Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the impacts of government policies on farmers’ capacity-building, entrepreneurship, and gender empowerment for sustainable socio-economic development in a resource-poor geographic area of Bangladesh. Based on the empirical analyses, we obtained the following conclusions. At first, the results from SEM analysis clarified that there are multi-causal relationships among the factors affecting resource-poor farmers’ capacity-building in Bangladesh. It was evident that mixed-gender CIG consisting of male, and female farmers was effective for capacity-building along with group leadership, crop diversification, access to seed, and mechanized farming compared to those in single-gender CIG or non-CIG farmers. Furthermore, the case analyses of local male, and female entrepreneurs by using TEM indicated that common interest group (CIG) approach was effective for entrepreneurial development to bring socio-cultural changes through the formation and mobilization of social capital. Access to finance, workplace culture, and institutional support were the most crucial factors for entrepreneurship development to ensure gender equality, and economic empowerment. Therefore, the policy implications suggest to pay attention to gender diversity management to minimize existing gaps, and gender-inclusive entrepreneurial environment for sustainable socio-economic development in Bangladesh.