Determinants of growth of small and medium scale enterprises owned by women entrepreneurs in Migori District, Kenya

Abstract

This study looked at the business entrepreneurial environment as the independent variable with the following aspects that affected the dependent variable; management skills of women entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship education and training, access to finance by women entrepreneurs as well as policy framework on small and medium scale enterprises in Kenya. The dependent variable in this study was the growth of women owned and operated SMEs. The study sought to determine factors that influence the growth of women owned and managed small and medium scale enterprises in Kenya and particularly in Migori District.

The specific objectives of the study were: To investigate the extent to which management skills determine growth of women SMEs in Migori District; to establish the level at which entrepreneurial education and training determine growth of women SMEs in Migori District, to assess the extent to which accessibility to finance determine growth of women owned and managed SMEs in Migori District and to explore administrative strategies and policies that would determine growth of women ~wned and managed SMEs in Migori District. The study employed a descriptive survey research design for a target population of 912 women entrepreneurs whose businesses were registered with the department of social services at the Ministry of Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development in Migori District as at May 2011.

Data was analyzed using measures of central tendencies and dispersions using SPSS. Frequency tables and percentages were used to present data .The study showed that women engaged in entrepreneurship because they wanted to secure employment and provide for family needs. A large proportion were engaged in service sector (43.1%) .The study also reveal that most SME women entrepreneurs (28.2%) were K.c.s.E drop outs while a small proportion were University graduates (2.4%). The study further reveal that management skills, entrepreneurship education and training, accessibility to finance and Government policies had influence on growth of SMEs owned by women. The study concluded that strong policies were needed to cushion women entrepreneurs from punitive regulatory framework conditions to enable them to grow their businesses.