Summary
This article highlights how rural entrepreneurship, particularly through schemes like SVEP, empowers women and marginalized communities by enhancing their decision-making, financial agency, and fostering social capital and community resilience.
Empowering Rural Communities through Entrepreneurship
Highlights
Women Empowerment and Financial Agency
Rural entrepreneurship significantly empowers women; under SVEP, approximately 75 percent of beneficiaries are women, leading to enhanced decision-making and financial agency (IIE, 2024).
Building Social Capital and Community Resilience
Collective models such as self-help groups and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) contribute to building social capital and community resilience in rural areas (Singh & Mehta, 2025).
Leadership Skills and Confidence Development
Entrepreneurship training and mentorship programs have been shown to improve leadership skills and boost confidence among rural women (Patel & Sinha, 2023).