Social Entrepreneurship as a Panacea for Grassroots, Development:
A Study of Selected Social Entrepreneurship, Venture Across South-East Nigeria
Abstract
The study examined the social entrepreneurship as a panacea for grassroots development: a study of selected social entrepreneurship venture across South-east Nigeria. The researcher developed two specific objectives which were to: analyze the effect of social innovation and social impact, on grassroots development in South East. This study was anchored on Social capital theory. Data were generated through primary and secondary sources. The method for data collection was the questionnaire which was administered randomly among the staff of the social entrepreneur. The population of the study was seven hundred and twelve (712). The sample size was the same because the population is not up to 1000 population. Five hundred and eighty-seven (587) copies of questionnaire were retrieved. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis method at 0.05% level of significance. Findings from the study revealed that Social innovation had significant positive effect on grass root development in South East Nigeria (t=4.694, p, 000). Social impact had significant positive effect on grass root development in South East Nigeria (t=3.624, p, 000). The study concludes that social entrepreneurship is a powerful catalyst for grass-root development, particularly when it emphasizes innovation, measurable social impact, community networks, and employment generation. The study recommended that Governments, development agencies, and non-governmental organizations should actively promote social innovation by providing funding, training, and incubation support for social entrepreneurs. Social enterprises should be encouraged to adopt clear social impact measurement frameworks to assess the effectiveness of their interventions.
