprises are of micro level and without high level of horizontal and vertical integration it is not possible for these enterprises to sustain themselves. All the potential opportunities for women enterprises can be exploited with the implementation of a holistic market development strategy, which not only includes product development and capacity building initiatives but implementation of comprehensive supply chain network to integrate the small scale producers with the national level value chain network.

PREVAILING CHALLENGES AND ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN IN CHITRAL LACK OF INTEGRATION One of the common problems associated with most of the enterprise sectors surveyed for this study was the lack of integration among producer groups, related enterprise and other stakeholders. This lack of integration still exists in a large portion of enterprise sectors even after huge intervention programme for enterprise development implemented by NGOs and government organizations in the last two decades. As a result of this lack of integration among the producer groups and enterprise in the vertical chain the local producers have yet not been able to reap the benefits of enterprise development interventions. There still exists a huge information gap between the producer and the market which has not only minimized the bargaining power of the producers but at the same time it has discouraged the local producers from taking business risks. In an otherwise high trust society of Chitral, it is very rare that people

cooperate with each other to achieve their economic objectives and it may be because of the lack of business mentality among the local people.

NON- FUNCTIONAL VALUE CHAINS Non-availability of a functional value chain is a major obstacle in the development of most of the enterprise sectors that hold promise for women entrepreneurs. The myth of mass production and economies of scale has further marginalized the small scale producers by excluding them from the national and global value chains. In most of the cases the reasons of not having a proper value chain for a particular enterprise are the missing links (supporting enterprises) between the key function in the value chain. Non-existence of value chain has been the main reason behind the under-development of the Natural Resources Management (NRM) sector in Chitral despite the fact that Chitral district is rich in natural resources alongwith the availability of relevant local skills. Lack of all-weather access road from Chitral to other parts of Pakistan and high transportation cost are inhibiting factors in the existing supply chain network. It is hoped that with the opening of Lawari tunnel most of the problems associated with the supply and distribution system will be minimized to a great extent.

HIGH TRANSACTION COST Transaction cost automatically increases when one has to deal with a large number of small producers not organized under a single platform and the volume of production is not sufficient to minimize the fixed cost per unit volume. For example the high transportation cost of one bag of potato from the producer in high elevations to down country markets eats up the profit margin. If there are unnecessarily extra transactions in the value chain to move the product from production side to the end market the overall price of the product becomes very high, making it less competitive in the wholesale market. Therefore the best solution to minimize these costs is to implement an effective and efficient supply chain system where the number of middlemen will reduce to minimum. Under the theme of governing the markets a lot of research is going on in the international level to include the small scale producer in the global value chain by upgrading them and then integrating them with the global value chain. The purpose of all these activities is to minimize the number of transactions in the overall value chain so that the producers could get the most benefits from their products. There are opportunities of minimizing the transaction cost by reducing the number of transactions involved in the whole process and that is possible by

implementing a thorough value chain system which is governed by the small scale producer groups at the village, valley or district level.

In Chitral the role of the Local Support Organization (LSO) can be very effective in this regard as they can organize bulk buying and selling arrangements in their respective areas to maximize the benefits for their communities.

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Lack of capacity is the most prevailing issue with all the existing as well as potential enterprises. Capacity in terms of the skill to carry on the core processes of the business is the basic problem in the way of development of these sectors. Apart from the core skills we also find skill deficiencies in management, personnel relations, accounting and record keeping among the local entrepreneurs. The basic reason behind the inefficiencies prevailing among the small scale local enterprises and among the entrepreneurs is the lack of capacity to identify the weaknesses and lack of willingness for self improvement and that of their enterprises. Particularly in the case of women entrepreneurs the overall business environment is not supportive as they have no representation at district level to bargain for their shares in the market. Partnership model between women enterprise groups, NGOs and government institutions will work better to solve the capacity building issues associated with the women enterprises at district level. The women should be organized into associations or groups not on the basis of their geographical location but the enterprise sector they are involved in. At district level all the interest groups should work together to achieve the common economic objectives in a synergistic manner. Some of the enterprise sectors identified above are very new for the local women therefore there is an obvious need to impart skill development trainings.

VALUE CHAIN GOVERNANCE Value chain governance talks about the hierarchy of role and responsibilities of the actors in the value Chain and most often it depends on the type of relationships between the firms or individuals in the value chain. In most of the sub-sectors inside Chitral the value chain is governed by the bulk traders as they control flow of market information and buy the products from the producers at a minimum possible prize. This type of situation can only be averted by high level of horizontal integration among the small scale producers or MSEs so that they could

maximize their bargaining position and they should also have the option to upgrade themselves in the value chain function.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT In Chitral the overall business environment is not favorable for the women entrepreneurs as they do not have the share in the market space. All the purchasing activities for household consumption are done by male members of the society while the management of kitchen is in the hands of the women. Opening of women shops is a very recent pro women development in the overall business environment of Chitral but the scope of these shops is limited to women specific items and also they have opened these shops inside their houses. In the case of rural areas where women have equal role in the production of agriculture commodities but the cash goes into the hands of the male members of the family as only they can take the products to the wholesale market. Although there are many opportunities for women to do some business activities even without trespassing or violating cultural boundaries, but lack of market related information and very limited opportunities of interaction between the women entrepreneurs is a major obstacle in the way. A welcome change one can see in these days is the increasing debate on women development. In the local government system women are being given more importance than before. This new trend will take enough time to change the overall environment in favor of the women.

LACK OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP ATTITUDE Chitralis lack business oriented mentality. The word Baniya is a misnomer in Chitrali culture, likewise a borrower is looked down upon. Lack of entrepreneurship attitude is common problem among the cross section of Chitral society, and it is the main reason for the control of non-locals over the local businesses. It is very usual with a normal Chitrali family that there is a single bread earner in the family and rest of the family relies on him for as long as it is imposed upon them, in case of any accident or after the marriages when they have to carry on the responsibility of the new family. Traditionally women in Chitral used to have control on the overall economic activities of the household, but it is very much opposite in the case of educated young women of today as they want to have a white color job or otherwise sitting back at home doing nothing. Although the economic crisis over the past couple of years have forced the young women to

think otherwise and they tend to be part of economic activities at house hold level by availing

the new and emerging opportunities. But with the lack of entrepreneurial attitude it is very difficult for them to take the risk for some enterprise initiatives. There is therefore need to proactively push the women folk toward enterprises that are feasible and can economically benefit them. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WOMEN RELATED ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT IN CHITRAL. The focus of this study is to identify opportunities for women entrepreneurship in Chitral and most of the opportunities identified are micro and small level enterprise so the short term recommendation will be to facilitate the development of women entrepreneurs around the following enterprises: HORIZONTAL LINKAGES In almost all the existing sub-sectors in Chitral the small holders and MSEs have not been able to govern the value chain because of the lack of horizontal linkages between these groups at the production level. Initiatives have already been taken in the past to organize the small holders into associations or guild organizations but there is not a single success story available in Chitral where small scale producers have been able to upgrade their position in the value chain and run the system. Non performance of Potato Growers, Honey Bee or Mine Owners associations are good examples in this regard. Most of the identified opportunity sectors through this study are almost not possible to establish without high level of horizontal integration. The idea is to form cooperatives of women entrepreneurs around a specific enterprise sector and linking them with the support services sector and other players in the value chain functions. The objective of integration should be to maximize the benefits for the small holders and the interest groups should be organized into a formal structure. VERTICAL- LINKAGES MSEs and small holders organized into cooperatives is not enough to successfully implement an enterprise development project but it should be linked with other players in the vertical chain to access to the suppliers for inputs and most importantly to sell the final products in the market. Lack of vertical integration has been one of the reasons for some of the enterprises sector in Chitral for not being able to sustain the system despite having a horizontally integrated MSEs group. A good example in this regard is the once very functional honey bee association of

Chitral where all the honey bee farmers in the upper Chitral were organized and were very active. But with all their efforts they could not link up with a value chain despite consistent demand for their product at that time, and also they could not sustain this integration for long. The reason for failure of that association to integrate into a larger level value chain was the lack of capacity of the organization as they were all village based farmers. CAPACITY BUILDING The strategy for an enterprise sector should include a holistic programme for capacity building at all levels of the value chain. Apart from developing the core skills, such as to be able to produce a particular product or service delivery capacity, any capacity building programme should also cover the BDS development programme. Because; without the availability of functional BDS providers it will be very difficult to sustain the enterprise development programme. Capacity building activities should focus only on entrepreneurs, who have been selected through an entrepreneur assessment process otherwise the training will have least impact on the outcome level results. Capacity building is needed in almost all the identified sectors as described in this report, like poultry farming, production of high quality cakes, handicrafts, kitchen gardening by applying plastic film or green house technology. The programme should not only be limited to teaching soft skills but it will also try to introduce the innovative technologies related to that sector. SUPPORT MARKET Without the presence of a highly functional support market like information services, input supply, packaging services, financial and HR services it would have been very difficult for the MSEs to sustain their existence in the long run. At Chitral level this sector has been given least importance by NGOs as well as government institutions. Without the involvement of private sector the support market can never be established and this was the main reason why NGOs and government institutions could not sustain some of the enterprises with huge potential for success. Take an example of fresh fruit sub-sector in Chitral, the overall production of fresh fruits like apple, apricot, pears have been increased in last 10 years but the fresh fruits growers are still dependent on down country traders to buy their products at their farm gate and take away the produce in their own packaging. Majority of the local growers do not have access to packaging materials as it is not readily available in the market and even if it is available than it is

very costly some times. The BDS developed by AKRSP Chitral for packaging services could not sustain their business, and they are still busy in experimenting with new things. There is no proper mechanism for the flow of market information to the local producers as small holders in this case do not govern the value chain, else it is controlled by some large scale traders of vegetables and fresh fruits.

UP GRADING (TO INTEGRATE THE MSES AND SMALL HOLDERS INTO THE LARGER VALUE CHAIN NETWORK) Upgrading is about the improvement in products or processes or moving of an MSE to a new position in a value chain. Upgrading is possible based on the information available from the supply chain or the demand side. Upgrading is less risky in case of MSEs but the benefits are huge for not only the individual MSE but for the whole sector. A strong support market plays a major role in the processes of upgrading as they share the risk involved in the process. Upgrading is a continuous process; it starts at individual MSE level and changes the whole economic scenario in the long run. In the case of some of the businesses identified as opportunity sector for the women entrepreneurs of Chitral the opportunities exist in the process of up gradation of the sector. For example if we talk about kitchen gardening it means that the women in Chitral are already involved in this business but only to satisfy their household level demand. But keeping in view the demands of the market they can upgrade their product by growing only those products which are short in the market or can fetch better prices and they can also improve their competitive position by applying plastic film technology (improvement in the process) to grow these vegetables in the off season when the supply is short and maximize their benefits. Up gradation is key success factor for the micro enterprises in the long run and it comes through experience and information but the role of government, civil society, NGOs and entrepreneurs themselves can be vital to stimulate the process. Following are some of the options to upgrade the position of women related enterprises:

ESTABLISHMENT OF WOMEN SHOPPING CENTER IN CHITRAL The business environment of Chitral does not favor women entrepreneurs as their role is

limited to production functions only, therefore, establishment of women shopping center in the Chitral town will be a major move to facilitate the women related MSEs to upgrade themselves. With this all the potential entrepreneurs will come forward to start innovative business or to

upgrade their existing business. Women shopping center will provide an opportunity to the women entrepreneurs themselves from mere producers to the wholesalers or retailers of their own products.

BRANDING AND PACKAGING (VALUE ADDITION) Branding and packaging based on the unique characteristics of local products create a pull effect for the product from the end consumer. This ultimately improves the position of the MSEs in the value chain and the middleman or wholesalers cannot govern the value chain for such products. But branding and packaging is not possible without the existence of a strong support market therefore the focus should be to facilitate the service providers in this sector to establish their business in Chitral or at least to link up with some in the down country.

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