Impact of Rural Female Entrepreneurs on Social and Economic Inclusion: Case of Giharo District

Abstract

Rural women’s entrepreneurship can contribute to economic growth in developing countries and clearly represents an untapped potential. Entrepreneurship is cen tral to the social and economic inclusion of any nation. In the rural context, the entrepreneurship approach provides new ways to solve the personal and family problems of rural people and to create new opportunities for entrepreneurship development. Therefore, this survey was conducted for the purpose of analyzing the impact of rural female entrepreneurs on socio-economic inclusion in the Giharo rural community in Burundi. A cross-sectional survey d esign was conducted by using a qualitative case study design method. A prepared questionnaire was used for face-to-face interview s to collect data. A judgemental sampling method was used to select a sample of 60 rural female entrepreneurs in four villages in the Giharo district. The current study revealed that Giharo entrepreneurs’ women are involved in several entrepreneurial activities , in which personal impulses of making money for their personal and family need satisfaction and development motivated them to be engaged in entrepreneurship activities. However, the lack of entrepreneurial skills and local government support were the most challenge faced. Therefore, women training and local leader’s advocating for them were highly recommended for Giharo rural female socio-economic inclusion in entrepreneurship activity.