The Role Of Social Enterprise In The Empowerment Of Households

Abstract

The socio-economic empowerment of households in Kibra, in Nairobi County and the rest of urban slum areas in Kenya are declining. There is need for individuals and the community to be socio-economically empowered in order to handle the current hard economic situations. This study examined the role of social enterprise in the empowerment of households supported by Riziki Kenya in Nairobi county, Kibra sub-county. Multi-stage sampling was employed. Purposive sampling method was used to select 6 key informants predominately from Riziki Kenya managers and staff members. Purposive sampling was used to select 12 groups, supported by Riziki Kenya. A sample size of 84 members of the sampled groups were selected using simple random sampling. Findings are presented in tables, graphs, charts and narratives. The study found that Riziki Kenya had enhanced the access of households to financial services with which to operate their businesses, thus improving the growth of their enterprises. The findings revealed that the percentage of respondents who generated profits between Kshs 20,000 to Kshs 30,000 increased from 8% to 20%. The findings also revealed that 49% of the respondents said that their sales grew between 30% and 50% on average after intervention. This in turn helped many households to improve their socio-economic life. The study established that there was need for capacity building for households to continue being trained on basic entrepreneurial and business management skills in order to improve their enterprises. There was also need for the government to support social entrepreneurs to operate at greater scale through organizational growth. The study also found out that there are many details left out on the intervention strategies. Thus, the study recommends that more focus should be directed to the effect of savings, credit and training on the growth of households’ businesses. The study also recommends that Riziki Kenya should collaborate with other organisations which have similar goals for networking.