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The importance of information and communication technology in rural areas has gradually become prominent, and rural e-commerce has emerged as a crucial driver for promoting agricultural and rural development. This paper takes the comprehensive demonstration policy for e-commerce in rural areas as a quasi-natural experiment. It is based on five-period panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and employs the staggered difference-in-differences method to examine the impact of e-commerce on rural women entrepreneurship and its mechanisms. The research results indicate that the implementation of the comprehensive demonstration policy for e-commerce in rural areas significantly increases the probability of rural women engaging in entrepreneurship by 1.6 %. The entrepreneurial promotion effect of this demonstration policy is more pronounced for rural women in the central and western regions and those with lower educational levels, demonstrating the inclusiveness of e-commerce in rural development. Additionally, this promotion effect is also significantly influenced by marital heterogeneity. Mechanism analysis results suggest that the comprehensive demonstration policy for e-commerce in rural areas can stimulate the use of information and communication technology by rural women, leverage the crucial role of non-traditional education in skill development, alleviate financial and social capital constraints for rural women, and inspire a wave of rural women entrepreneurship. The paper argues that the construction of rural e-commerce has the potential to empower rural women entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Several rural public health facilities in East Central Uganda have sub-optimal, below 50%, levels of uptake of cervical cancer screening services among women with HIV. This is attributed to low cervical cancer screening literacy: limited ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply cervical cancer screening information. This research identified multi-level (health facility, community, interpersonal and individual) barriers, and facilitators of accessing, understanding, and applying cervical cancer screening information among rural women with HIV attending rural public health facilities in East Central Uganda to inform interventions. Methods We conducted ten Focus Group Discussions with rural women aged 25–49 years with HIV attending four selected rural public health facilities: thirty women who had ever screened for cervical cancer and thirty women who had never screened for cervical cancer across different age categories. Data was collected using a guide based on the Integrated model of health literacy. Thematic analysis was used for analysis. Competences (accessing, understanding and applying cervical cancer screening information) and categories of factors (health system, community, interpersonal and individual factors) of the integrated model of health literacy were deductively derived whereas barriers and facilitators were deductively derived from women’s statements. Results Lack of communication materials and inability to access information were health facility and individual barriers of accessing cervical cancer screening information respectively. Facilitators of accessing information were access to information at health facility, community, and interpersonal levels and women’s ability to access information. Barriers and facilitators of understanding cervical cancer information were related to communication materials, provision of health education and women’s concentration during health education. Barriers and facilitators of applying cervical cancer screening information were related to communication and provision of cervical cancer screening services at health facility level, and interpersonal level from peers, partners and other family members as well as women’s ability to: understand information and access to cervical cancer screening services at individual level. Conclusions This study emphasizes the influence of multi-level factors on cervical cancer screening literacy among rural women with HIV attending rural public health facilities in East Central Uganda. Improving uptake of cervical cancer screening services among these women requires multi-level interventions.

Abstract This study endeavors to formulate a sustainable development-oriented model for home-based businesses catering to rural women in Guilan province. Employing a qualitative-quantitative research approach, the study is practical in its objectives and relies on survey methods for data collection. The research population encompasses two main groups: the first group involves academic professionals, scholars, and managers or experts from provincial organizations dedicated to employment and women’s issues, while the second group comprises 274 purposefully sampled individuals, including owners, managers, and women affiliated with micro-credit funds in Guilan province, selected through the snowball technique. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather data, and the Smart-PLS software package utilized the partial least squares (PLS) technique for advanced multivariate analysis in structural equation modeling. Evaluation of the home-based business development model for rural women, based on the coefficients of the direct path, reveals that educational (β = 0.112), social (β = 0.232), economic (β = 0.274), and policymaking (β = 0.381) variables significantly influence the sustainable development of home-based businesses (P

We ask for suffrage that we may stand side by side with our fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons, working with them ... for a noble political life for the country's wealth. Not for a man's place do we ask, but for the fullness of women's. (The Argus, 1891, p. 9) In the late nineteenth century, adult and public learning pedagogy were the key instruments utilised in the campaign to achieve Victorian Women's Suffrage. The democratic process of changing state government legislation on franchise demanded multiple pedagogical methods. Through the actions of Bessie Harrison Lee (1860-1950), this international women's culture (McLean & Baroud, 2020, p. 506). Part of this culture featured Australian women adopting the petition as a political instrument. The petition had already had a long history in Britain, used by groups with little political influence. Ian Fletcher's conception of the British Empire as "a set of relations, rather than the sum of their parts, as frameworks structuring political, economic and cultural exchanges between metropole and colonies" is useful in understanding how political ideas travelled to and were adapted in the Australian context (Fletcher, Levine & Mayall, 2012, p. xiv). This paper argues that new ways of knowing were made possible by Lee, who, empowered by the evangelical faith (her cultural capital) spoke out confidently in public spaces such as town halls, outside public bars, and on the front doorsteps of women's homes in both cities and rural towns. These spaces were the places of learning, or as Bourdieu described, the field. Also, the meeting places of the WCTU, whether private lounge rooms or church halls, enabled women to support each other in the political process of debate, addressing community issues, and devising strategic plans to improve the lives of women. Through critical discourse analysis of newspaper reports, WCTU's publication The White Ribbon, the Victorian Alliance publication Alliance Record, and Lee's autobiography, this paper identifies these learning spaces. It also explores the community of practice in WCTU meetings, doorknocking, pamphleteering and the physical act of collecting signatures for the 1891 'Victorian Monster Petition'. The language and actions used to enact democratic activity that involves women in ways of saying, doing, and being full citizens are unlocked; however, the WCTU was exclusionary of Indigenous and non-Anglo-Celtic ancestry. Therefore, their learning spaces were complicit in the Great Silence (Stanner, 1968). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Fear of childbirth (FOC) can influence both maternal and child health. Research on FOC in China is scarce, especially on rural women. This study aimed to assess pre- and postpartum FOC and its predictors among Chinese rural women. Methods This was a prospective correlation study. A total of 569 women completed the prenatal questionnaire in the third trimester, and 477 of them completed the postpartum questionnaire within three days after childbirth. Maternal socio-demographic information, clinical information, childbirth self-efficacy and prenatal and postpartum FOC were investigated. FOC was evaluated using the Wijma Childbirth Expectancy/ Experience Questionnaire (WDEQ). Descriptive, bivariate, multivariate linear regression analysis, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results The mean pre- and postpartum FOC scores were 64.5 (standard deviation: 25.1) and 64.3 (standard deviation: 23.9), respectively, with 20.8% of women reporting severe fear before childbirth and 18.2% after childbirth. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed predictors for higher levels of prenatal FOC including higher education level, nullipara, higher monthly household income, lower family support, and lower childbirth self-efficacy (p

Abstract Introduction The health of women is of particular concern because they often have greater health needs than men and many women still lack access to quality healthcare services, preventing their ability to attain the best possible level of health. Hence, this study aimed to assess the accessibility and availability of health services among rural women. Methods A household survey was conducted by using a multi-stage sample with 407 married women aged 18–45 years, having at least one child and living in Tiruchirappalli District, Tamil Nadu were recruited for this study. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data about the demographic status, and accessibility and availability of health services. Results Of the 407 respondents, 70% were aged between 26 and 40 years, 73% were working as farmers and labourers and 77% were living in nuclear families. 71% of them had enjoyed hospital facilities near their residence and 83% of the hospitals were run by the government. In village health nurse service (VHN), 34% of the respondents had received all services from VHN and 86% did not face any kind of gender inequality and almost all of them were satisfied with the service provided by the VHN. Almost all the respondents (98%) were satisfied with the availability of health services and 92% of them benefited from the government scheme related to childbirth. Conclusion This study showed that overall, the women were satisfied with the availability of healthcare services and reproductive health services. Moreover, almost all of them benefited from the government scheme related to childbirth.

Objectives: Social media-based interventions have the potential to endure improvements in the health-seeking behaviors of the users. The upswing rate of social media usage among rural women of Bihar (India) allows for improving their knowledge, attitude, and practice toward breast cancer which is a big concern in resource-limited countries. This study attempted to evaluate the impact of video-based intervention in advancing knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, symptoms and attitude, and and practice to conduct breast cancer screening. Methods: A quasi-experimental design study was conducted among rural women in Bihar, India using pretest-posttest method. Validated YouTube Hindi videos were shared in a series as an intervention for the participants. The impact of the intervention videos was assessed by analyzing the 267 fully filled up questionnaires. Additionally, demographic characteristics were calculated and their relationship with knowledge, attitude, and practices was evaluated. Results: After three months of the intervention there was a statistically significant (

The goal of empowerment programs is to promote initiatives aimed at uplifting society's impoverished and disenfranchised citizens, who are typically women and youth. This paper, therefore, examined the socioeconomic features influencing rural women accessibility to empowerment programs in Kogi state, Nigeria. The research is specifically looking at socioeconomic characteristics of respondents, ascertaining the level of effectiveness of empowerment programs on agricultural activities, describe the level of accessibility to empowerment programs and identifying the constraints of empowerment programs. Random and snow ball sampling methods have been combined to gather information from 125 respondents. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to analyze data. Average farm size was 2.82 ha, with annual income of 466,000 NGN. Empowerment programs such as Kogi APPEAL and Farmer moni were mostly accessible among women farmers. Marital status, household size, education were significant factors in accessing empowerment programs among women in Kogi state. Therefore, it is recommended that policies and programs that address women farmers' access to empowerment programs assets should be more inclusive.

AbstractIn recent years, some localities in Tunisia that are among the most amenable to agritourism have focused on the development of agritourism houses with a focus on rural women through agritourism entrepreneurial training. In this regard, the current study examines the influential determinants of entrepreneurial behavior using an agritourism method with rural Tunisian women. 167 of the study’s 235 rural Tunisian women participants were chosen using the Cochran algorithm. The findings suggest that rural women will have a strong desire to establish agritourism residence through a gradual process of changing norms towards the acceptance of rural women entrepreneurs as well as the acceptance of agritourism culture through the establishment of local and regional institutions and organizations in a context of family support with strong bonds of commitment, solidarity, environmental, and infrastructural foundations.

The aim of this study was to determine the role of rural women in production and marketing of agricultural products in Zalm village, and identify the differences in production and marketing of agricultural products of rural women’s role according to some variables (Age, Level of Education, Marital status, number of family, Standard of Living, Profession and Women’s income). The research population involved all women in zalm village included (50) women. The data was collected through personal interviews; questionnaire was prepared for this purpose, to confirm the validity the questionnaire was reviewed by some experts. The results showed that the Role of rural women’s in Agricultural production was medium tend to low, while the Role of rural women’s in marketing of agricultural products was low tend to medium. The results indicated significant differences in women’s role of agricultural production according to (Level of Education, Standard of Living, and profession), while no-significant differences according to (age, Marital status, number of family, Women’s income), also The results appeared significant differences in women’s role of agricultural marketing according (Level of Education, and profession), while no significant differences according (age, Marital status, number of family, Standard of Living, Women’s income). Depending on the results we conclude that the work in the agricultural sector has changed due to the lack of government support for farmers in terms of providing agriculture Requirements for production or marketing of their products. The result shows that the level of education affects the role of women in production and marketing, as well as educational levels leads to an increase in their awareness and culture, and the expanding their knowledge of the importance of the agricultural sector. The Researcher recommended encouraging and supporting rural women to engage in agricultural work by the responsible authorities, and increasing their awareness of the importance of working in this field through the use of various extension methods, as well as working to provide agricultural production and marketing requirements so that their potential is properly exploited for the development of the agricultural sector.

This study examines the transformative role of self-help groups (SHGs) in the socioeconomic development of rural women in Cooch Behar District, India, and their contribution toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. In this study, we explored the effect of SHGs on rural women by specifically addressing SDGs, such as no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and well-being (SDG 3), quality education (SDG 4), and gender equality (SDG 5). Given this issue, a cross-sectional survey and comparison analyses are needed to assess the socioeconomic development of rural women and their awareness level before and after the participation of rural women in SHGs. The survey conducted as part of this study was divided into three sections, namely, demographic characteristics, socioeconomic development, and awareness level, with each focusing on different aspects. A group of 400 individuals who were part of SHGs completed the questionnaire survey form. The results showed that the participation of rural women in SHGs significantly improved their socioeconomic development and awareness level, as supported by both mean values and t test results. Memberships in SHGs and microcredit programs were the major elements that boosted the socioeconomic development of rural women, which also achieves SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This study revealed that participation in SHGs and related financial services significantly aided rural women in economically disadvantaged communities in accumulating savings and initiating entrepreneurial ventures. Moreover, participation in SHGs was instrumental in enhancing the self-confidence, self-efficacy, and overall self-esteem of rural women. Finally, doing so enabled them to move more freely for work and other activities and to make family and common decisions.

ProblemTraining programs aimed at empowering rural women in Kurdistan, Iran, have fallen short of their goals. This study offers a unique understanding of how contextual factors and cultural nuances impact the effectiveness of market-driven training programs for rural women in Kurdistan.ObjectivesThis study explored factors affecting the effectiveness of market-driven training programs for rural women in Kurdistan.MethodsA qualitative approach using grounded theory methodology was employed. Interviews were conducted with 23 key informants, including rural women and experts. Data analysis with MAXQDA software identified seven categories and a core category related to market-driven training.FindingsThe study revealed that successful implementation of market-driven training hinges on various external and internal factors. These include access to markets, facilities, and funding, along with effective monitoring of business activities. Additionally, rural community culture and the purchasing power of women were identified as key intervening conditions impacting program success. When implemented effectively, market-driven training programs have the potential to empower women, reduce rural migration, and improve product quality.RecommendationsThe research suggests that future training programs should adopt a multi-dimensional approach that addresses the identified factors to achieve sustainable positive outcomes for rural women in Kurdistan.

Extended Abstract Background: Entrepreneurship is the main driving force in economic development. The role of an entrepreneur is to innovate and create new combinations of materials or how to form processes. The development of women's entrepreneurship has been one of the main topics of the contemporary development agenda in many developing countries. Many rural development experts believe that recognizing the capabilities and skills of women, especially rural women, and guiding their creative talents can influence using the capacities of this large social stratum. Entrepreneurship is a process that takes place in a network of social relations, and these social relations can limit or facilitate the entrepreneur's relationship with resources and opportunities. Therefore, social capital as a social phenomenon causes creativity, ideation, facilitation of innovative behaviors, and risk-taking. Entrepreneurs need a strong consulting and support system at every stage of their entrepreneurial activities. These networks play an effective role, especially in the first stages of activity, to obtain information and advice. Based on this point of view, the presence or absence of support networks is very influential in the development of women's entrepreneurship. Thus, this study mainly aimed to identify and analyze the individual and structural factors (especially social capital) influencing the entrepreneurial activity of rural women in Fars province to improve their status. Methods: This study was carried out using a survey technique, and a questionnaire was used for data collection. Based on the random sampling method, a random sample of 380 women was selected from the members of agricultural development specialized holding companies of Marvdasht, Shiraz, and Estahban in Fars province. A pilot study was conducted among 30 women members of the fund with similar conditions in Kavar County, and alpha coefficients were obtained between 0.77 and 0.95. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: A significant difference was found between the development of entrepreneurial activity of the members in the three Shiraz, Marvdasht, and Estahban cities, with a higher average level of entrepreneurial development among the women of Marvdasht. The higher components of entrepreneurial activity (innovation, environmental protection, customer satisfaction, fund members' satisfaction, flexibility, regional prosperity, job creation, profitability, business sustainability, competitiveness, and taking advantage of opportunities and idea commercialization) among women entrepreneurs of Marvdasht led to better development of their entrepreneurial activities. In the second place, women entrepreneurs of Shiraz City had a higher average score than Estahban City regarding the entrepreneurial activity development variable. On the other hand, the average social cohesion of women in Morvdasht city was significantly different from Shiraz and Estahban cities, and this rate was higher in Marvdasht City than in the other two cities. Also, there was a significant difference between the women studied in Shiraz and Estahban cities, with the latter women having a higher average than the former in social cohesion. The result of the regression test showed that social capital, success-seeking ability, decision-making ability, independence-seeking level, consulting policies, business atmosphere, skill in formulating a business plan, and support policies were the variables that explained the utmost amount (56%) of entrepreneurial activity changes. Conclusion: Considering the set of factors influencing the development of rural women's entrepreneurial activities, especially the role of social capital, the network of relationships, and activities in various social networks, it is suggested to improve the like-mindedness and synergy of the women entrepreneurs' activities through periodic and continuous meetings with other companies. Moreover, coherent and purposeful educational classes should be held for rural women members of the funds to strengthen their activities in social networks and help them acquire various entrepreneurial skills.

Extended Abstract Background: Entrepreneurship plays a very important role as the main driver of economic transformation and growth in global societies. This dynamic and creative process includes identifying new opportunities, developing innovative ideas, forming expert teams, attracting financial resources, offering new products, and opening new markets. Women entrepreneurs in rural industries play a key role in the economic and social empowerment of themselves and local communities. They help to improve the social and economic situation by creating job opportunities and reducing unemployment, and at the same time, by preserving and reviving local culture and transferring traditional knowledge and skills, they contribute to the sustainable development and cultural progress of rural communities. Entrepreneurial leadership, which includes Abilities such as motivating the team and promoting innovative ideas are considered one of the key elements in the success of entrepreneurs. Considering that the concept of entrepreneurship is expanding rapidly and the presence of women in the field of entrepreneurship is an issue that has been seriously considered by the world community. Deep in various sciences and techniques, it has caused the transformation and change of structures from traditional forms to more complex structures. To obtain any type of job in the 21st-century world, it is necessary to have a suitable level of professional skills, which are generally obtained through education. They are afraid of entrepreneurial activities. Therefore, there is a need for entrepreneurship training for rural women, which can help empower them and guide them towards entrepreneurial activities. This research focuses on the relationship between the different dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership and the entrepreneurial intention of rural women who are members of credit funds. Wisdom is concentrated in Ardabil province, especially when this leadership is combined with entrepreneurship education. Methods: The research was applied in terms of purpose, descriptive correlation in terms of data collection, and field implementation. In this research, rural women entrepreneurs who are members of microcredit funds with 1900 members in Ardabil province, who are active in the fields of animal husbandry, native chicken breeding, honey bee breeding, medicinal plant production, dairy production, and handicraft and agricultural production, were investigated. The sampling method is stratified random and 320 people were selected as a sample based on Cochran's formula. To collect data, three questionnaires including an entrepreneurial leadership questionnaire, a women's entrepreneurship questionnaire, and an entrepreneurship education questionnaire were used. The face and content validity of these questionnaires were confirmed by the university professors and considering that the factor loadings for all obvious variables were above 0.5, none of the items were left out. Also, the internal integrity of the used tools was evaluated through Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which showed that all the calculated values are more than 0.7, which can be concluded that the tool has the necessary reliability. The data have been analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and methods such as confirmatory factor analysi s and structural equation models have been used to investigate the relationships between variables. SPSS22 and LISREL10 software were used for data analysis. Results: The results of this research indicate that the dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership include facilitation (perception, communication, and empowerment), support (commitment, motivation, and emotional intelligence), guidance (inspiration, goal orientation, and modeling), and coaching (team and partnership) with Special emphasis on entrepreneurship training affects the entrepreneurial intention of rural women in Ardabil province. This research specifically shows how different dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership can strengthen the entrepreneurial intention of rural women through entrepreneurship education. This research emphasizes the importance of providing supportive conditions and creating suitable platforms for entrepreneurship education and shows that such actions can help to develop entrepreneurship and improve the economic and social situation in rural areas. In other words, this research examines the vital role of entrepreneurship education in improving the impact of entrepreneurial leadership dimensions and provides practical suggestions to the officials and planners of rural affairs in Ardabil province.

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Abstract Sexual health literacy (SHL) is a set of skills related to sexual behaviors that can affect sexual behavior and empower individuals to maintain as well as improve their sexual health. This study aimed to investigate the rural women's sexual health literacy and its related factors in Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 married women of reproductive ages referring to health center in Benaroyeh region along with six sub-villages in the South of Fars, Iran. Using convenience sampling method, we collected data via demographic-reproductive characteristics questionnaire and sexual health literacy for adult’s questionnaire. We analyzed data using SPSS-16. Approximately 33.5% of the women obtained their sexual information online. The mean total SHL score was 75.64 ± 12.81. The SHL level was considered desirable in 82.5% of the participants. Among the four domains of SHL, the scores of most subjects on access skills and analysis-evaluation skills were unfavorable, 24.5% and 35.5%, respectively. The results show that the SHL level was correlated with education (P = 0.021) and inversely related to the gravidity (P = 0.04). There was also a statistically significant relationship between SHL level and women's career (P = 0.026), spouse's career (P = 0.01), and parity (P = 0.05). Most rural women had desirable levels of SHL. Given the lower levels of SHL in access and analysis-evaluation skills, and given the prevalence of Internet use, the provision of high quality and accessible online sexual health content within social and cultural norms is recommended.

Abstract Background Worldwide exclusive breastfeeding is still recommended as a successful strategy even during the COVID -19 pandemic to lower infant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of exclusive breastfeeding among rural women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at EL-Morabeen Family Medicine Center in rural Damietta, Egypt among 178 lactating women who were chosen by using the purposive sampling technique. A developed structured questionnaire consisting of four parts was used to gather data from March to May 2022. Univariate analysis for descriptive data and bivariate analysis through the chi-square test were performed. Results The current study revealed that 73% of the studied rural women did not receive any breastfeeding counseling during antenatal visits and 61.2% of them believed that coronavirus was transmitted through breastmilk. Only 15.2% of them breastfed their infant exclusively for 6 months, 88.2% of mothers delayed breastfeeding initiation after delivery and 48.3% administered the prelacteal feeds. A total of 98.3% of rural women had never made skin-to-skin contact, and 79.2% of them had not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Additionally, a statistically significant association between good knowledge and practice with highly educated women aged 26–30 years, with a monthly income of 4000–6000 L.E was found. Furthermore, only 26.4% and 26.1% of rural women had good knowledge and practice scores respectively. Conclusion Suboptimal breastfeeding practices, such as delayed onset of breastfeeding, low percentages of exclusivity, early weaning, prelacteal feeding administration, and lack of skin-to-skin contact during the COVID -19 pandemic were prevalent among the studied rural mothers. Breastfeeding counseling for all pregnant women and implementation of evidence-based practices in the health care system, such as the early initiation of breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact, are recommended.

Rural women's employment can be one of the ways to generate income, reduce the pressure on resources, and as a result, rural development. Meanwhile, the cooperative sector can play a significant role in the employment of rural women. But a vital issue that is important in this regard is the factors that influence the decision and intention of rural women who are members of local micro funds to start investing and working in cooperatives. In this regard, this research was designed to investigate factors affecting the behavioral intention of rural women members of Lorestan Province Micro Credit Funds towards self-employment in Cooperatives. The statistical population consisted of all rural women members of Lorestan Province Micro Credit Funds (N= 1087) who sampling of multistage quota proportional to the sample size through Krejcie and Morgan sampling table resulted in to select of 307 samples. Data collection in this study was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire. After preparing the questionnaire and confirming its validity by the experts panel, its reliability was confirmed through a pilot study by calculating Cronbach's alpha values for the variables investigated. Structural equation modeling was used to determine factors influencing rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives through AMOS24. The results revealed that the interests variable has the highest direct impact on rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives and self-efficacy has the highest indirect influence on rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives.

This study was aimed at assessing the indigenous knowledge of rural women in forest resources conservation in Agoi-ekpo and Agoi-ibami in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. The objective of the study is: To examine the extent to which indigenous knowledge of rural women have influenced forest resources utilization and conservation. The sampling techniques used for the study are purposive and systematic in the selection of settlements. Purposive sampling was adopted because it was the researcher’s deliberate intention to choose the rural communities in Yakurr L.G.A. that have direct interface with the Forest Reserves and are involved in the use and management of forest resources. While the systematic sampling was used to select rural women households at fixed intervals. The research findings revealed that a significant percent (71.2%) of the rural women were involved in the harvesting of forest resources. The study also showed that different quantities of edible leaves, fruits, snails, and medicinal herbs were collected by rural women for varying purposes. It further showed that these forest resources were harvested at varying frequencies and that they generate income to the rural women. The main forest resources conserved as revealed by the study included afang, atama, editan, bush mango, and hot leaf because of the high exploitation. Restrictions on the felling and uprooting of plants as well as ban on exploitation were the two prominent ways of forest resources conservation. Pearson’s correlation result indicated a positive and significant association between indigenous practices of rural women and forest resources utilization and conservation. It also showed that problems encountered in the collection of forest resources did not vary by the ages of rural women. In order to control unwanted exploitation of forest resources as well ensure the availability for the future, local communities should set-up forest guards or vigilante to control the quantity of edible forest resources that will be harvested from the forest.

Abstract Fars province, as one of the most susceptible ecotourism regions of Iran, has paid attention to the establishment of ecotourism residences with the priority of rural women through ecotourism entrepreneurial training in recent years. In this regard, the present study investigates the effective factors on entrepreneurial behavior with Fars rural women ecotourism approach in Iran. The participants of the study were 431 of rural women in Fars and 205 were decided by Cochran formula. It is inferred from the results that step-by-step procedure of changing norms towards the acceptance of rural women entrepreneurs as well as the acceptance of ecotourism culture through the establishment of local and regional institutions and organizations in a context of family support with strong bonds of commitment, solidarity, environmental and infrastructural foundations will lead to a strong desire to constitute ecotourism residence by rural women.

Abstract Worldwide, unintended pregnancies remain a critical public health challenge, with 74 million women in low- and middle-income countries getting these pregnancies yearly. The African continent alone contributes about 25% of all unintended pregnancies globally. Even though not all unintended pregnancies are unwanted, they can lead to many health problems for mothers and children, like malnutrition, sickness, neglect, or abuse, as well as maternal and infant morbidities and mortalities. Globally, many women die due to complications related to childbirth, either during or after pregnancy. Contraceptives, especially for long-acting reversible Contraceptive methods (LARCs), are among the best interventions to reduce maternal death. LARCs help the mother delay pregnancy and allow for longer intervals in childbirth spacing. However, utilising LARCs globally and in Uganda remains low because of limited male partner support. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study was to elicit an understanding of the perceptions and beliefs of rural indigenous Ugandan men towards the use of LARCs by rural women. Ultimately the study designed strategies to enhance the uptake of those methods. Purposive sampling was used to identify 65 participants for focus group interviews and 30 for individual interviews comprising married men aged 20 to 49 years. The study was conducted in the Rubanda and Kiboga Districts of Uganda. The researcher used semi-structured questions for individual and focus group interviews. The data analysis was done by transcribing the interviews, sorting the field notes, organising, and storing the data, listening to recordings, and reading field notes and interviews to look for patterns related to the perceptions and belief systems. Using the identified patterns, the researcher coded and categorised the data to build themes emerging on the phenomenon. The study established negative perceptions and belief systems among rural indigenous Ugandan men regarding the use of LARCs by their rural women, which acted as barriers to utilisation. These perceptions included side effects, fears, desires, and cultural and religious beliefs. The study recommends strengthening social and behavioural change communication, strengthening service provision for LARCs, and monitoring and evaluation systems for LARCs. Additionally, policymakers should provide a conducive environment for LARC services provision, and the Ministry of Education and Sports, through health training institutions and universities, should prepare pre-service and in-service healthcare workers to provide LARC services.

The approach and functioning of capitalist agrifood systems pose a challenge to the achievement of food security and a broader understanding of rural subjects-especially women-and their local forms of production and development. In this context, it is urgent to achieve measures that recognize the role of rural women in guaranteeing the right to food and the establishment of alternative agrifood systems that offer greater guarantees. Thus, the aim of this article is to expose the contradictions inherent in capitalist agrifood systems,the impact they have had on the lives of rural women and the paradox of the role played by women in such systems in relation to food security. To this end, we show the case of the Women's Committee Asociación Campesina (ACIT) de Inzá Tierradentro en Inzá, Cauca, as a successful alternative process in the incorporation of woman as an active subject of change in agrifood-systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]