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.