Measuring Efficiency of Bamboo Handicrafts in Tribal Society of Bangladesh: An Empirical Analysis

Are the traditional bamboo handicrafts of Sylhet district of Bangladesh being produced efficiently by Patra women? To answer this question, 120 women entrepreneurs from the Patra community were selected using a multistage random sampling technique. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) structured questionnaires directly from women entrepreneurs considering factors such as age, education, labor, equipment quantity, credit access, raw materials, production volume, product price, and market distance. Each union was divided into 4 sessions with a total of 15 women entrepreneurs in each session. The Stochastic Frontier Production function was used with a theoretical framework to measure economic, allocative, and technical efficiency. Tribal women entrepreneurs are relatively middle-aged with an average age of 38 years and 58.35% were educated in primary school. The coefficient of labor represents a positive sign that is not statistically significant. The value of raw material and capital coefficient was -1.191 which is significant but negatively affects the production efficiency of handicraft making at a 1% level. The Stochastic Frontier Production model is 0.999 which is statistically significant, meaning that 99.9 percent of the variability of income from handicrafts is responsible for the technical inefficiency of production techniques. The technical and allocative efficiency indices of bamboo handicrafts varied significantly at 95 and 92%, respectively. They efficiently and accurately allocated enterprise input. There was a gap between the highest and lowest economic efficiency index, with an average economic efficiency of 87 percent. It was also found that education, credit access, and market distance factors have made a positive and significant contribution to production efficiency. A policy implication of the study is that it is a promising initiative for Patra women as their economic development involves increasing the production of handicrafts. First, the Government of Bangladesh should allocate funds for modern education methods and training in making bamboo handicrafts, and provide financial assistance to these communities in the off-season, especially during the monsoon season, which will further accelerate the production activities of the industry. Also, for the advancement of bamboo handicrafts, it is necessary to set up sales outlets to facilitate marketing.