Role of economic development cooperatives in improving the livelihoods of women in Gauteng, South Africa

ABSTRACT

It is widely acknowledged that the limitations of neoliberal politics and economic globalisation have contributed to feminisation of poverty in Global South countries. The implementation of cooperatives has played a visible role in localising the economy and addressing poverty amongst women. This paper attempts to advance empirical evidence in the field of social development and feminisation of poverty. Using qualitative methodology, I present evidence from eight women who were involved in a sewing cooperative in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. Underscored by the sustainable livelihood approach, this article presents three interconnected themes: human capital development, building social capital and striving for economic capital. Ultimately this cooperative project presents a positive social development strategy that community development practitioners can embrace to assist women to work towards sustainability of their livelihood activities in the informal economy.

KEYWORDS:

• Women
• informal economy
• sustainable livelihoods
• cooperatives
• poverty alleviation

1. Introduction

The priorities set by the South African government in the past two decades has been to create enabling communities through local economic development and the implementation of social development projects to deal with the feminisation of poverty (Department of Social Development, 1997). With the adoption of the National Development Plan Vision 2030, there is a climate in which innovative intervention strategies to eliminate poverty and reduce gender inequality are given attention (National Planning Commission, 2013). The focus is to enhance effective women-led anti-poverty projects which can be realised by ‘drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of local communities and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society’ (National Planning Commission, 2013:14).

It must be acknowledged that intervention strategies to fight against the feminisation of poverty and gender inequality have been fragmented and uncoordinated (Bradshaw et al., 2013; Mtshali et al., 2014; Patel, 2015). Prominent scholars such as Bond & Mottiar (2013), Heintz & Jardine (2008) and Kaseke (2010) add that obstacles such as blatant corruption in the public and private sector, skewed distribution of resources; public programmes intended to benefit the poor often leaked into the pockets of the non-poor; have contributed to millions of people living in poverty. In fact, proponents of leftist thinking argue that the imitations of neoliberal capitalism and the negative consequences of economic globalisation espoused by material accumulation, individualistic and self-centred values have had dire consequences for women in the labour market (Raniga, 2018).

Globally, 58% of women in poor households earn and sustain their livelihoods through working in the informal economy (International Labour Organisation, 2015). The term ‘feminisation of poverty’ was coined in the 1970s in the United States when it was discovered that female-headed households were the fastest growing type of family structure (Pearce, 1978). The international community recognises that both quantitatively and qualitatively, poverty is different for women as a result of the systematic discrimination that women face in the labour market and the ripple effects this has on access to land, education, health care and food security (Benjamin, 2007). Furthermore, poor women remain in tenuous and vulnerable categories of work such as domestic work and home-based care with little or no monetary compensation. A qualitative study conducted by Raniga & Ngcobo (2014) in a low-income community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa revealed that poor women faced social and economic exclusion on the grounds of poverty, structural barriers and sexual discrimination. This systemic policy discourse has been dominated by the notion that women remain poor because they are trapped in the informal economy. For the purposes of this paper, Frye’s (2007:178) conceptualisation of the informal economy is deemed appropriate and defined as: ‘mainly informal, marginalised, unskilled economy populated by those unemployable in the formal economy’.

Given the opportunity presented by the current policy climate, a critical question to ponder is: can community development practitioners offer innovative strategies that may contribute to the well-being and sustainable livelihoods of women?

One way of responding to this question is to search for ‘best practices’ that are perceived as effective ways for mitigating the feminisation of poverty. In this paper, using the lens of the sustainable livelihood approach to poverty reduction, I present the voices of eight women who participated in a sewing cooperative (hereafter referred to as cooperative) in one province in South Africa. The central premise of this article is that unemployed women who are determined to break the cycle of poverty, have the capacity to sustain their own households through embracing opportunities for self-empowerment, building social networks and lobbying for active economic participation in the informal economy. This study sought to answer the question: to what extent has the cooperative contributed to women’s quest to sustain their livelihoods and enhance their social, human and economic capital development?

The paper does not aim to provide an exhaustive account of the importance of women economic empowerment as much has already been documented (Benjamin, 2007; Bentley, 2010; Chant, 2014; Maleko & Msuya, 2015). What this paper seeks to provide through field data analysis is a nuanced understanding of the negative consequences of economic globalisation and the significance of women-led cooperatives using the sustainable livelihood approach in community development practice. The analysis deliberates three connected themes: human capital development, building social capital and striving for economic capital.

The paper begins with a review of literature on the feminisation of poverty and contextualises these debates within the social development sector. The second section discusses conceptual debates about localising the economy through economic development cooperatives. Section three outlines the research methodology. This is followed by the presentation and discussion of the three key themes. The final section of the paper synthesises the women’s reflections on facilitating factors that contributed to sustaining their livelihoods and highlights implications of the study for academic institutions which offer community development practice training.

2. Contemporary debates on the feminisation of poverty

The persistence of gender inequality in a context where global poverty is increasingly feminised is a social policy and social development concern (Benjamin, 2007; Bentley, 2010; Bradshaw et al., 2013). The UNDP (2012) gender inequality index illustrates that ‘although women make up about 50% of the world population they constitute 70% of the world’s poor and 66% of the world’s illiterates’ (http://www.unpac.ca – accessed 25/08/2020). In addition, UN Women Summary Report (2015) reveals that the call to address the deep-seated vulnerabilities and gender biases of women’s experiences in the informal economy requires attention from public policymakers to secure employment contracts, legal rights for social protection, and child care safety nets (UN Women, 2015). Heintz & Jardine (2008) add that women in the Global North and South who work in the formal work sector, earn 23% less than men and that it will take 170 years to close this wage gap. In sub-Saharan Africa, 8 out of 10 women are considered to be in precarious employment positions which are in the lowest-paid labour sector (Heintz & Jardine, 2008). The discrepancy between the annual income of females and their male counterparts in contemporary South Africa is evident. Females earn an average annual salary of R67 3330 while males earn at least R128 329 per annum (Census, 2011). Bridging this income gap remains a challenge, especially for Black female-headed households who have an average annual income of R60 613 (Census, 2011). It is important to acknowledge that these statistics infer that in post-colonial African societies, Black females remain at the bottom of the social strata and they face intersectional discrimination based on race, class and gender.

Bradshaw et al. (2013) argues that economic globalisation is one key factor that has perpetuated feminisation of poverty in transitional economies such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa. Women in these countries continue to suffer the effects of intersectional and triple burdens of race, class and gender discrimination in their domestic and work contexts (Chant, 2014). Frye & Kirsten (2012) put forth that the limitations of economic globalisation and neoliberal policies permeate every facet of gendered poverty within and between nations. Raniga and Motloung (2013) conclude from a qualitative study with 23 family caregivers that the devastating impact of AIDS in South Africa is another contributing factor that has pushed unemployed women to the margins of society and has diminished stability within the family structure.

Consequently, women have been compelled to initiate livelihood strategies to supplement the menial monthly cash transfers received from the state (Raniga, 2016). Chant (2014) argues that the main policy impact of such anti-poverty interventions is female empowerment which is perceived as integral to the reduction of the feminisation of poverty. Chant (2014) maintains that it is imperative to embrace the notion of ‘feminisation of responsibility’ in order to reconstruct the policy debates on the intersectionality and multidimensional nature of gendered poverty. In South Africa, in the past decade it has been encouraging to note that more than 50% of unemployed women have entered the informal economy through starting their own businesses and implementing cooperatives (Thabethe & Uzodike, 2013; Raniga & Ngcobo, 2014; Raniga, 2016). However, despite the increased visibility of women in the informal economy, financial institutions in the private sector continue to exclude women from access to micro credit and loans and which is an obstacle to long-term sustainability of their small businesses and cooperative projects (Raniga & Ngcobo, 2014).

Clearly, the discourse on the feminisation of poverty moves beyond quantifying poverty as a consequence of globalisation from above (Ife & Tesoriero, 2006) but includes advocacy for policy and intervention initiatives which might better support female economic empowerment and which is closely associated with globalisation from below, localising the economy and sustaining female-headed households (Frye & Kirsten, 2012; Chant, 2014; Raniga, 2016). In the next section, the role of economic development cooperatives and implications for localising the economy is discussed.

3. Localising the economy through economic development cooperatives

It is widely recognised that economic globalisation and the unequal distribution of the world’s wealth and resources have contributed to an increase in the feminisation of poverty and income inequality within and between nations (Global Agenda for Social Work, IFSW, 2012). As a practical response to mitigate global poverty, the International Labour Organisation (2015) proposed the implementation of cooperatives as an intervention that can build resilience in all socio-economic spheres of society. Empirical evidence from countries such as Kenya, Canada, India, Italy and Bangladesh have revealed that successful implementation of cooperatives has been associated with favourable government legislations, inter-governmental collaboration and the provision of appropriate education and training in higher education institutions (Midgley & Piachaud, 2013; Maleko & Msuya, 2015). Writers such as Philip (2003) and Tesfay & Tadele (2013) have argued that these factors play a critical role in the production of local goods, facilitating job creation, localising the economy and enhancing human resource development in communities. The government of India has set a good example by providing financial support to the cooperatives social movement, social service agencies and cooperative banks (Philip, 2003). Moreover, such funding and legislative commitment has resulted in 69% of poor households in rural India having benefitted from the implementation of cooperatives (Philip, 2003). In Africa, cooperatives have been considered an effective social democratic and community development intervention strategy to effectively transform poor households. In countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe, cooperatives have played a key role in helping unemployed women to break the cycle of poverty by tapping into their individual, group and community resources (Ngwana et al., 2010; Maleko & Msuya, 2015). Midgley (2015) states that this social development strategy aligns with people-centred development, self-help initiatives and meeting local economic needs in low-income communities. For instance, the promotion of women as key drivers of cooperatives links with community economic development for sustainable livelihoods. Swanepoel & De Beer (2006) add that cooperatives aim to put people and their resources at the centre of economic, social and environmental interventions using bottom-up approaches.

In post-apartheid South Africa, cooperatives have been perceived as a significant community development strategy to empower poor women with income-generating skills and to provide them with opportunities to supplement household income received from state social grants (Kaseke, 2010; Raniga, 2016). The Cooperative Development Policy (2004) and the Cooperatives Act No.14 of 2005 are two foundational policies that have set the agenda for the establishment of cooperatives in previously disadvantaged communities. The Cooperative Development Policy (2004:34) focuses on ‘creating an enabling environment for cooperative enterprises which endeavours to reduce the disparities between urban and rural businesses and is conducive to the promotion of social entrepreneurship’. The Policy’s combination of group structure and individual reward fits well with valuing local knowledge, strengths and skills and with community project ownership initiatives (Swanepoel & De Beer, 2006). Gibson-Graham (2006:80) eloquently states that ‘the shared ethic that underlies these community economic development programs privileges care of the local community and its environment’. Furthermore, Gibson-Graham (2006:81) makes us aware that social movements that focus on ethical economic decisions recognise the importance of interdependence, and where community development practitioners can begin to contribute to a ‘counterhegemonic post-capitalist project of resignification and enactment’.

It is affirming that in South Africa approximately 21 cooperatives in the province of Limpopo received funding to the amount of 13 million rand in 2015 to enhance economic development in impoverished communities (Department of Social Development, 2015). Furthermore, in 2016 an additional four million rand was allocated to 20 769 women-led cooperatives (Department of Social Development, 2015:5). However, the challenge lies with the sustainability of these cooperatives in communities. Evaluative studies undertaken by the National Department of Social Development revealed that more than half of these cooperatives have collapsed and are no longer operational (Department of Social Development, 2015). Raniga (2018) concludes from a qualitative study undertaken in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that community development practitioners need to take into account that cooperatives operate at the micro-economic level and attention must be paid to the structural economic constraints and the ripple effect on gendered poverty in communities. Thabethe & Uzodike (2013) cautions that such community development strategies are not neutral within a neoliberal agenda as it compels poor communities to rely on their own resources without addressing structural inequalities. Hence community development practitioners need to recognise, lobby and confront pervasive economic inequality and to create opportunities for women to drive their own economic development agenda.

4. Conceptual debates on sustainable livelihood as a strategy to reduce the feminisation of poverty

The sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) can provide a valuable framework for community development practitioners to mitigate the feminisation of poverty and to promote the economic function of social protection policies (Raniga, 2018; Raniga et al., 2019). Prominent proponents of this approach, Chambers & Conway (1992) note that livelihoods framework provides conceptual tools such as assets, capabilities and capitals that enable people to make a sustainable living. This is enshrined in the developmental social welfare approach where people in low-income communities are encouraged to set up cooperatives to improve their social and economic profile and reduce gendered poverty (Department of Social Development, 1997). Writers such as Kretzmann & McKnight (1993) and Nel (2015) discuss the integration of five major assets or capitals necessary to sustain livelihoods in poor households. The first asset is human capital which includes work experience, skills, knowledge and creative capabilities of people. The second asset is natural capital which refers to resources such as access to land, water, agriculture and minerals. The third asset is physical capital which includes access to food, livestock, jewellery, appliances and machinery. The fourth asset is financial capital which refers to money earned through working in the formal or informal economy, received from investments and/or savings in the bank or cash transfers received from state social grants. The fifth asset is social capital which was conceptualised by Putnam (2000) as social bonds, voluntary associations and quality of relationships amongst kinship and non-kin persons within communities. Prominent sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1976) argued from ethnographic research undertaken in Algeria that there is a close connection between these five capitals and that economic capital can influence access to social capital which may, in turn, facilitate one’s economic, social and human life experiences. Bourdieu (1976) warns that not all networks and associations may advance one’s economic, human and social aspirations. Instead, the cultural capital (social status) of members within families depends on access to skills, knowledge and education (human capital); aspirations which contributes to upward social mobility and status in society. Households are viewed as being sustainable if they can adjust to threats and survive shocks to their livelihoods without compromising future generations (Patel, 2015). Ife & Tesoriero (2006) as well as Raniga et al. (2019) add that female-headed households adjust to their physical, social, economic, natural and political balance through a conscious focus on these capitals to protect the household from shocks during times of crisis.

In the Global South, SLA shares a conceptual synergy with social development a key theoretical framework for poverty alleviation. Patel (2015) as well as Raniga et al. (2019) provide empirical evidence that SLA is perceived as a means to improving the livelihood outcomes of female-headed households through increasing income security, reducing vulnerability to poverty, strengthening social networks, and improving opportunities for a more sustainable household. The SLA is based on principles of human rights, economic justice, self-reliance and dynamism (Department of Social Development, 1997). Swanepoel & De Beer (2006) add that in low-income communities tapping into untapped community resources and nurturing positive social networks are facilitating factors that can assist poor households to increase income security and reduce vulnerability.

5. Research methodology

5.1. The context of the women-led cooperative project

The women-led cooperative was established in 2009 as a community-based project in Gauteng to alleviate poverty and address unemployment amongst women. Gauteng is the economic hub in Africa and is the most populous province in South Africa with a total of 14, 7 million people (Statistics South Africa, 2018). There is an estimated 34.4 unemployment rate in Gauteng (Statistics South Africa, 2018). While there is no recent statistical data on the impact of poverty on women in this province, Census (2011) reveals that some of the key developmental challenges include high levels of poverty, crime, lack of housing and economic opportunities.

The cooperative was started by two business women who had experience in the fashion industry and had worked in the private sector. These project coordinators had a deep sense of social responsibility and they wanted to share their business and technical skills with unemployed women who resided in impoverished communities. Some key criteria for recruiting the women into the cooperative included: they had to have sewing skills, were motivated to learn to use a sewing machine and to produce garments using sari fabric. The project coordinators recruited 42 unemployed women who were between the ages of 18–35 years in Gauteng. These women participated in a structured training programme which comprised four modules and topics covered included social entrepreneurship, self-awareness, constructing a garment using saris (traditional Indian garment), using a sewing machine, marketing, financial literacy and business skills. The women attended the training for six hours a day, three times a week for a period of 18 months. Once the incubation period was over, the women were encouraged to set up their own businesses in the textile industry. A positive aspect of this collective organisation and training was that the women received consistent psychosocial support, encouragement and mentorship from the project coordinators during and post the incubation period. It was also positive that the ‘The Gauteng Meaningful Change Institute’ which was located in the Provincial government for small business enterprise development had awarded this cooperative once-off funding to the amount of R80 000 (80 USD) in 2015 to facilitate training of the women. In addition, one faith-based organisation donated saris monthly to the cooperative and this was distributed amongst the women to help reduce material costs when they started their own businesses. The project coordinators encouraged the women to have a sense of ‘social responsibility’ and to help other unemployed women in their resident communities. It is important to take note of empirical evidence provided by Thabethe & Uzodike (2013) who concluded that despite women’s active role in the informal economy, financial institutions in the first economy continue to exclude cooperatives and informal businesses from access to credit.

This paper reports on the experiences of eight women who benefitted from a sewing cooperative and provides insight into how the cooperative contributed to sustainable livelihoods.

The specific objectives guiding this study were to:

• Identify the economic benefits and/or challenges of the women participating in the cooperative

• Explore the social networks developed by the women through their involvement in the cooperative

• Gain insight into the cooperative’s contribution to women’s human capacity development.

In order to address the research objectives an exploratory, descriptive design was employed. According to Rubin & Babbie (2013:134) an exploratory, descriptive design is concerned ‘with conveying what it’s like to walk in the shoes of people, providing rich details about their environments, interactions, meanings and everyday lives’. This approach afforded the women the opportunity to speak with confidence about the benefits and challenges based on their involvement in the cooperative. The researcher was concerned with how these women make sense of their lived experiences taking into account the intersectional socio-economic and gender factors that profoundly impact daily living in impoverished communities in South Africa.

5.2. Sample

As applicable to qualitative methodology, the researcher employed non-probability convenience sampling to select the women. The researcher undertook several field visits to the cooperative which operated in a formal suburb North of Gauteng. The purpose of these visits was to gain information from the project coordinators about the history and background of the cooperative in Gauteng. The second purpose was to peruse through records and to observe women who were involved in the incubation training. A letter detailing the research process and its purpose was given to each project coordinator and an appointment for the follow-up interview was set. Morris (2006) states that availability or convenience sampling comprises recruiting participants from places where they are easily accessible. The criteria for inclusion of the participants were:

• Women who had participated in the cooperative in the past three years in Gauteng;

• Women who had completed the incubation training

• Women who resided in low-income communities in Gauteng

The researcher recruited a total of twelve women to participate in the study but data saturation was reached with eight women. The researcher made contact with them by means of Whatsapp, telephonic, email and site visits. During this initial contact, the purpose and objectives of the research were discussed and their voluntary participation in the study was ascertained.

Ethical issues such as confidentiality, anonymity when reporting the data were discussed and clarified (Morris, 2006). A follow-up appointment was made with the women to conduct the in-depth interview at a neutral venue, namely their place of business or at a coffee shop. Interviews were conducted in English and permission was sought to audio-record and to take field notes to record the participants’ verbal and non-verbal responses. The average duration of the interview sessions was 1.5 hours. Member-checks and peer review were also used to ensure trustworthiness and credibility of the data. The researcher obtained permission from the Research Ethics Committee in November 2017 to conduct this study (REC-01-162-2017).

5.3. Data collection and data analysis

Three qualitative methods were used to collect the data: social media records of the cooperative, participant observation during three field visits to the cooperative and one in-depth interview with the women. The interview was conducted with the aid of an interview guide which comprised open-ended questions which were aligned to the objectives of the study (Marlow, 2011). The advantage of the interview was that it provided the participants with the opportunity to answer in their own space and terms; avoiding bias and providing extensive, in-depth information on their experiences and challenges while participating in the sewing cooperative.

The following questions were included during the interview:

• What are the financial benefits and/or challenges of participating in the cooperative?

• What were the social benefits of participating in the cooperative?

• How did your involvement in the cooperative project change your life?

• What are your suggestions for other unemployed women?

This was combined with secondary data obtained through literature reviews and policy analyses. Using three data collection sources (interview, project records and participant observation) contributed to triangulation to authenticate the research findings and increased the trustworthiness of the study (Marlow, 2011).

The data analysis comprised a systematic process of examining, categorising, tabulating and recombining the data to address the objectives of the study.

6. Presentation and interpretation of results

The findings presented emerged from the analysis of eight individual in-depth interviews conducted with women who participated in the cooperative as well as from detailed records of the project and participant observation. Three interconnected themes emerged from the data analysis which forms the central premise of the results and discussion below: human capital development, building social capital and striving for economic capital. In the interpretation of the findings the researcher was mindful of the complex interplay of socio-economic and gender forces that profoundly impact the women’s roles in the informal economy (Bradshaw et al., 2013).

6.1. Significance of human capital

According to Bentley (2010) cooperatives seek to tap on individual and collective, latent and potential skills and resources that would have remained untapped and ineffective to its members. During the in-depth interview, the women stated that they perceived the experiences of participating in the cooperative as a journey of their self-empowerment. In particular, the women stated that the incubation training workshops which focused on empowering them with interpersonal skills, self-awareness, improving their textile skills as well business skills were extremely helpful. Some of the women stated:

P1: Before the training I was very unsure of myself and could not talk to people. The module on self-awareness helped me to become confident

P3: I learned to talk to people and to sell my garments to the public,

P5: I learnt to market my business and was able to open up a stall at the local flea market

P4: I felt very fortunate to be part of cooperative as I learnt a lot about myself from the training workshops which not just gave me cutting and sewing skills but I learnt how to run my business and had the hope to succeed.

All the women expressed appreciation for the close mentoring and guidance that they received during the training and post the incubation period from the two project coordinators. It was encouraging to note that once the women had established their own businesses, they were motivated to ‘pay it forward’. This infers that all the women wanted to share their knowledge and skills with other unemployed women who resided in low-income communities in Gauteng. Some of the comments shared by the participants were:

P8: Being involved in the cooperative gave me the opportunity to grow and spread my wings. I can now send my children to good schools

P2: I was able to make enough money to open my own shop and buy furniture

P3: I never dreamt that I would be running my own business. Now I am able to employ two women.

P5: For the first time in my life I am working for myself, making money and able to put nutritional food on the table. The project gave me the opportunity to empower myself.

P6: The best part is helping other poor women to also succeed like me.

P7: I could not have done it alone. I am truly grateful to the project coordinators for recruiting me into this project

Sewing cooperatives seems to be the most initiated cooperatives in rural and informal settlements in South Africa (Thaba & Mbohwa, 2015). According to the Department of Trade and Industry (Department of Trade and Industry, 2012) the textile sector is prominent amongst the registered cooperatives. It is clear from the comments shared by the women that their involvement in the cooperative contributed to their human capital development. They benefitted in terms of their self-confidence, interpersonal skills and marketing skills which enhanced their active participation in the informal economy.

The findings of this study corroborate the empirical evidence presented by Maleko & Msuya (2015) and Raniga (2016) who revealed that cooperatives make a positive contribution towards increased food security, reducing household poverty, and improving sustainable livelihoods. In the interviews, all the women expressed their appreciation to the two project coordinators for their open and transparent attitude and for sharing their own social marketing networks. This was perceived as unique to this cooperative and which facilitated a renewed sense of confidence and hope in the women’s daily lives. This study resonates with Bourdieu’s (1976) argument that by focusing on human capital and taking opportunities for improving knowledge and skills, poor women would be able to realise their economic potential and increase their social capital. It is important to take note that the voices of the women in this study bear reference to Gibson-Graham’s (2006) conceptualisation of community economies and local innovation which the authors frame as conscious appreciation of community governance, social and economic diversity. It is thus imperative for community development practitioners to integrate the sustainable livelihood approach as a strategy that affirms women’s inherent strengths, skills and collective corporation and associations that can contribute to building social capital. This theme is explored further in the next section.

6.2. Building social capital

Emerging data suggest that the cooperative has succeeded in empowering women with textile, marketing and business skills to transform their lives, improve food security and sustain their livelihoods. Thaba & Mbohwa (2015) revealed that women in Gauteng tend to have low morale, confidence and lack affirmation and opportunity to succeed in the informal economy due to their unemployed status. It was established through field analysis of this cooperative that groups of women operate from a sustainable livelihood approach to consistently build social capital, networks and associations which enhance their businesses. The women shared that the interpersonal, negotiation, networking and marketing skills that they gained during the training workshops helped them to mobilise support from other women in the community. In addition, it was deemed important for the women to keep in contact with the project coordinators when they started their businesses so that they could share their network of clients and enhance marketing of their projects. Moreover, many of the women stated that the project had helped them to associate with women from all economic backgrounds and that social bonds were formed which united women from a diverse economic and social status in the Gauteng province. Some of the women’s comments are:

P1: when I started my business I attended many women-led business forums with one of the project coordinators and this increased my own network and sales to clients.

P3: I was able to create my own support networks with women who also attended the training. We get together once a month to share our business experiences and our support networks. This has helped me to sell my garments and get large orders from the private sector.

P4: I knew I could always turn to my mentors to help when I faced challenges marketing my garments

P7: I felt like I was giving back even before I started. This is true social responsibility

P8: I can be a mentor to other women in my community and I never feel alone

Evidently, the voices of the women infer that building social capital and associations legitimises localising the economy and facilitates ‘change from below’ (Ife & Tesoriero, 2006). Similar to the findings of Thabethe & Uzodike (2013) the women in this study perceived working together and building social capital as pivotal to the success of running their own businesses. Raniga (2016) states that by women working together in self-help groups, they are able to actively contribute to macro socio-economic changes while meeting their individual self-empowerment and economic goals. This finding also corroborates Thabethe & Mathe (2010:430) findings that such projects tend to foster stronger social cohesion and ‘assists both men and women towards a journey to interdependence’. It was clear from the women’s comments that subscribing to a sense of social responsibility which resonates with Afrocentric values of Ubuntu and which translates to ‘I am because we are’. The philosophy of Ubuntu reinforces a sense of altruism, community spirit and affirmation for others irrespective of race, colour and ethnicity. Hence, the communitarian value of Ubuntu and the need for collective care and support increased the women’s own commitment to help other unemployed women who faced similar struggles of income insecurity and the need to sustain their households. This study corroborates the findings presented by Soto-Alarcon & Soto (2019) regarding peasant moral community economies which revealed that women’s collective efforts and altruism enhanced gender transformations, livelihood production and the sustainability of cooperatives.

Raniga (2016) provides qualitative evidence of the integration of the sustainable livelihood approach as appropriate in women-led cooperatives to enhance economic capital.

This theme is expanded further in the discussion that follows.

6.3. Striving for economic capital

Despite the success of the cooperative, all the women raised concerns related to the lack of access to funding to sustain their own businesses. Participant 3 commented that: ‘it was difficult for me during the incubation period as I needed to pay for food and transport and other life expenses yet I was not earning any money’. Participant 5 spoke about financial problems but she indicated that she was grateful to one of the project coordinators who had provided her with accommodation during the incubation period. She commented: ‘this helped me a lot as I saved on rent, food and transport’. It must be noted that the sustainability of cooperatives depends to a large extent on access to micro credit and funding from government institutions and the private sector who are primarily responsible for local economic development and the provision of ongoing training and funding to mitigate the feminisation of poverty (Thabethe & Mathe, 2010; Raniga & Ngcobo, 2014). A comment from one of the project coordinators illustrates the funding challenge which had implications for sustaining the training workshops:

P3: If we had access to government or private sector funding, we would be able to recruit and train more unemployed women and assist them to start their own businesses.

These assertions concur with Raniga’s (2018) empirical evidence obtained from qualitative voices of 24 women involved in cooperatives that organisational, interpersonal and group conflict as well as lack of funding from government are key factors that lead to the unsustainability of cooperatives. A suggestion made by participant 4 was to inculcate a culture of monetary contribution by each woman who successfully completed the training with the aim to subsidise one other woman to join the cooperative.

One of the tangible outcomes of the cooperative was to transform the women’s material reality and provide opportunities to actively participate in the informal economy and to strive for improving economic capital in the household. It was clear that the life choice made by the majority of the women to run their own businesses, enhanced their self-confidence, business skills and increased the profits from the sale of their garments. It was encouraging to take note that this translated into the women receiving a steady monthly income from the sale of their garments. It is encouraging to note that a total of 17 women were employed by the eight women since they had started their respective sewing businesses. Some of the comments of the women were:

I am now able to send my children to good schools and not worry about putting food on the table

I never dreamt of employing people. Now I am living my dream

I opened up my own clothing shop and I’m making lots of money

Other women want to know my secret to making money so I share what I know

With the training I received from the cooperative I was able to get a well-paying job in the clothing industry

Researchers such as Thaba & Mbohwa (2015), Raniga (2016) provide empirical evidence that through cooperatives women’s economic resources can be enhanced which enabled them to survive independently from external support and to confidently compete in relevant markets to sell their products. Bradshaw et al. (2013) state that transferring economic resources to enhance material and non-material needs is key to sustain a household. All the women believed that the transformation of saris into beautiful contemporary garments was a unique and appealing part of the success and marketing of their businesses in their resident communities. The equitable distribution of the benefit between their involvement in the cooperative and striving to make their own businesses a success, meant that the sharing of networks and respect for each other’s work was vital so that the desired economic capital outcomes for all the women were evident. Thaba & Mbohwa (2015) reiterated that as a social development strategy, cooperatives serve to unite and involve women in an economic and social community to provide market power and access to much-needed economic and social resources that as individuals they would not be able to accumulate. All the women unanimously acknowledged that their participation in the cooperative had led to an improvement in their own social status, household income and confidence to absorb shocks that their respective households may encounter.

7. Final conclusions

The clear association between poverty and women’s vulnerability to gender discrimination is widely acknowledged. This paper highlights the case of a sewing cooperative as a key social development strategy to promote localisation of economies and sustainable livelihoods. The sewing cooperative represents an innovative case that is based on the strengths and innate capabilities of unemployed women who were keen to break the cycle of poverty. Evidently, the voices of the women in this study highlight that enhancing human and social capital through on-going interpersonal, business skills training, building partnerships and collaborations within and outside of their respective community were useful practices for enhancing economic capital and sustaining women-led cooperatives.

Even though the case raises a myriad of complex policy issues related to the limitations of economic globalisation, it does highlight that banking on human capital development, building social capital and striving for economic self-reliance were useful sustainable livelihood practices for sustaining cooperatives. The findings revealed that economic capital remains modest as a result of poor access to funding and government intervention. Whilst networking with government and the private sector could address some of the funding challenges, these are social enterprises that do not pay taxes and thus do not fit in with the government’s goal to achieve growth in the formal economy. Linked to this dilemma is the fact that cooperatives continue to operate in a disabling economic environment which ignores the structural roots and inequalities created by globalisation and that makes gender mainstreaming an elusive goal. Based on these conclusions, the following recommendations are made:

• Transformative interventions should include the establishment of a business forum to assist women to enhance training, networking and advocating for funding from government.

• It is important that policy makers support livelihood activities of women through access to micro credit schemes, better access to financial literacy training.

• National policy and regulatory changes which put in place child care subsidies are necessary in order to assist women to balance their home and work activities and to gain more control over their social, political and economic lives.

• Lobbying by community development practitioners and social movements to address the economic and educational needs of women residing in low-income communities is necessary.

• This study represented a limited sample of eight women who participated in one cooperative project in one province in South Africa. This clearly warrants further qualitative research to be conducted with both men and women involved in economic development cooperatives across various provinces in South Africa.

• Additionally, qualitative research to explore the interdependences of women-led cooperatives with key stakeholders in communities such as government, non-governmental organisations and the private sector is important.

• For community development practitioners a crucial step is to integrate the sustainable livelihood approach as a key development strategy in the implementation of cooperatives. The question remains whether practitioners would rise to this challenge and take collective action which links the micro and macro-economic contexts while advocating for a social democratic economic agenda.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).