'Rural Craftsmanship, EmploymentCreation and Poverty Alleviation: The Case of the Bamboo Craftsmanship in Bangladesh'


Abstract:


More than 30 percent of totalpopulation in Bangladesh is extremely poor. Halving the existing poverty levelas per the millennium development goals of the UN by 2015 is the majorchallenge of the country. The question arises as to how to eradicate extremepoverty quickly? Successful experience of the East Asian countries reveals thatcreation of employment opportunities in the non-farm industrial sector for therural poor is instrumental to eradicate poverty. Due to stagnant large andmedium scales industrial sector and sole dependence on agriculture sector foremployment and income, Bangladesh suffers from huge unemployment and disguisedunemployment, which has been further worsening due to high population growthrate. Since the long past, rural informal income generating activities, such astraditional bamboo craftsmanship, however, has created enormous employment andincome opportunities in the country especially for the rural poor and distresswomen. Empirical studies though recognize the contribution of rural informalactivities to poverty alleviation, seldom focuses on who are the craftsmen, howthey produce and market their products. Using primary data collected from morethan 200 bamboo craftsmen from four districts in Bangladesh, this study tries toexamine the role of rural informal activities and characterizes who are thecraftsmen. The study finds that bamboo craftsmen are mostly uneducated andinherited the skills and businesses from their parents. The study also findsthat all of the workers in the bamboo industry are family members and nearly 50percent of total workers in the bamboo sector are female. Thus, the traditionalbamboo sector contributes enormously to the creation of employmentopportunities for the rural women. Finally, based on the opinions of the craftsmen,the study recommends some suggestions for the development of the bamboo industryin Bangladesh.


Key words: Industrial cluster, industrialdevelopment, craftsmanship, bamboo



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