Rural female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa are less privileged and often have limited resources and edification compared to their male
counterparts. A study by Makerere University Business School (MUBS) and Eindhoven University of Technology assessed barriers faced by women to realize their potential to transform their businesses from survival activities into thriving enterprises, and their support needs. The study focused on possibilities for affordable value addition in food production. This can be an area in which intervention can have major transformative potential because many women are small farmers; simple food processing with which they can add value to their produce has great potential. It improves quality, longevity, value and marketability of products. The study, executed among women involved in food processing in three rural areas of Uganda, identified that many are caught in a cycle of poverty caused by interrelated and mutually reinforcing problems of marketing, technology and finance, while strong social obligations also count. The main policy message is therefore that single-instrument support is unlikely to be sufficient to push the large majority of rural women out of these poverty traps. Combined support and interventions are called for.