It is well documented that women small-scale farmers are hard done by in an environment where they farm without security of tenure, which inhibits their ability to raise finance with which to grow their businesses.
Recent research adds another dimension to the challenges facing women small-scale farmers. Rural entrepreneurship researchers Sive Zintle Mbangiswano and Zamagebe Siphokazi Vuthela, with independent researcher and their mentor, Dr Elona Ndlovu, have found that even well-intentioned farming projects can leave women behind if they aren’t structured specifically to accommodate women
In their study of a citrus fruit project - a public-private partnership in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa - they found that women farmers did not benefit from the project as much as their male counterparts. The lead researcher, Sive Zintle Mbangiswano, explains.
