This study explores Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) as an adaptive tool for resilience among migrant women entrepreneurs in Cape Town’s informal sector. It seeks to provide insight into IKS as a resource base that can support inclusive social and economic value creation, foster environmentally sustainable strategies, and strengthen contributions to the informal economy.
By critiquing myopic Western perspectives and institutions that devalue Indigenous knowledge while marginalizing Indigenous researchers and their attendant worldviews, the study adopts Indigenous research paradigms to examine IKS as a dynamic knowledge system and resource for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
It further investigates the factors that strengthen and hinder IKS-based migrant women entrepreneurship, with the aim of empowering women who possess valuable Indigenous knowledge but may lack the opportunities or support to leverage it in response to social and economic pressures. In doing so, it seeks to inform contextually grounded policymaking, advocate for enhanced social protection and integration, and promote decolonial approaches that advance Indigenous autonomy and self-determination
