Mmbengwa, V.Swanepoel, J.Mosia, Diau Daniel2023-09-062023-09-062022http://hdl.handle.net/11660/12166This study's aim involved the development of a framework for a competitive strategy that would empower smallholder women to own and nurture agro-food enterprises in South Africa's Free State Province. The main objective was to develop an empirical model that could be used to ensure that market access interventions would positively influence change for these enterprises. Accordingly, the study measures the effect of the transformation factors on women in agro-food enterprises of the Free State Province. The domain of women empowerment has been used worldwide in evaluating the extent of women's empowerment in the agricultural sector. Thus, this study aimed to analyse this domain to empower women's agro-food enterprises in the Free State Province. This study adopted the concurrent explanatory mixed method research design. In this design, the socio-economic data were collected using a closed-ended questionnaire, followed by focus group sessions. Stratified random sampling techniques were employed to obtain a sample size of 517, using the Raosoft sample size calculator. Finally, the data were analysed by using hierarchical multiple regression, binary multiple-regression, a stepwise multiple-regression model, and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results showed that market access is highly correlated (r = 0.482, p = 0.000) with business ownership and moderately correlated with management control. These results suggest that when business ownership, management control and representative are included in the model with market access, market access has a minor but positively significant (β=0.059, p = 0.05) role in influencing agro-food enterprise transformation for smallholder women. However, the effect of market access on change is seen to be the lowest, compared with the confounding variables. These results imply that market access is not the highest priority in effecting transformation in this farming system, but that business ownership, representation, and management control are. Further results reveal that all the responsive variables were significant in affecting agro-food enterprises. However, business ownership (beta = 0.334, p = 0.000) showed that it has a key effect on women's agro-food enterprises, relative to representativity (beta = 0.315, p = 0.000) and management control (beta = 0.087, p = 0.000). The study indicated that business ownership, representation of women, and management control in these enterprises are necessary to transform these enterprises. This study revealed that all the domains for empowerment positively influence the empowerment of these enterprises, except the leadership in the community (β = -0.516, p = 0.001). The findings show a positive relationship between production and empowerment success (β = 0.133, p < 0.000). Similarly, all subsequent hypotheses were also supported. These results imply a positive and significant relationship between transformation and empowerment (β = 0.151, p < 0.000), capacity building and empowerment (β = 0.313, p < 0.000), entrepreneurship and empowerment (β = 0.552, p < 0.007), and savings and competitiveness (β = 0463, p < 0.000). For the Free State province to modernize this type of farming system, it is recommended that the extension services be implemented to ensure that the women farmers have opportunities to acquire ownership of land, and representation in the value chain and in the management of the corporate entities dealing with market access. The study concluded that business ownership, representation of women, and management control in these enterprises are necessary to transform these enterprises. Therefore, it is recommended that the policy on women empowerment be amended to emphasize these three tenets of transformation. This study further recommends that gender empowerment policies be transformed to enforce gender parity in all facets of the community's leadership in order to support women's views. In conclusion, the current model should allay the concerns of the researchers and practitioners regarding the lack of competitiveness of the smallholder agro-food enterprises of women, even though the government supports them. Therefore, it recommends that savings and empowerment should be used to ensure the competitiveness of these enterprises.enThesis (Ph.D (Business Administration))--University of the Free State, 2022ThesisUniversity of the Free State