In many developing countries, liberty is often treated as a lofty concept, an abstract ideal debated in policy rooms, written in constitutions, and dissected at academic conferences. But for millions of people, especially women in underserved communities, liberty isn’t theoretical. Liberty is about survival. It’s about the ability to earn a living, make decisions, and live with dignity. For young women facing financial hardship, liberty begins at the intersection of economic empowerment and self-determination. This is where livelihood plays a vital role, not just as a source of income, but as a tool for transformation.
As someone who works with communities and has witnessed first-hand how financial dependence can be a form of imprisonment, I believe it’s time to broaden our understanding of liberty. It should not only mean freedom from government interference but also freedom from structural poverty, economic exclusion, and dependency. True liberty must empower women to live independently and make choices that affect their futures.
The Feminization of Poverty
Women across Africa and the global south disproportionately bear the weight of economic hardship. They are more likely to be unemployed, underpaid, unpaid or engaged in unpaid labor. In Malawi, for instance, many young women are forced to drop out of school due to early marriages or lack of financial support. Even those who manage to stay in school often struggle to transition into sustainable income-generating opportunities. This economic vulnerability restricts women’s freedom in both visible and invisible ways. Without financial autonomy, many find themselves trapped in abusive relationships, unable to assert their own choices, and vulnerable to exploitation.
The freedom to say “no” to what harms you and “yes” to what empower you is deeply compromised when you lack the security of having money in your pocket. In that sense, liberty is not a luxury. It’s a necessity. And for many women, it starts with something as basic as learning how to bake bread, sew clothes, or start a small business.
Liberty Through Livelihood: A Practical Approach
One powerful way to promote liberty among women is by supporting livelihood initiatives that equip them with practical, income-generating skills. I call this approach Liberty through livelihood. It’s grounded in a simple yet profound belief: when women gain economic power, they also gain social and political power. For example, I run a small baking and catering business that began as a simple passion for cooking but quickly evolved as a means to support myself and inspire others. Over time, I came to realize that baking is more than a skill; it’s a stepping stone to self-sufficiency.
Teaching other young women how to bake, cook, or engage in value addition like turning raw cassava into flour or mangoes into jam equips them with tools to change their own lives. These women no longer have to wait for handouts or jobs that may never come. They become creators of value, not just consumers of aid. That is liberty in action.
Entrepreneurship as a Gateway to Freedom
When governments are corrupt or fail to provide basic services, the power of entrepreneurship becomes even more critical. It allows people to bypass bureaucracy and create their own opportunities. For women in particular, entrepreneurship offers a way to chart their own path, address local challenges, and live with purpose.
In this context, entrepreneurship becomes a form of peaceful resistance against poverty, injustice, and dependency. It empowers women to reclaim agency over their lives: to choose when to marry, whether to have children, how to spend their money, and how to contribute meaningfully to society. Moreover, it breaks generational cycles of poverty. A woman who runs a successful business not only feeds herself, but also educates her children, supports her parents, and mentors her peers. Her liberty becomes contagious.
The Role of Civil Society and Liberty Movements
Organizations like Students For Liberty (SFL) have a vital role to play in this space. By combining civic education with grassroots engagement, liberty movements can empower people not only to understand their rights but to actively claim them. It’s not enough to teach what liberty is, we must also demonstrate what it looks like in everyday life. Entrepreneurship workshops, business skills training, seed funding for micro-projects, and mentorship programs are practical ways to bridge the gap between theory and practice. These initiatives should especially focus on young women from rural or low-income backgrounds who often face multiple intersecting barriers; economic, cultural and institutional that limit their access to liberty. Strategic partnerships with local NGOs, churches, and youth groups can further expand the reach and impact of such efforts. And by leveraging digital tools like WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube we can help amplify the message of liberty to broader and more diverse audiences.
Liberty is Local
One of the most common mistakes in the liberty movement is treating freedom like a one-size-fits-all concept. But liberty looks different depending on the context. In the U.S., it might mean defending free speech or the Second Amendment. In Malawi, it could mean fighting for the right to access land, start a business without paying bribes, or walk safely to school without harassment.
That’s why localizing liberty is essential. We must ask: What does liberty mean to this woman, in this village, in this situation? And how can we support her in achieving it? Only by grounding our efforts in local realities can we create meaningful and lasting impact.
A Call to Action
Liberty is not just a philosophy, it’s a practice. And for millions of women around the world, that practice begins with the ability to earn a living. If we want to build freer societies, we must invest in the economic empowerment of women. We must teach them how to cook, bake, sew, sell, manage, and lead. We must create spaces for them to thrive not as dependents, but as decision-makers. Because when a woman earns her own income, she finds her voice. And when she finds her voice, she claims her freedom. Let us promote liberty not only through policy but through practical action through livelihood. That is how we build a freer, fairer, and more inclusive world.
This piece solely expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily the magazine as a whole. SpeakFreely is committed to facilitating a broad dialogue for liberty, representing a variety of opinions. Support freedom and independent journalism by donating today.
