Browsing by Author "Machingambi, Jeremiah"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    A qualitative inquiry on the role of microfinance on smallholder farmers’ sustainability in rural Zimbabwe
    (Universty of the Western Cape, 2022) Machingambi, Jeremiah
    Smallholder farmers are generally excluded from formal financial systems and tend to have limited financial intermediation options. Furthermore, from banks' perspectives, smallholder farmers’ lack of collateral makes them risky customers in that they are viewed as not being able to repay loans. Against this background, many smallholder farmers are resorting to microfinance to secure capital. This, therefore, raises the question as to whether microfinance is a panacea to smallholder farmers’ access to capital woes. In the extant literature there are mixed results in terms of explaining the role of microfinance in terms of stimulating the growth and sustainability of the smallholder farming sector. This naturally constitute the research gap that this thesis sought to address.
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    The impact of microfinance on the sustainability of ‘poor’ clients: a conceptual review
    (Researchgate, 2020-05-27) Machingambi, Jeremiah
    Debates on the impact of microfinance on alleviation of poverty have revolved around two contrasting approaches that advocate sustainable lending and subsidised lending, respectively. This conceptual paper presents literature reviews on sustainable lending and the subsidised lending approaches, and their impact on the sustainability of ‘poor’ clients. Literature reviews highlighted that the sustainable lending paradigm mainly focuses on serving the ‘active poor’ clients, whilst the subsidised lending approach focuses on serving ‘extremely poor’ clients, respectively. ‘Active poor’ clients are regarded as those who have marketable skills and/or control over earning assets and are considered creditworthy borrowers. In contrast, ‘extremely poor’ clients have neither marketable skills nor earning assets. Smallholder farmers were used as a proxy for extremely poor clients conceptualising the notion of sustainability. A conceptual framework was developed to identify the nature of the relationship amongst constructs, informing the relationship between microfinance and poor clients (smallholder farmers). The conceptual framework has been undertaken for a study on the impact of sustainable lending approaches on smallholder farming sustainability in rural Zimbabwe.
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    Teaching entrepreneurship at a University in South Africa: who should teach and what methods work best?
    (MDPI, 2025) Machingambi, Jeremiah; Iwu, Chux Gervase
    The purpose of the current research study was to identify appropriate educators for teaching entrepreneurship at the university level and to explore the best teaching methods for developing entrepreneurial knowledge and skills among students. The study aims to address two key questions in entrepreneurship education: (1) Who should teach entrepreneurship in universities? and (2) What methods are effective in teaching entrepreneurship in universities? The study was conducted using an interpretative phenomenological qualitative research approach. Data were collected from a purposive sample of eight (8) entrepreneurship educators from a South African university. Data collection spanned three months, from November 2024 to January 2025. The key findings of the study suggest that entrepreneurship should be taught by academics with practical experience, academics with at least a Master’s degree, entrepreneurs invited as guest lecturers, incubator professionals, and technology professionals. Additionally, the research revealed teaching methods that can be used to effectively teach entrepreneurship in universities: Universities need to prioritise hiring and training entrepreneurship educators with both academic and real-world experience and facilitate collaborations with incubators and real-world entrepreneurs. Teaching methods need to incorporate experiential learning methods such as startup simulations, case studies, and partnerships with innovation hubs. The study offers valuable insights into who should teach entrepreneurship and how it should be taught, emphasising the need for a multidisciplinary approach and practical orientation to develop entrepreneurial capabilities and mindsets among students.