Driving local community transformation through participatory rural entrepreneurship development
World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2042-5961
Article publication date: 11 May 2015
Abstract
Purpose
Rural entrepreneurship development and employment generation are fundamental to enhancing local-level progress and transformation. Achieving gainful employment in rural communities contributes immensely to the realisation of the potential of people living in remote communities. The purpose of this paper is to present a ten-stage practical approach for enhancing rural entrepreneurship development as a major driver of local community transformation and development.
Design/methodology/approach
The action research was preceded by a preliminary study, which identified some crucial factors associated with the success of rural entrepreneurial activities in rural Lagos, Nigeria. The research, which is an offshoot of the earlier field survey, was designed to engage viable community-based organisations (CBOs) in Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry and Lekki communities for the implementation of context-specific rural entrepreneurship development projects through the provision of “non-serviceable” revolving loans.
Findings
Successful funded rural entrepreneurs and CBOs served as veritable models for driving entrepreneurship development and employment promotion in rural Lagos, Nigeria. Projects funded included artisanal fisheries, barbering salons, piggeries and snail production.
Practical implications
The projects which generated employment opportunities for rural youths and other able-bodied community members serve as a strategy for lifting people out of poverty. The action research was designed to inform rural development policy in Nigeria and other similar economies in the south.
Originality/value
The study outlines a step-by-step process of entrepreneurship development project implementation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Centre for Rural Development (CERUD), Lagos, Nigeria for the funding provided in carrying out the preliminary studies from which this paper drew its methodology. A shorter earlier draft of this paper has previously been published in the Nigerian Journal of Rural Sociology.
Citation
Kolawole, O.D. and Ajila, K. (2015), "Driving local community transformation through participatory rural entrepreneurship development", World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 131-139. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJEMSD-06-2014-0016
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited