Women in Development Mobilize Grassroots Enterprises to Reduce Household Poverty

Abstract

This study examines the roles African women played in reducing household poverty through local enterprises that resulted in feeding their families, sending their children to school and contributing to community development. Their determination was to implement and invest in self-help enterprises in order to counter the incidence of household poverty and eventually bring about social change. A literature review section distinguishes theoretical from empirical approaches to study poverty and leads this study to some important conclusions. The results paint a picture that explains a world in which women live in poverty as they face gross inequalities and injustices from birth to death—from poor education, poor nutrition, vulnerable and low-pay employment, and acts of discrimination that women are likely to suffer throughout their entire life.