| dc.description.abstract | This research report is about challenges facing growth of small and medium enterprises(SMEs)
owned by women in kakamega municipality of kakamega count.Most women in the SMEs are
the sole bread winners of their families,having lost their husbands to either HIV/AIDS
pandemic,drinking related illnesses or political violence.This leaves them with an uphill task of
solely bringing up their families which are usually large.Kakamega County is located 410km
North West of kenyas capital,Nairobi.being a provincial headquarters with a peri-urban
population,most people rely on small and medium enterprises as the alternative mode of
subsistence..The area of the study was kakamega municipality in Kakamega County in western
province.This research was guided by five core objectives : to investigate whether technology
influences the growth of SMEs owned by women in Kakamega municipality of kakamega
county;to asses how access to finance by women owned enterprises influences growth of SMEs
owned by women in Kakamega Municipality;to establish whether demographic factors affect
growth of smes owned by women in kakamega Municipality;to find out how socio-cultural
factors affect growth of SMEs owned by women in kakamega Municipality;to find out how
infrastructure influences th growth of SMEs owned by women in Kakamega Municipaliy.The
sample size consisted of 85 women owned SMEs drawn from a total population of 600 registered
and licenced by the kakamega Municipal Council which is solely responsible for issuance of
legal operation status of businesses within its jurisdiction.the respondents were selected using
simple random sampling.questionnaires and interview schedules were used as research
instruments.on validity of intsruments,the researcher used content validy.The study findings
revealed that access to finance and credit facilities hugely affected the growth of women owned
SMEs within Kakamega Municipality.Lack of or insufficient capital for expansion led to
collapse of many businesses,Poor infrastructure like bad and dilapidated road networks greatly
impacted negatively on the growth of the women owned SMEs due to delays in delivery,high
cost of transport.This made some women to relocate to central easily accessible places thus
losing their former clientelle base,Socio-cultural factors had no much impact on the growth of
the women owned SMEs due to modernity and diversity of our culture,Demographic
characteristics had bigger influence on the growth of businesses owned by women.the study has
revealed that education largely influenced growth of the women owned SMEs in kakamega
municplaity.married women also appeared to have steady businesses as compared to single
,wodowed and divorced women.this showed that family stability affected the growth of the
businesses,Modern technology has largely resulted in easier management of the businesses
owned by women,which inturn has led to their growth.The study has etablished that use of
mobile phones largely led to growth of many enterprises as it makes communication easy,it also
makes monitoring of various business processes less cumbersome.the mobile phone money
transfer also made it easier to pay debts to suppliers far away without having to meet
physically.The recommendetations made were mainly targeted at the government and they
were:The governemnt should adopt a clear and less sophisticated loaning policy o uplift women
entreprenuers and fully implement the Women enterprise funds in the ministry of youth and
sports,There should be identification of lucrative business ideas and proposed to women through
various initiatives rolled out across the country to enable women to see entrepreneurship as a
source of employment and not a last resort means after failing to secure formal employment,The
central government should mobilise funds toward the development and upgrade of infrastructure
especially road networks which are dilapidated and sometimes inaccesible during bad
weather,Women should actively stand up and take their position in the male dominated world to
compete equally.this should be done through a national campaing taken to the county level
where women should be actively encouraged and given incentives to take up business
challenges,Commercial banks and other micro finance institutions should come up with an
attractive package for women who involve in business.this should have friendlier terms of
interest rates and repayment period. | en |
