Rural entrepreneurship and the context: navigating contextual barriers through women's groups

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to examine how women's groups help women to navigate context-related barriers to their engagement in rural entrepreneurship. The paper combines the contextualisation of entrepreneurship framework and the feminist separatist theory to describe how women's groups in patriarchal rural communities enable women to circumvent context-related barriers and actively engage in rural entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachBased on a case study of 12 women's groups engaged in paddy farming, rice processing and marketing in rural Tanzania, this study draws on semi-structured interviews with 46 women, four focus group discussions, four in-depth key informant interviews and non-participant observation.FindingsRural women face unique context-related challenges that hinder them from effectively participating in rural entrepreneurship. Specifically, limited access to farmlands and profitable markets, lack of business networks, limited time, poverty and insufficient financial resources constrain women's engagement in entrepreneurship. To overcome these contextual barriers, rural women have organised themselves into groups to gain access to business services, business-related training, grants and business networks.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the existing literature on contextualising entrepreneurship by focussing on how rural contexts may constrain women's entrepreneurial engagement while showing how women respond to contextual barriers that enable them to participate in rural entrepreneurship.Practical implicationsThis study shows that women with low education can pursue rural entrepreneurship if they are supported through training and access to networks. This will support the performance of these groups of women.Originality/valueThis study offers new insights into the role of women's groups in navigating gender-related constraints that hinder women from participating in rural entrepreneurship within the patriarchal context of low-income countries. Thus, new perceptions for the gender and rural entrepreneurship theory and the policy implications thereof are proffered.

Empreendedorismo feminino no agronegócio: uma revisão sistemática da literatura

“…A segunda categoria intitulada "Práticas e características empreendedoras de mulheres rurais" foi a categoria que mais obteve artigos enquadrados, nove dos dezessete Outro artigo relevante colocado na mesma categoria "Desafios do empreendedorismo para mulheres do campo", denominado "Rural entrepreneurship and the context: navigating contextual barriersthrough women's groups", da Tanzânia, revelou que as mulheres rurais enfrentam desafios únicos relacionados ao contexto que as impedem de participar efetivamente do empreendedorismo rural (Semkunde et al, 2022).…”

“…Os desafios apontados na pesquisa de Semkunde et al (2022) são o acesso limitado a terras agrícolas e mercados lucrativos, falta de redes de negócios, tempo limitado, pobreza e recursos financeiros insuficientes. Para superar tais desafios, as mulheres rurais se organizaram em grupos obter acesso a serviços de negócios, treinamento relacionado a negócios e formação de redes de negócios (SEMKUNDE et al, 2022).…”

“…Como implicações práticas, o estudo deSemkunde et al (2022) contribuiu para a contextualização do empreendedorismo feminino no meio rural, em relação as restrições enfrentadas, assim como, mostram as estratégias dessas mulheres frente às barreiras contextuais que as limitam participar do empreendedorismo, e que mesmo as mulheres com baixa escolaridade podem exercer o empreendedorismo rural se forem apoiadas por meio de treinamento e acesso a redes.Na quarta e última categoria intitulada "Capacitação de mulheres para empreendedorismo", foi incluído um único artigo, da Turquia, sob o título "A Train-the-TrainerProgram to Train Extension Educators to Teach Business Management Skills to WomenFarmers". Os autores Brumfield, Ozkan e Vezne (2017) criaram um projeto de capacitação profissional de mulheres rurais para melhoria do trabalho e gestão das suas fazendas, na província de Antalya, na Turquia, em 2011.A ideia consistiu em educar as mulheres agricultoras, para que elas olhassem a agricultura como uma profissão da qual devessem se orgulhar, visto que as pessoas não podem comer a menos que alguém cultive os alimentos.…”

Guest editorial: Reimaging and contextualising women’s entrepreneurship in Asia

“…For example, the dominant picture emerging of women’s entrepreneurship in emerging economies in the literature is that of a marginalised group who engage in entrepreneurial activities out of necessity rather than opportunity (Brush and Cooper, 2012), and one which faces considerably more challenges compared to men in creating and running their enterprises (Afshan et al , 2021; Ammeer et al , 2021). However, recent scholarship and evidence drawing on the gender and diversity fields have shown that women entrepreneurs can and do successfully navigate such gendered assumptions in society (Stead, 2017) by using entrepreneurship as an empowering force to overcome environmental constraints and breaking free from the authority and dominance of others to pursue individual and collective development (Semkunde et al , 2022). Nevertheless, in emerging economies the potential emancipatory and empowering influence of women’s agency remains more muted.…”

Model of Community Empowerment through Education Non-Formal Entrepreneurship to Improve Independence of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

“…Women's groups help women to overcome obstacles in developing rural entrepreneurship. Rural women organize themselves and their groups to gain access to business services and training, apply for grants, and develop business networks (Semkunde et al, 2022).…”