The Gendered Struggle for Scarce Funding Resources among Women Flea Market Owners in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe
Tafadzwa Mabemba 
Issue: Vol.5 No.11 Issue Article 2 pp.1653-1667
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245112 | Published online 5th September, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This study phenomenologically looked at women’s access to funding in flea market businesses located in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe. It involved 16 semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled women and men involved in the flea market business. The data collected was analysed using phenomenological analysis. The study used the women empowerment framework as its lens. The findings revealed that women were exposed to a lack of funding, discrimination, and predatory funding practices that hindered their socioeconomic freedom and development. This was despite the existence of laws and policies meant to protect them. Many of them despaired that gender equality in funding was no longer achievable. Others feared speaking out for fear of conflicting with society. The greatest risk this created was the normalization of gender inequality in funding from both the male and female perspectives. The author concluded that women were mostly disempowered along all five levels of empowerment, i.e. welfare, access, conscientization, participation and control in their businesses. Therefore, the author recommended that the Government should be lobbied to actively implement international and regional instruments that protect women from discrimination while upholding their rights to social and economic equality and freedom. Also, a more active civic sector is needed to champion women’s access to funding and economic opportunities. The study provides a framework that could be applied to better manage women’s access to funding and to reverse the developing gender inequality normalization risks as well as direct and indirect discrimination in funding.
Keywords: Gendered Struggle, Funding Resources, Women Flea Market Owners, Zimbabwe
Baidoo, Loretta. “Bridging Development Interventions and Women’s Empowerment in Ghana.” Feminist Africa 3, no. 2 (2022): 79–97.
Bakibinga, Pauline, Lyagamula Kisia, Martin Atela, Peter M Kibe, Caroline Kabaria, Isaac Kisiangani, and Catherine Kyobutungi. “Demand and Supply-Side Barriers and Opportunities to Enhance Access to Healthcare for Urban Poor Populations in Kenya: A Qualitative Study.” BMJ Open 12, no. 5 (2022): e057484.
Boateng, Simon, and Kwabena Osei Poku. “Accessing Finance among Women-Owned Small Businesses: Evidence from Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, Ghana.” Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research 9, no. 1 (2019): 5.
Brush, Candida G. “Research on Women Business Owners: Past Trends, a New Perspective and Future Directions.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 16, no. 4 (1992): 5–30.
Chirisa, Innocent. “Peri-Urban Informal Trading in Zimbabwe: A Study of Women in the Sector (WIIS) in Ruwa.” Journal Global and Science 1, no. 1 (2013): 23–39.
Datta, Srimoyee, and Tarak Nath Sahu. “Impact of Microcredit on Employment Generation and Empowerment of Rural Women in India.” International Journal of Rural Management 17, no. 1 (2021): 140–57.
European Parliament. Fact Sheets on the European Union. Bruxelles, Belgium: European Parliament, 2019.
Hasanova, Savia. “Financial Inclusion, Financial Regulation, Financial Literacy, and Financial Education in the Kyrgyz Republic.” ADBI Working Paper, 2018.
Jones-Esan, Lawrence Jide. “Analysis of the Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Observations and Perspectives.” In Research Anthology on Microfinance Services and Roles in Social Progress, 484–97. IGI Global, 2023.
Kabonga, Itai, Kwashirai Zvokuomba, and Ernest Dube. “Internal Savings and Lending Schemes (ISALS) and the Empowerment of Women in Rural Shamva, Zimbabwe.” Rural Society 30, no. 2–3 (2021): 101–18.
Kabonga, Itai, Kwashirai Zvokuomba, and Brighton Nyagadza. “The Challenges Faced by Young Entrepreneurs in Informal Trading in Bindura, Zimbabwe.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 56, no. 8 (December 5, 2021): 1780–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909621990850.
Kumari, J A Prasansha, S M Ferdous Azam, and Siti Khalidah Md Yusoff. “Does Gender Differences Play A Moderating Role In The Relationship Between Microfinance Services And Small-Scale Business Performance In Sri Lanka?” European Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 2019.
Law, S. A. “ In Defence of Liberal Feminism.” In Research Handbook on Feminist Jurisprudence, 24–43. Edward Elgar Publishing., 2019.
Ligomeka, W. “Expensive to Be a Female Trader: The Reality of Taxation of Flea Market Traders in Zimbabwe.” ICTD Research in Brief 35, 2019. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijefs/issue/51660/670624.
Matamanda, Abraham R., Shamiso H. Mafuku, and Johannes I. Bhanye. “The Potential of Chinhoyi as a Fast-Growing Secondary City in Addressing Urban Challenges in Zimbabwe.” Journal of Asian and African Studies, November 16, 2022, 002190962211376. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096221137660.
Mupambireyi, P F, I Chaneta, and D Maravanyika. “Characterization of Traders in the Clothing Flea Market Business: A Case of Mbare Mupedzanhamo and Avondale Flea Markets in Harare Zimbabwe.” Journal of Entrepreneurship 2, no. 10 (2014).
Naegels, Vanessa, Neema Mori, and Bert D’Espallier. “The Process of Female Borrower Discouragement.” Emerging Markets Review 50 (2022): 100837.
Noruwa, A.I., and E.J. Emeka. “The Role and Sustainability of Microfinance Banks in Reducing Poverty and Development of Entrepreneurship in Urban and Rural Areas in Nigeria.” International Journal of Business Administration 3 (2012): 33–40.
Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael. “Food Security and the 2015–2030 Sustainable Development Goals: From Human to Planetary Health.” Current Developments in Nutrition 1, no. 7 (2017): e000513.
Priyadharshini, P, S Mohan, A Hariharasudan, and J Sangeetha. “Authenticity of Liberal Feminism in Namita Gokhale’s Texts.” Linguistics and Culture Review 5, no. S1 (2021): 46–59.
RBZ. “Microfinance Quarterly Industry Report as of 30 September 2022,” 2022. https://www.rbz.co.zw/documents/BLSS/QuarterlyReports/2022/MFI_Quarterly_Rep. %09ort_30_Sep_2022.pdf.
Sham, N. I. S. N., R. Salleh, and S. S. S. Sheikh. “Women Empowerment and Work-Life Balance of Women Engineers in the Malaysian Energy Sector: A Conceptual Framework.” In In SHS Web of Conferences, 124:08009. EDP Sciences, 2021.
Shankar, Venkatesh, Mirella Kleijnen, Suresh Ramanathan, Ross Rizley, Steve Holland, and Shawn Morrissey. “Mobile Shopper Marketing: Key Issues, Current Insights, and Future Research Avenues.” Journal of Interactive Marketing 34, no. 1 (2016): 37–48.
Siwela, Gladys, and Tavonga Njaya. “Opportunities and Challenges for Digital Financial Inclusion of Females in the Informal Sector through Mobile Phone Technology: Evidence from Zimbabwe,” 2021.
Takaza, Stella Chipo, and Chipo Chitereka. “An Investigation into the Livelihoods Strategies of Informal Women Traders in Zimbabwe.” Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 11, no. 1 (2022): 37.
The World Bank. “ The World Bank in Zimbabwe,” 2022. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/zimbabwe/overview.
Wairimu, Z, and Shadrack Mwenda Mwilaria. “Microfinance Institutions’ Social Intermediation and Micro and Small Enterprises Survival in Thika Town, Kenya.” Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research 5, no. 2 (2017): 87–93.
Whatmore, Chikwature, and Makamache Wiklef. “Informal Traders in an Uncertain Economy in Mutare Flea Market, Zimbabwe.” International Journal of Management IT and Engineering 10, no. 5 (2020): 151–69.
World Bank. “ The Food Security,” 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/food-security.
Zhang, Yiyue, and Kimberly Rios. “Understanding Perceptions of Radical and Liberal Feminists: The Nuanced Roles of Warmth and Competence.” Sex Roles 86, no. 3 (2022): 143–58.
Zimstat. “ Population and Housing Census Preliminary Results.” Harare: Zim stat, 2022.
———. “2022 Second Quarter Quarterly Labour Force Survey.” Harare: Zim stat, 2022.
Zvirikuzhe, C. “ The Influence of Microfinance Institutions Programs on Women-Owned Small And Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Development In Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe.” Chinhoyi University of Technology Zimbabwe., 2022.
Tafadzwa Mabemba is a full time social work PhD student at North-West University, Mahikeng Campus, South Africa. Tafadzwa Mabemba is a holder of Bachelors and Masters degree in Social Work from University of Fort Hare, South Africa; Masters degree in Women`s Socio-Legal Studies from University of Zimbabwe, and Executive Certificate in Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation from The Catholic University in Zimbabwe. Tafadzwa Mabemba have managed to publish three articles in accredited journals and 2 articles have been accepted waiting for publication. Tafadzwa Mabemba is an emerging scholar and her area of interests are in qualitative research, child welfare and rights, women`s rights and development, and community development.
Mabemba, Tafadzwa. “The Gendered Struggle for Scarce Funding Resources among Women Flea Market Owners in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.11 (2024): 1653-1667. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245112
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
