Archives of Current Research International

The current global labour force participation rate for women stands at 47% while that of men stands at 72%. From the women participating in the labour force, the majority are in the informal sector. In most parts of the world, women job seekers find it harder to find a job than men, which leads to lower employment rates among women. This study employs a mixed method to evaluate the support received by women entrepreneurs in the informal sector at Musakanaya market in Mpika district and its impact on their businesses. The total sample of the study was 81, from which 60 women entrepreneurs were sampled using systematic random sampling and administered a structured questionnaire, while 2 focus group discussions were conducted with another 15 women entrepreneurs who were purposively selected. Preliminary analysis of quantitative data began with the creation of a database for capturing data in IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBMSPSS). Thereafter, post-coding of open-ended questions on the questionnaire and cleaning entries were done. Results show that women entrepreneurs receive support from friends, family, spouses, savings groups, and self-funding. Support ranges from financial and hands-on help in running their businesses. The majority of the women indicated that their businesses have not been positively affected. In the study, only a few women indicated positive results in terms of realising profits, increasing business size, decision making, business savings and helping in sustaining their business activities. This stood in contrast with findings from key informants that provide support who claimed that their organisations were very instrumental to women entrepreneurs in providing them with loans, skills, and business training. Women mostly relied on informal institutions due to limited support from formal sources. The study recommends that support to women entrepreneurs in the informal sector needs to be accessible and better planned to enhance business growth and sustainability among women entrepreneurs. It needs to be given to the women while taking into account the specific characteristics of the women’s business and the women entrepreneurs as well.