Factors Influencing The Growth Of Micro And Small Enterprises In Tigania East District, Kenya
Abstract
The aim of carrying out this study was to assess the factors that influenced the growth of
micro and small enterprises in Tigania East District of Meru County. This was necessitated by
the general stagnation in growth of these enterprises not only in the district, but also in Kenya
and developing countries in general as several others related studies would show. The study’s
objectives were an investigation of the influence of entrepreneurs’ access to affordable credit on
the growth of Micro and Small Enterprises, the influence of availability of opportunities for
gaining entrepreneurial experience on the growth of Micro and Small Enterprises, the influence
of entrepreneurs’ level of education and training on the growth of Micro and Small Enterprises
and the influence of gender equality among entrepreneurs on the growth of Micro and Small
Enterprises in Tigania East district, Meru County. The study adopted descriptive research design
and a total of 300 firms were sampled through a multi-stage sampling method for study. The
study established that access to affordable credit and availability of firms where entrepreneurs
could work and gain business experience contributed to growth of micro and small enterprises in
Tigania East District. The study also established that formal education up to form Four Level and
vocational trainings for entrepreneurs steered up firms’ growth in the district. Equally important
is the availing of a leveled playing ground for all entrepreneurs irrespective of their gender for
enterprises to grow in Tigania East District of Meru County. This study recommended that the
government of Kenya increases the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the Women
Enterprise Development Fund that entrepreneurs found more affordable in comparison to credit
from banks and other financial institutions. . The study also recommended that the government
of Kenya needed to develops entrepreneurship and related business training programmes that
target entrepreneurs irrespective of their level of education. This also study recommended that
the government of Kenya and the civil organizations need to carry out a lot of gender
sensitization in order to change the negative attitude towards women who should be equally
engaged as important players in the micro and small enterprises as the study has linked the lack
of growth of these enterprises to socio-cultural beliefs that disadvantage women entrepreneurs.
Citation
Masters Of Arts In Project Planning And Management, University Of Nairobi, 2013.Publisher
University of Nairobi School of Continuing and Distance Education
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]