Advancing Rural Entrepreneurship in Rwanda Through Informal Training – Insights From Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Abstract

In this paper we draw attention to the relevance of informal training in entrepreneurship for advancing sustainable and inclusive rural development. Adopting a perspective inspired by Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, we explore how the informal training facilitated by CARE International’s village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) impacts the lives and livelihoods of members of these associations in a rural region of Rwanda. Based on our findings from a qualitative interview study of multiple stakeholders, we show how this informal training is facilitated through CARE’s train-the-trainer methodology and through regular dialogue, peer feedback and reflection at weekly group meetings. Our analysis highlights how such training emancipates and empowers participants, enabling them to act more reflectively and make more informed decisions in their efforts to improve their socioeconomic circumstances through entrepreneurial activities. Whereas prior research has tended to measure the impacts of membership in VSLAs on financial outcomes quantitatively, our qualitative study explores how VSLAs also contribute to the creation not only of economic but socio-cultural value in rural settings.