The impact of business support for women owned small business enterprises in agriculture : a South African perspective

Abstract

Regardless of the level of development achieved by the respective economies, women play a pivotal role in agriculture and in rural development in most countries. Evidently there are serious constraints which militate against the promotion of an effective role for women in development in those societies which were bound by age-old traditions and beliefs. Patriarchal modes and practices motivated by cultures and/or interpretations of religious sanctions and illiteracy hinder women’s freedom to opt for various choices to assert greater mobility in social interactions. Resulting from these situations, women’s contribution to agriculture and other sectors in the economy remain concealed and unaccounted for in monitoring economic performance measurement. Consequently, they are generally invisible in plans and programmes. They were, in fact, discriminated against by stereotypes which restrict them to a reproductive role and denied access to resources which could eventually enhance their social and economic contribution to the society.