Informal women entrepreneurs’ identity in the agri-food sector: An empirically grounded conceptual framework

Women's entrepreneurship has played a vital role in the transition of agri-food systems. However, empirical research on how women's entrepreneurial identity influences or shapes their roles, especially within the informal agri-food sector, remains limited. While women's entrepreneurial identity in this sector has become a crucial capital for women who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods and household income, entrepreneurship theories have failed to adequately theorize or incorporate women's entrepreneurial identity in the informal sector. To fill this gap, we explore women entrepreneurs in Benin's informal agri-food sector through a qualitative exploratory study to understand how their entrepreneurial identity influences their roles in response to gender norms, institutional barriers, and market challenges as they navigate the socio-economic constraints that shape their identities. Based on the findings, we present an empirically grounded conceptual framework, the Informal Women Entrepreneurs' Identity (IWEI). The IWEI focuses on identity, grounded in the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs in Benin's informal agri-food sector, deepening our understanding of women's entrepreneurship not just as an economic activity but as a gendered process of self-recognition, navigation, and innovation within agri-food systems. By emphasizing the relevance of the IWEI, we contribute to scholarship on women's entrepreneurship, identity, and rural development within informal agri-food systems, offering both theoretical insights and policy implications for future research.