Factors affecting rural women's entrepreneurship a systematic literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18041/2539-3669/gestion_libre.19.2025.12982Keywords:
Entrepreneur, Agricultural Economics, Rural Economics, Environmental Economics, DemographyAbstract
Rural women's entrepreneurship in these territories fundamentally contributes to sustainable economic and social development, enabling government involvement. The study's main objective is to investigate, analyze, and synthesize the most significant contributions to rural women's entrepreneurship in 2020-2024. For methodological development, a systematic review of the literature is carried out. The study analyzes more than fifty articles from the Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Dialnet, Redalyc, and Scielo databases, including those about rural women's entrepreneurship. The main result identifies factors influencing rural female entrepreneurship, including demographic, economic, social, motivational, psychological, and environmental factors. The conclusion is that it is vital to understand and differentiate all the factors that influence rural female entrepreneurship to provide more accurate initiatives for women's empowerment and business survival in rural areas.
Downloads
References
Agrawal, A., Gandhi, P., & Khare, P. (2023). Empoderamiento de las mujeres a través del emprendimiento: estudio de caso de una intervención empresarial social en la India rural. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(4), 1122-1142. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-03-2021-2659
Akter, A., Hossain, M. I., Reaz, M. W. S. U., Bagum, T., Tabash, M., & Karim, A. M. (2020). Impact of demographics, social capital and participation in income generating activities (IGAs) on economic empowerment of rural women in Bangladesh. Test Engineering and Management, 82(1911), 1911–1924. http://www.testmagzine.biz/index.php/testmagzine/article/view/1165
Alarcón-Cedeño, M. L., & Chiriboga-Mendoza, F. (2021). Comunicación digital y fomento del emprendimiento rural femenino en Manabí, Ecuador. Revista Científica Arbitrada de Investigación En Comunicación, Marketing y Empresa REICOMUNICAR, 4(8 Edicion especial noviembre), 18–28. https://doi.org/10.46296/rc.v4i8edesp.0031
Aliamutu, K. F., & Mkhize, M. V. (2024). The Obstacles of Women Entrepreneurship on Empowerment in Rural Communities KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Indonesian Journal of Innovation and Applied Sciences (IJIAS), 4(1), 88–96. https://doi.org/10.47540/ijias.v4i1.1259
Ángel, C., & Castro, N. (2021). Retos, estrategias y decisiones que afrontan un grupo de mujeres con emprendimientos rurales en Tenjo. EFICIENCIA, 1(3). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15765/aan1nh47
Arias-Vargas, F. J., Ribes-Giner, G., Arango-Botero, D., & Garcés-Giraldo, L. F. (2021). Factores sociodemográficos que inciden en el emprendimiento rural de jóvenes en Antioquia, Colombia. Revista Venezolana de Gerencia, 26(96), 1218–1240. https://doi.org/10.52080/rvgluz.26.96.14
Balayar, R., & Mazur, R. (2022). Beyond household income: the role of commercial vegetable farming in moderating socio-cultural barriers for women in rural Nepal. Agriculture and Food Security, 11(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-022-00368-3
Benítez-Fernández, B., Nelson, E., Crespo-Morales, A., Ortiz-Pérez, R., Acosta-Roca, R., & Cárdenas-Travieso, R. M. (2023). Transforming food systems: a gendered perspective on local agricultural innovation in Cuba. Frontiers in Sociology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1256379
Boza-Valle, J. A., Manjarrez-Fuentes, N. N., & Mendoza-Vargas, E. Y. (2020). Emprendimiento sostenible en comunidades rurales de la Provincia de los Ríos. Revista Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores, 21(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.46377/dilemas.v35i1.2254
Briones-Caicedo, W. R., Peñafiel-Nivela, G. A., Mora-Aristega, J. E., & Maldonado-Piloso, H. F. (2021). Comunicación estratégica en el impulso de emprendimientos comunitarios con mujeres montubias. Journal of Science and Research, 6, 19–39. https://revistas.utb.edu.ec/index.php/sr/article/view/1212/860
Castaño-Castaño, M. M., Martínez-Lizarralde, M., & Cifuentes-Garcías, C. A. (2024). Emprendimiento femenino rural: aportes al desarrollo del territorio desde un enfoque de género. Equidad y Desarrollo, 43, e1644. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.19052/eq.vol1.iss43.10
Chancay-Murillo, J. J., & Mendoza-Saltos, M. F. (2023). Contribución de la tecnología en el desarrollo de emprendimientos en el sector rural de Portoviejo. MQRInvestigar, 7(3), 4420–4441. https://doi.org/10.56048/mqr20225.7.3.2023.4420-4441
Conroy, T., & Low, S. A. (2022). Opportunity, necessity, and no one in the middle: A closer look at small, rural, and female-led entrepreneurship in the United States. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 44(1), 162–196. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13193
Contreras, P., Vargas, E. E., Cruz, G., & Serrano, R. (2020). Emprendimientos femeninos: de lo económico a lo sustentable. Revista Espacios, 41(31), 225–237.
De Rosa, M., Bartoli, L., & McElwee, G. (2021). Spaces of innovation and women rural entrepreneurship in Italy. Mediterranean Journal of Economics, Agriculture and Environment, 3(September), 85–99. https://newmedit.iamb.it/2021/09/28/spaces-of-innovation-and-women-rural-entrepreneurship-in-italy/
Domínguez-Castillo, J. G., Cab-Pech, V. M., Cisneros-Cohernour, E. J., & Quiñones-Pech, S. H. (2022). Variables associated with internet use in rural women entrepreneurs in Yucatan : Relationships and correlations. Revista Iberoamericana Para La Investigación y El Desarrollo Educativo, 13(25), e372. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v13i25.1247
Donga, G., & Chimucheka, T. (2024). Rural Women Entrepreneurship in South Africa: Issues and Challenges. African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies, 6(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.51415/ajims.v6i1.1175
Duarte-Sánchez, D. D., & Guerrero-Barreto, R. (2023). Aspectos para el emprendimiento de las mujeres en las zonas rurales. Revista Científica Estudios e Investigaciones, 12(1), 76–89. https://doi.org/10.26885/rcei.12.1.76
García, V., & Cruz, E. (2023). Organizaciones colectivas y turismo rural en Chiapas, México: ¿Una oportunidad para el empoderamiento femenino? Ciencia y Sociedad, 48(2), 43–62. https://doi.org/10.22206/cys.2023.v48i2.pp43-62
Gutiérrez-Cruz, M., Such-Devesa, M. J., & Gabaldón-Quiñones, P. (2020). The female entrepreneur in rural tourism: Peculiarities of the costa rican case through the review of literature. Cuadernos de Turismo, 46, 185–214. https://doi.org/10.6018/TURISMO.451691
Gutiérrez-Cruz, M., Such-Devesa, M. J., & Gabaldón-Quiñones, P. (2021). Factores de éxito en el emprendimiento femenino turístico rural en Costa Rica. Investigaciones Turísticas, 22, 148–175. https://doi.org/10.14198/inturi2021.22.7
Guzmán-Ávila, J. A., Reyes-Reinoso, J. R., Castillo-Castillo, D. C., & Cantos-Ochoa, M. E. (2020). Factores que inciden en el emprendimiento sostenible de las mujeres ecuatorianas. Pro Sciences. Revista de Producción, Ciencias e Investigación, 4(37), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.29018/issn.2588-1000vol4iss37.2020pp97-110
Hincapié, F., Montoya, A., & Duque, P. (2023). Emprendimiento femenino en América Latina: una aproximación teórica. Económicas CUC, 44(2), 191–234. https://doi.org/10.17981/econcuc.44.2.2023.Org.3
Jabeen, S., Haq, S., Jameel, A., Hussain, A., Asif, M., Hwang, J., & Jabeen, A. (2020). Impacts of rural women’s traditional economic activities on household economy: Changing economic contributions through empowered women in rural Pakistan. Sustainability, 12(7), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072731
Jurado, I. (2022). Emprendimiento rural como estrategia de desarrollo territorial: una revisión documental. Económicas CUC, 43(1), 257–280. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17981/econcuc.43.1.2022. Org.7
Kapsdorferová, Z., Jacková, S., & Švikruhová, P. (2021). The state and the share of rural women on the agricultural entrepreneurship activities in the Slovak Republic. Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences, 15(June), 585–591. https://doi.org/10.5219/1484
Khan, T. A., Khan, F. A., Violinda, Q., Aasir, I., & Jian, S. (2020). Microfinance facility for rural women entrepreneurs in pakistan: An empirical analysis. Agriculture (Switzerland), 10(3), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10030054
Khoo, C., Yang, E. C. L., Tan, R. Y. Y., Alonso-Vazquez, M., Ricaurte-Quijano, C., Pécot, M., & Barahona-Canales, D. (2024). Opportunities and challenges of digital competencies for women tourism entrepreneurs in Latin America: a gendered perspective. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 32(3), 519–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2023.2189622
Kurtege Sefer, B. (2020). A gender- and class-sensitive explanatory model for rural women entrepreneurship in Turkey. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 12(2), 191–210. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-07-2019-0113
Mandongwe, L., & Jaravaza, D. C. (2020). Women entrepreneurial intentions in subsistence marketplaces: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and demographic profiles in Zimbabwe. Cogent Business and Management, 7(1), 1818365. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1818365
Martini, U., Malacarne, K., Pederzolli Giovanazzi, S., & Buffa, F. (2020). Sustainable tourism development in rural and marginal areas and opportunities for female entrepreneurship: lessons from an exploratory study. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 12(4), 421–430. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-05-2020-0023
Mashapure, R., Nyagadza, B., Chikazhe, L., Mazuruse, G., & Hove, P. (2023). Women entrepreneurship development and sustainable rural livelihoods in Zimbabwe. Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, 41(4), 557–584. https://doi.org/10.1108/AGJSR-07-2022-0112
Mashapure, R., Nyagadza, B., Chikazhe, L., Msipa, N., Ngorora, G. K. P., & Gwiza, A. (2022). Challenges hindering women entrepreneurship sustainability in rural livelihoods: Case of Manicaland province. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2132675
Muhammad, S., Kong, X., Saqib, S. E., & Beutell, N. J. (2021). Entrepreneurial income and wellbeing: Women’s informal entrepreneurship in a developing context. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(18), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810262
Muhammad, S., & Ximei, K. (2022). Does It Matter Where You Live? Rural–Urban Context Among Women Entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(March). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.827634
Muhammad, S., Ximei, K., Saqib, S. E., & Beutell, N. J. (2021). Women’s home‐based entrepreneurship and family financial position in Pakistan. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(22), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212542
Muhammad, S., Ximei, K., Saqib, S. E., Haq, Z. U., & Muhammad, N. (2020). The family network support and disparity among rural-urban women informal entrepreneurs : empirical evidences from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. Journal of Geography and Social Sciences, 2(January), 122–132. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sikandar-Sikandar/publication/348213866_The_family_network_support_and_disparity_among_ruralurban_women_informal_entrepreneurs_empirical_evidences_from_Khyber_Pakhtunkhwa_Pakistan/links/604e311b458515e529abbe73/The-fa
Nicolás-Martínez, C., García-Pina, C., Manzanares-Gutiérrez, Á., & Riquelme Perea, J. P. (2021). LEADER a policy to boost rural female entrepreneurship in Murcia. Convergencia, 28. https://doi.org/10.29101/crcs.v28i0.16533
Nordbø, I. (2022). Female entrepreneurs and path-dependency in rural tourism. Journal of Rural Studies, 96(April), 198–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.09.032
Nzama, A. T. (2021). Tackling climate change through craft development: The case of rural women in uPhongolo Local Municipality. Jamba: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 13(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4102/JAMBA.V13I1.1140
Osei, C. D., & Zhuang, J. (2020). Rural Poverty Alleviation Strategies and Social Capital Link: The Mediation Role of Women Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation. SAGE Open, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020925504
Panday, P., & Sharma, P. (2022). Motivational factors and challenges of women entrepreneurship: insights from rural Uttarakhand. Organizatsionnaya Psikhologiya, 12(2), 56–66. https://doi.org/10.17323/2312-5942-2022-12-2-56-66
Porto-Castro, A. M., Mosteiro-García, M. J., Baylina-Ferré, M., & Villarino-Pérez, M. (2022). Gender and Rural Entrepreneurship. Clues for Career Guidance. Revista Espanola de Orientacion y Psicopedagogia, 33(3), 7–21. https://doi.org/10.5944/reop.vol.33.num.3.2022.36458
Rodríguez-Quiñónez, D. A., Gómez-Mutis, S. A., Ardila-Barbosa, W. Y., Pérez-Olmos, L. M., Silva-Giraldo, C. A., Niño-Liévano, F. A., González-Clavijo, L. P., Dugarte-Mendoza, J. S., Suárez-Suárez, D. A., & Caballero-Márquez, J. A. (2023). Emprendimiento rural generacional con enfoque de género: Expreriencias significativas en el Magdalena Medio Colombiano. Revista Boletín Redipe, 12(9), 245–262. https://doi.org/10.36260/rbr.v12i9.2013
Rojas-Rojas, M., Tapia-Segarra, J. I., Herrera-Hugo, B. de los Á., & Cárdenas-Lata, B. (2021). Entrepreneurship and empowerment of rural women in Santa Ana, Cuenca; a look starting from Social Work. Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, 7(3), 855–883. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.23857/dc.v7i3.1971
Saavedra-García, M. L. (2024). El empoderamiento femenino a través del emprendimiento en la era digital. Multidisciplinary Business Review, 16(2), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.35692/07183992.16.2.4
Serrano-Martínez, C., Valero-Errazu, D., & Gómez-Bahillo, C. (2020). Las emprendedoras en el medio rural. El caso de estudio del Somontano aragonés. Revista Internacional de Organizaciones, 24, 91–110. https://doi.org/10.17345/rio24.91-110
Shao, K. C., Ma, R., Zhao, L., Wang, K., & Kamber, J. (2022). Did the cyberspace foster the entrepreneurship of women with children in rural China? Frontiers in Psychology, 13(October), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1039108
Silva, R., Moreira, J., Garcez, A., Charrua, F., Franco, M., & Rodriges, M. (2022). Female Rural Entrepreneurship: Focus on the Successful Case of “Doces Tambaba.” International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Review, 5(3), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.37602/ijssmr.2022.5310
Solórzano-Solórzano, M. E. (2023). Rural entrepreneur and her socioeconomic contribution to the Rocafuerte canton. Journal Scientific MQRInvestigar, 7(3), 1275–1290. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.56048/MQR20225.7.3.2023.1275-1290
Steel, G. (2021). Geoforum Going global – going digital . Diaspora networks and female online entrepreneurship in Khartoum , Sudan. Geoforum, 120(January), 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.01.003
Tabares, A., Londoño-Pineda, A., Cano, J. A., & Gómez-Montoya, R. (2022). Rural Entrepreneurship: An Analysis of Current and Emerging Issues from the Sustainable Livelihood Framework. Economies, 10(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10060142
Tárraga-Davia, J. B., & Morales-Pérez, S. (2021). Empoderamiento femenino y desarrollo local en la España vaciada. Caso de estudio: Teruel. ROTUR. Revista de Ocio y Turismo, 15(2), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.17979/rotur.2021.15.2.7388
Venugopalan, M., Bastian, B. L., & Viswanathan, P. K. (2021). The role of multi-actor engagement for women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship in Kerala, India. Administrative Sciences, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11010031
Vera, T., Robles, Y., Cruz, J., & Riofrío, W. (2021). Recuperación de la gastronomía tradicional de la parroquia Santa Marianita que contribuya al empoderamiento de las mujeres y a añadir valor a la oferta turística en la zona rural. Polo Del Conocimiento. Revista Científico - Profesional, 6(4), 259–269. https://doi.org/10.23857/pc.v6i4.2560
Vercher-Savall, N., Escribano-Pizarro, J., & Valero-López, D. E. (2020). Networks to support female entrepreneurship in rural territories. Obets. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 15(1), 317–355. https://doi.org/10.14198/OBETS2020.15.1.11
Vukovic, D. B., Petrovic, M., Maiti, M., & Vujko, A. (2023). Tourism development, entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment – Focus on Serbian countryside. Journal of Tourism Futures, 9(3), 417–437. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-10-2020-0167
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Gestión y Desarrollo Libre
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
