Gender and Rural Entrepreneurship in Digitizing Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Entrepreneurial activities in rural context play a significant role in creating employment, food security, and general rural livelihood. However, gendered constraints to the disadvantage of women pose a huge constraint. Digitalization has significant possibilities to minimize these constraints. However, less has been documented on how digitalization addresses the gender constraints to enhance women’s engagement in rural entrepreneurship.

Using case study approach, documentary reviews, and authors’ viewpoints, this chapter explored how digitalization enhances rural women’s entrepreneurial engagements as well as how it addresses the gender constraints. We also mapped issues of rural urban divide and gender divide, in particular, which may stifle the potential benefits of digitalization.

Our findings revealed that digitalization enhances women engagement in rural entrepreneurship through diminishing socio-spatial challenges (gendered social and physical mobility). Nevertheless, these challenges are yet to be eliminated. Investments in digital technology in rural areas and addressing the gendered digitalization are among policy recommendations.

Keywords

digitalization; rural entrepreneurship; agriculture; gender; sub-Saharan Africa

Published in

Advances in theory and practice of emerging markets
2021, pages: 63-84
Title: Business in Africa in the Era of Digital Technology

SLU Authors

• Karltun, Linley Chiwona

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG5 Gender equality

UKÄ Subject classification

Gender Studies
Business Administration

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70538-1_5
• ISBN: 978-3-030-70537-4
• eISBN: 978-3-030-70538-1

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/115665