Empowering Rural Women Agripreneurs Through Financial Inclusion: Lessons from South Africa for the G20 Development Agenda

Sive Zintle Mbangiswano (), Elona Ndlovu and Zamagebe Siphokazi Vuthela
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Sive Zintle Mbangiswano: Entrepreneurship Development Unit, Faculty of Management Sciences, Central University of Technology, 20, President Brand Street, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa
Elona Ndlovu: BizPreneur, 1122 Burnett Street, Hatfield, Pretoria 0083, South Africa
Zamagebe Siphokazi Vuthela: Business Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Central University of Technology, 20, President Brand Street, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: In the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, rural women agripreneurs encounter ongoing structural challenges in accessing formal finance, securing land rights, and gaining leadership roles, despite their vital contribution to agriculture and food security. This research combines a thematic review of secondary sources from 2018 to 2024 with an embedded case study based on primary qualitative data with women involved in the Citrus Growers Association–Grower Development Company (CGA–GDC) public–private partnership. This dual approach connects local, real-world entrepreneurial experiences with global financial inclusion initiatives, especially the G20 Women’s Empowerment Principles and the G20 Development Agenda. The findings highlight a consistent gap between policy and practice: while frameworks at both national and international levels advocate for women’s financial inclusion, actual implementation in rural agribusiness often neglects gender differences. Women’s engagement is limited by insecure land rights, restricted access to formal credit, male-controlled cooperative management, and insufficient gender-specific data monitoring. Drawing comparative insights from Kenya, India, and West Africa, the study proposes seven interconnected policy suggestions, such as establishing gender-disaggregated data systems, expanding women-led cooperatives, reforming land tenure laws, including entrepreneurial financial literacy in capacity-building programmes, and utilising gender-sensitive digital finance solutions. By connecting grassroots empirical evidence with global policy discussions, this study aims to contribute to academic debates and practical efforts to develop gender-responsive financial ecosystems, thereby boosting women’s economic independence, entrepreneurial activity, and rural progress in South Africa and similar contexts in the Global South.

Keywords: rural agripreneurship; women’s financial inclusion; gender equity; agricultural value chains; digital financial services; gender-responsive finance; policy analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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