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

Mohamed A. Semkunde (Department of Marketing, University of Dar es Salaam Business School, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania)
Tumsifu Elly (Department of General Management, University of Dar es Salaam Business School, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania)
Goodluck Charles (Department of Marketing, University of Dar es Salaam Business School, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania)
Johan Gaddefors (Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden)
Linley Chiwona-Karltun (Department of Urban and Rural Development, Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden)

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

ISSN: 1756-6266

Article publication date: 9 November 2021

Issue publication date: 4 May 2022

537

Abstract

Purpose

This 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/approach

Based 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.

Findings

Rural 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/implications

This 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 implications

This 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/value

This 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.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), University of Dar es Salaam project 2231 sub-programme “Engendering Agribusiness Entrepreneurship” project that funded the doctoral studies. The authors also thank their colleagues from the University of Dar es Salaam Business School (UDBS) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) that provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted these studies.

Citation

Semkunde, M.A., Elly, T., Charles, G., Gaddefors, J. and Chiwona-Karltun, L. (2022), "Rural entrepreneurship and the context: navigating contextual barriers through women's groups", International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 213-234. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-01-2021-0013

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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