Have Your Say: Survey On Financing For Women-Led Agribusinesses In Zimbabwe
Women own 60% of Zimbabwe’s micro, small and medium enterprises and agriculture accounts for nearly 40% of all MSME activity, yet MSME lending represents just 5.54% of total bank loans. Women entrepreneurs in agriculture face particular challenges accessing the growth capital they need to invest in equipment, cold chain infrastructure, certification, and working capital.
Behind those numbers are real stories: a horticulture producer in Mutoko who cannot afford a refrigerated truck, a poultry farmer in Gokwe who relies on informal savings clubs, a processor in Bulawayo stuck at small scale because collateral demands keep her outside the banking hall. Many of these women agripreneurs have never set foot in a bank to ask for a loan, even as they feed cities, employ youth, and stabilise rural incomes.
Investment professional and MBA candidate Peggy Mapondera wants to change that picture – not with slogans, but with data grounded in women’s lived experience.
Peggy, who is studying at African Leadership University, is conducting research to understand the capital needs, financing barriers, and preferred funding structures of women-led agribusinesses in Zimbabwe. The findings will inform the design of financing solutions tailored to the realities of women in agriculture, in line with national goals under Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and continental ambitions set out in the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
FFA Explainer:
Women in agriculture often juggle production, household care, and informal trading. Many operate without formal registration or collateral, which makes traditional bank loans hard to access. Yet they are central to food systems – from input supply and primary production to aggregation, processing, and retail. Tailored finance can help them grow, hire, and invest in resilience.
If you are a woman who owns or leads an agribusiness in Zimbabwe – whether you are running a smallholder outgrower operation in Mazowe, a poultry enterprise in Chitungwiza, a horticulture export venture in Mazvikadei, or processing tomatoes in Mutare – your input matters.
The survey is confidential, takes approximately 10 minutes, and covers your business profile, financing experience, capital needs, and preferences. Your responses will help shape more realistic, flexible financing instruments that recognise seasonality, cashflow patterns, and risk profiles in agriculture – especially for women and youth.
Complete the survey here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgSOvs_qZ2HVAwpQqU8fiYs3mt4-7zYExwTzSBepsquwpz_g/viewform
Peggy is also inviting colleagues and allies to share the survey link widely with women agripreneurs in their networks – from rural irrigation schemes in Mwenezi to urban agro-processors in Harare and Bulawayo. Better data on women-led agribusinesses can support more responsive products from banks, microfinance institutions, impact investors, and development programmes working in agri-finance.
Have your say, share your story, and help design the next generation of financing solutions for women in Zimbabwean agriculture.
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