The impact of Social Entrepreneurship on Achieving Social Sustainability in Low – Income Countries. The Zimbabwean Experience.

This paper addresses the socio – economic complexities facing our communities and societies today, arguing that social entrepreneurship is critical in the achievement of social sustainability in the low – income countries. The paper emphasises the important role that social entrepreneurship play in facilitating sustainable socio – economic development at the micro (individuals/household), meso (group/community), macro (institutional), and mundo (global) levels. Through social entrepreneurship, the paper argues, communities and societies can respond to socio – economic complexities and address social pathologies and decay in more sustainable ways. Social entrepreneurship provides us with a fundamental approach and path to sustainable development and transformation, which is critical in addressing issues such as poverty, powerlessness and helplessness, uncontrolled proliferation of informal sector, and unemployment among other issues. While the paper does not present social entrepreneurship as an elixir or an alternative approach to achieving social transformation and sustainability, it contributes immensely to the discussions on sustainable development. Essentially, the paper substantiate the argument that social entrepreneurship offers a holistic and sustainable approach which is also complementary to other development approaches, and an important one at that matter.