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Exploring the socio-cultural challenges of food processing women entrepreneurs in IRINGA, TANZANIA and strategies used to tackle them

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  • Alsen Florian Kapinga

    (College of Business Education (CBE))

  • Calkin Suero Montero

    (University of Eastern Finland)

Abstract

Women entrepreneurs have significant contributions to the economies of sub-Saharan Africa. However, women in this region are facing a shocking array of challenges in their business environment. This paper examines the challenges facing women entrepreneurs in the food processing industry in Iringa, Tanzania. The study employs interviews and focus group discussions in collecting data and utilizes content analysis for interpreting findings. The findings indicate that these women entrepreneurs face problems of lack of access to markets, unequal social responsibility and lack of enough capital. Our findings also show that women entrepreneurs in the food processing business of the region employ an array of transversal strategies in order tackle and mitigate the socio-cultural challenges, including the creation of economic groups and entrepreneurship clubs. Our work sheds light on the issues that women entrepreneurs in the food processing industry struggle with in Iringa. Furthermore, we present the general and transversal strategies that they use in order to mitigate the problem and finally put forward the use of mobile technology as a transversal tool.

Suggested Citation

  • Alsen Florian Kapinga & Calkin Suero Montero, 2017. "Exploring the socio-cultural challenges of food processing women entrepreneurs in IRINGA, TANZANIA and strategies used to tackle them," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jglont:v:7:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40497-017-0076-0
    DOI: 10.1186/s40497-017-0076-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid & Sukumar, Arun & Pagán-Castaño, Esther & Dana, Léo-Paul, 2021. "What drives women towards domestic vs international business venturing? An empirical analysis in emerging markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 647-660.
    2. Jahangir Alam & Mushfequa Alam & Bazlur Rashid, 2019. "Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh: Factors Affecting Women Involvement in Boutiques Enterprises," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 3(6), pages 153-163.
    3. Ojong, Nathanael & Simba, Amon & Dana, Leo-Paul, 2021. "Female entrepreneurship in Africa: A review, trends, and future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 233-248.
    4. Ibrahim Said & Christine Enslin, 2020. "Lived Experiences of Females With Entrepreneurship in Sudan: Networking, Social Expectations, and Family Support," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    5. Alsen Florian Kapinga & Calkin Suero Montero & Godfrey Issac Mwandosya & Esther Rosinner Mbise, 2018. "Exploring the contribution of business and technology incubators to women entrepreneurs’ business development in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Wei Wei & Tanwne Sarker & Wioletta Żukiewicz-Sobczak & Rana Roy & G. M. Monirul Alam & Md. Ghulam Rabbany & Mohammad Shakhawat Hossain & Noshaba Aziz, 2021. "The Influence of Women’s Empowerment on Poverty Reduction in the Rural Areas of Bangladesh: Focus on Health, Education and Living Standard," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-18, June.

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