Women Technology Parks: A novel solution for women entrepreneurship and empowerment through location specific technologies and waste material utilization

Abstract

Social and economic development of women will lead to the progress of any society. Particularly, empowering empower women in rural areas is both challenging and essential. Women entrepreneur faces many barriers to success such as a lack of financial independence and education, family, work-life balance, male-dominated society, and social-culture barrier. The Women Technology Park (WTP) is an initiative that leverages the use of appropriate technology to catalyze economic growth and development of rural women by raising their productivity, generating sustainable income, and improving their livelihoods. This paper uses a WTP model to illustrate the process of developing, training and enabling of rural technologies related to metal art, banana fiber extraction, weaving, construction and habitat services, and food processing technologies. It presents how a WTP acts as a resource center and a catalyst to translate opportunities into reality to empower rural women.