Impact of Microfinance on Increasing Access to Water and Improved Sanitation of Households of Slum Dwellers in Kenya: a Case Study of Kibera Slum-nairobi County

Abstract

Providing adequate safe water and improved sanitation can enhance people‟s livelihood options by making significant additions to good health, clean environmental conditions and generate income. However, there exists no comprehensive study that has ever focused on documenting the impacts of microfinance support on increasing access to Water and improved sanitation projects on the livelihoods of slum dwellers in developing countries like Kenya. The study therefore, aimed to establish the implications of water and sanitation projects on the livelihoods of slum dwellers in Kenya where the focus was on Kibera residents. The objectives of this study was to establish the influence of water pricing on the economic status of Kibera slum dwellers, to establish the extent to which microfinance has improved economic status of the households of Kibera slum dwellers, and to determine the effects of microfinance on access to supply of safe water among the households and finally, to establish the impacts of micro finance on health and sanitation through access to safe water supply among households in Kibera slum. The research design adopted for this study was the descriptive survey. The targeted population for this study included registered groups benefiting from the Community Water Projects supported by Micro financing (Maji ni Maisha Programme) in Kibera. The study selected a sample of 90 respondents using simple random sampling. Primary data collected in this project comprised of both qualitative and quantitative data. Questionnaires were self-administered with help of research assistants. Quantitative data collected were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics using SPSS while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The results were presented in form of percentages and frequencies. The information was displayed by use of tables and in prose-form. The research found out that water and sanitation provision. The research project recommended that water and sanitation projects should be up-scaled in slums since they were felt to have significant implications on the livelihood of the residents. The study also recommended that Water and Sanitation Projects should be up scaled in slums since it has significant implications on the livelihood of Kibera people.