Influence of the mandates of women enterprise fund on the performance of women empowerment projects in Kikuyu constituency, Kiambu county, Kenya
Abstract
Women empowerment is critical for economic development. Investing in women
empowerment improves national economies, increases household productivity and living
standards. Promoting gender equality and women empowerment is the millennium
development goal 3 and as a commitment to achieving this goal, the Kenyan Government
established the women enterprise fund as a way of empowering women. This study therefore
sought to establish the influence of the mandates of Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) on the
performance of women empowerment projects in Kikuyu constituency, Kiambu County,
Kenya. The objectives of this study was to establish the influence of provision of loans,
capacity building, facilitation of marketing and promotion of business linkages on the
performance of women empowerment projects. This research study took on a quantitative
approach with descriptive survey research design being used. The targeted population for this
research study consisted of 150 women groups that are beneficiaries of the Women
Enterprise Fund in Kikuyu constituency from the year 2007 to the year 2012 and the sample
size was 50 groups, that is, 30% of the target population. Data was collected using a
structured questionnaire whose validity and reliability was tested prior to the study. Data was
analysed using SPSS Version 17 and the findings presented in tabular form. Of the 49
respondents, 51% had their groups accessing the Women Enterprise Fund loan twice with the
highest amount of loan accessed by most groups being Kshs. 100,000. The time taken to
receive the loan for most groups was 4 to 6 months indicated at 43%. The groups had
attended trainings offered by Women Enterprise Fund as confirmed by 79% of the
respondents. The respondents confirmed that their groups were able to effectively manage
the funds as a result of the training. The groups disagreed with the fact that they had been
assisted by Women Enterprise Fund in accessing market for their products and services at
43%. Women Enterprise Fund had enabled 61% of the groups to form networks with other
groups while those involved in mentorship programmes with other groups were 41%. Half of
the respondents confirmed to their projects benefiting from business linkages to just a small
extent. The general performance of the projects can be considered as good as indicated by
59% of the respondents. The study concluded that women groups have utilized the Women
Enterprise Fund since its inception in 2007 with a significant uptake of the fund’s loans.
Women groups have accessed trainings facilitated by the fund which has helped them in
management of their projects. There has not been much facilitation in marketing by Women
Enterprise Fund and access to information on market performance is very low. Promotion of
business linkages by Women Enterprise Fund has benefited the women groups to just a small
extent. A positive relationship exists between the independent variables and the dependent
variable indicating that the provision of loans, capacity building, marketing facilitation and
promotion of business linkages have an influence on the performance of women
empowerment projects. The study recommends more trainings on different types of skills,
improvement in information flow, more marketing platforms like exhibitions and trade fairs,
strengthening formation of business linkages and an increase of amount of loan.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]