| dc.description.abstract | This study investigated the effect of microfinance interventions on poverty reduction
among households in Bungoma Municipality, Bungoma County in Kenya. The
successful use of microfinance is considered a victory for the poor to escape the poverty
traps globally. Many studies have been carried out in various parts of the world on
usefulness of MFIs as remedy for poverty but still the problem of poverty remains the
biggest monster in the whole world. The previous studies never involved users of micro
funds in their designs to reach the poor both in depth and breadth. In the context of
Kenya there is huge gap between MFls designs with what happens practically on ground
with micro finance users. Therefore this study was guided by the following objectives to
fill the implementation gap. To investigate the effect of training SMEs owners on
household poverty reduction in Bungoma Municipality, Assess the effect of gender focus
on household poverty reduction in Bungoma Municipality, To investigate the effect of
weekly savings on poverty reduction among households in Bungoma Municipality, To
investigate the extent to which group responsibility implicates poverty reduction among
households .. To achieve the desired objectives of the study, 64 SMEs owners who are
clients of the MFIs were interviewed through individual and focused group discussions
and through descriptive survey. The study also used other SMEs owners as a control
group. Many studies have considered components of micro finance institutions
individually. To enhance practical relevance of MFIs in solving poverty demise this
study has incorporated MFIs interventions in the implementation processes from the
perspective of service users (SMEs owners). Research questions were used to collect data
from households who are the owners of SMEs. The research was based on theoretical
framework to collect qualitative data on components of Microfinance interventions using
sustainable livelihood approach and interpretive approach to view poverty from bottom
(users). The study was guided by conceptual framework which the researcher used to
explain interrelationship between Micro financial interventions and poverty reduction
variables(indicators)which included,; housing, education, nutrition, income and healthy.
The study adopted descriptive survey design and inferential statistics. Questionnaires
and Interview Schedules were used as tools of data collection. The data collected was
edited, coded and analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. This
involved use of measures of distribution (frequencies and percentages) and presentation
of information in APA tables to indicate the implications of Microfinance interventions
on poverty reduction and sustainable development. Regression analysis and analysis of
variance (ANOV A) were computed with the help of statistical package for social
sciences (SPSS). The trend pattern and relationships among variables were identified and
interpreted. The study concludes that MFls interventions are necessary to reduce poverty
levels among households in short run but more effort should be incorporated in long run
in order to be effective in the process of helping the poor escape poverty traps. The study
also recommends that Training of SMEs owners on entrepreneurship skills and
information technology is critical to alleviate poverty. among households. Gender focus
increases economic growth and hence poverty reduction. Compulsory savings
intervention is healthy to smooth running of SMEs and reduces expenditure on
consumptions of households. Group responsibility is an asset as it builds social capital
but it is a big evil since the poor are discriminated as bad credit risk by some fairly rich
group members. The researcher further suggests that interest rates should be lowered to
make credit more accessible to many poor people in the urban areas and enable the poor
households live above the poverty line across the economy. | en_US |
