GENDER BASED BRAND RELIANCE IN AN URBAN SETTING

Women in the informal economy face complex expectations due to the wide range of jobs they are expected to accomplish. Work, child care, and errand running are just some of the things that urban women are "patching together," as Chant (2013) puts it. Most people still have trouble getting loans or other forms of financing to start or expand businesses since they don't have anything to put up as collateral. In certain situations, women have profited from microloans, but the loans are usually small and only help a handful of low-impact microbusinesses (Reichlin & Shaw, 2015). Women who start businesses on their own are seen positively, although they are much less common than firms started by males. In developing nations, about 1% to 3% of employers are women, while the percentage for men is twice as high or greater in some regions (such as North Africa). One emerging field in the informal economy that may offer feasible and interesting prospects for women is the ongoing 'green economy' initiatives for greater sanitation and environmental preservation in urban areas. One example given by Chant and McIlwaine (2016) of women's participation in ecologically beneficial activities, both unofficially and formally organized, and the opportunity to work for money is the "Green Brigade" of women's street cleaners in Burkina Faso