Studies on the small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) environmental responsibility (ER) is scarce in the African context leading to lack of proper understanding of the SMMEs/ environmental responsibility interface on the continent and the need for accelerated empirical research on the subject. This paper forms part of a larger study on ER within SMMEs in two Southern African countries, South Africa and Lesotho. The paper reports on barriers to environmental responsibility among the SMMEs surveyed in the study. In the study, data were collected from 600 participants, 300 from each country using self-administered questionnaire. The results indicate that although the surveyed SMMEs in both South Africa and Lesotho have good knowledge on environmental responsibility and engage in it, their efforts are hindered by inadequate time, financial resources, training, equipment, and information. Based on these findings, conclusions are drawn followed by policy recommendations as well as practical recommendations for SMMEs.

Keywords : Barriers to Environmental Responsibility as a Social Responsibility Concern of SMMEs in Sub-Sahara Africa: Insights from Two Southern African Countries.