Sustainable Livelihoods, Entrepreneurship and Low-Income Women's Economic Empowerment in South Africa

Background and Purpose: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals are consistent with the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development (2020-2030), which focuses on dire developmental challenges such as extreme poverty, social and economic inequality, and environmental sustainability as a foundation for social work's intervention for the next decade. SDGs 2 and 3 have challenged countries worldwide to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger by 2030. A sense of urgency exists to reinvigorate developmental social work interventions to address income insecurity and dire poverty in female-headed households. In South Africa, local nongovernmental organizations are partnering with the government to train single women relying on state welfare benefits to help them learn entrepreneurial skills and start their businesses. Informed by sustainable livelihood and social development frameworks, this paper examines the experience of a sample of low-income women who participated in business development. The paper sheds light on these low-income women's motivations for entrepreneurship, obstacles to entrepreneurship, and coping strategies.

Methods: Twenty individuals in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with women (ages 25 to 50) who were sole income earners in their households from the province of Gauteng in South Africa. They had started small businesses to supplement the menial income assistance received as monthly cash transfers from the state. Participants were recruited through records from a nongovernmental organization that provided business training and mentoring to unemployed women in South Africa. The duration of each interview was one hour. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and coded thematically using principles of feminist methodology and analysis. The Research Ethics Committee of the University of Johannesburg approved the study.

Findings: Interviews elicited women's economic experiences, including their survival strategies in times of lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women appreciated business forums organized by the NGOs that offered financial literacy, business management-related training, networking, and advocating for funding from the private sector. Several women reported that access to financial capital remains a dire challenge due to a lack of private and government funding. The findings confirm that non-government organizations' role is fundamental in supporting women's entrepreneurial activities and their quest to survive independently from external support and confidently compete in relevant markets to sell their products.

Conclusion and Implications: In line with sustainable livelihood and social development frameworks, this paper discusses three themes: participants' motivations for entrepreneurship, obstacles to entrepreneurship, and coping strategies of these women entrepreneurs. Policymakers must support women's livelihood activities through access to micro-credit schemes and financial literacy training. Social workers should lobby and advocate for government funding to address women's economic and educational needs from low-income communities.