Title:
THE CONTRIBUTION OF RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO POVERTY REDUCTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. THE CASE OF AMATHOLE DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY (ADM) IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA

Authors:
Gebregziabher Gebreyesus Fiseha And Dr.kachere Wadzani

Abstract:
Nowadays, the socio-economic ills, such as poverty, unemployment and inequality remain the greatest challenges in development in developing countries including South Africa. Many people in developing countries, particularly rural dwellers live in extreme poverty without access to basic needs, such as education, health, pure water and sanitation and electricity. Therefore, Entrepreneurship has been identified as an important intervention strategy in addressing poverty, unemployment and inequality. The prime objective this paper was to investigate the contribution of rural entrepreneurship to poverty reduction in Amathole District Municipality (ADM). The study employed mixed approach and the survey method for data collection. The data were collected from 42 entrepreneurs through in-depth interview. The entrepreneurs were selected through purposive sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis was used to analyze quantitative data and qualitative data respectively. The findings in this paper showed that rural entrepreneurship contributes to poverty reduction in ADM through employment creation and income generation, skills transfers, and engagement in social responsibility and availability of goods and services.