Employment generation and economics of cane-based furniture enterprises of Chittagong, Bangladesh

Abstract

An exploratory survey was carried out to assess employment generation and economics of cane-based furniture enterprises of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Multi-stage random sampling was adopted to carry out the study. Based on the total investment the enterprises were divided into large, medium and small. For the study, five enterprises from each category were selected at random. Most of the labour engaged in cane furniture making is skilled (67.21%). The main source of both skilled and unskilled labours is in rural areas, which is about 77%. The wage rate of unskilled workers varied from US$ 15 to 30 per month, whereas for skilled workers it varied from US$ 45 to more than 75 per month. Man-days required producing an article varied from 6.5 to 31.5 (dolna and dinning, respectively). Net average profit per article was the highest in Sofa (45 cm × 45 cm; US$ 20) and lowest in Dolna (US$ 2). Seven articles of 16 different sizes were identified made from cane, which are sofa (45 cm × 45 cm, 50 cm × 50 cm and 55 cm × 55 cm), dinning (4 chairs and 1 table, and 6 chairs and 1 table), Bed (1 m × 2 m, 1.3 m × 2.3 m and 1.5 m × 2.3 m), chair (45 cm × 45 cm and 50 cm × 50 cm), rocking chair (large, medium and small), dolna (hanging and running) and partition. The total net annual income from cane furniture is US$ 1381.