Entrepreneurial Skills Development Programmes for Female Smallholder Farmers in Ghanaian Cocoa Farms and their Impacts on Market Access and Business Growth in Tanzania: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review seeks to explore entrepreneurial skills development programmes targeted at female smallholder farmers in Ghanaian cocoa farms and their subsequent impacts on market access and business growth in Tanzania, a neighboring country with similar agricultural sectors. A comprehensive search strategy was employed using academic databases to identify relevant studies published between and . Studies were screened based on predefined inclusion criteria related to the intervention's design, implementation context, and measurement of impacts. The review identified a consistent theme regarding the importance of mentorship support in fostering entrepreneurial skills among female farmers. A specific finding is that programmes incorporating mentoring had a significant positive impact on market access (p ≤ 0.05) by increasing farmer visibility to buyers. This systematic literature review underscores the critical role of mentorship in enhancing entrepreneurial skills among female smallholder farmers, particularly in Ghanaian cocoa farms, and its direct correlation with improved business growth and market participation in Tanzania. Future research should prioritise detailed evaluations of mentoring programmes to understand their specific contributions. Policy makers are advised to integrate such support mechanisms into existing agricultural development initiatives for enhanced farmer empowerment and economic benefits. The empirical specification follows Y=β₀+β^ X+ε, and inference is reported with uncertainty-aware statistical criteria.