Uptake and Utilisation of the Constituency Women Enterprise Scheme (C-WES) Fund among Women Beneficiaries in Nyamira County- Kenya
Abstract
Globally, women's economic empowerment has been identified as a prerequisite to enhancing their economic development participation. It accelerates economic development and improves women's economic independence by creating job opportunities. Additionally, their social, educational and health standards both at the individual and family level improve. The government of Kenya introduced the women Enterprise Fund to empower women economically through the provision of credit and business support services. However, Women Enterprise Fund has experienced challenges in its extension of services. One of the major challenges is the high default rate among the fund beneficiaries accessing loans through Constituency Women Enterprise Scheme. The high default rate has impacted heavily on the sustainability of the fund. Therefore, this study sought to assess determinants of uptake and utilisation of loan Constituency Women Enterprise Scheme fund among women in Nyamira County. The objectives of the study were: To establish factors that determine the uptake of C-WES funds, examine determinants in the utilisation of C-WES funds, examine challenges related to the uptake and utilisation of C-WES funds and suggest gender-responsive strategies that would ensure effective utilisation of C-WES and improved repayment performance. The liberal feminist and joint liability theories guided the study. Naisurma's (2000) model was used to determine a sample size of 95 respondents who were further selected by systematic random sampling. Further, data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules; and was analysed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, and presented in the form of graphs, charts, and tables. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (Version 17.0). Findings from the study revealed that women were still interested in group loans. However, respondents identified loan size, lack of supervision, group conflicts as contributing factors to the uptake and utilisation of loan repayment. Loan diversion was also established among borrowers.
Downloads
References
Acquah H.D. and Addo J. (2011), "Determinants of loan repayment performance of fishermen: Empirical evidence from Ghana." Department of agricultural economics and extension, University of Cape Coast, Ghana Vol. XLIV, No. 4 (148).
Armendariz de Aghion, B., & Morduch, J. (2005). The economics of microfinance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Cheston, S., & Kuhn, L. (2002). Empowering women through microfinance. A case study of Sinapi Aba Trust, Ghana. USA: Opportunity International
Chitere, O. P., & Mutiso, R. (2011). Working with rural communities participatory action research in Kenya. University of Nairobi Press.
Fletschner, D. (2009). Rural women's access to credit: Market imperfections and intra household dynamics. World Development, 37(3), 618-631.
Ghatak, M. & T. Guinnane, T. (1999). The Economics of Lending with Joint Liability: Theory and Practice", Journal of Development Economics, 60 (1), 95-229.
GOK, (2009). Women Enterprise Fund, [Online] Available: http//www.gender.go.ke
Haile, F. (2015). Determinants of loan repayment performance: Case study of Harari microfinance institutions. Journal of Agricultural extension and rural development, 7(2), 56-64.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, (2010). The 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census; Population Distribution by Administrative Units: Republic of Kenya.
Kiraka, R., Kobia, M., & Katwalo, A. M. (2015). Micro, small and medium enterprise growth and innovation in Kenya: A case study on the Women Enterprise Fund.
Krenz, K., Gilbert, D. J., & Mandayam, G. (2014). Exploring women's empowerment through "credit-plus" microfinance in India. Affilia, 29(3), 310-325.
Kulkarni, V. S. (2011). Women's empowerment and microfinance: An Asian perspective study. Occasional Paper, 13, 1-42.
Kuzilwa, J. A. (2005). The role of credit for small business success: A study of the National Entrepreneurship Development Fund in Tanzania. The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 14(2), 131-161.
Lakwo, A. (2007). Microfinance, rural livelihood, and women's empowerment in Uganda. http://www.google.com
Mahajan, V., & Ramola, B. G. (2003). Microfinance in India: Banyan Tree and Bonsai. Background paper prepared for the World Bank.
Microfinance Focus. (2011). Microfinance Crisis that the Sector does not want to Remember, Special Magazine for the 2011, Global Microcredit Summit. http//www.microfinancefocus.com-6-microfiancecrises- sector-does-not-want- remember. Retrieved on 4/10/2015
Million, S., Nyikal, R., & Wania, S. (2012). Factors affecting loan repayment performance. Developing Countries Studies, 2(11), 4-10
Mix and CGAP. (2010). Sub-Saharan Africa 2009; Microfinance Analysis and Bench marking report.
Murthy, U., & Mariadas, P. A. (2017). An exploratory study on the factors contributing loan repayment default among the loan borrowers in micro finance institutions in Shah Alam, Selangor. International Journal of Business and Management, 12(12), 242-250.
Negash, A. (2006) Economic Empowerment of Women. Co facilitation for the first Women Leaders Intercultural Forum.
Nguta, M.H. and Guyo, H.S, (2013). Factors Influencing loan repayment Default in Microfinance Institutions. The experience of Imenti North District, Kenya. International Journal of Applied Sciences and technology.
Ojo, O. (2009). Impact of microfinance on entrepreneurial development: The case of Nigeria. In the International Conference on Economics and Administration, Faculty of Administration and business (pp. 536-545).
Onyeagocha, S., & Chidebelu, D. (2012). Determinants of loan repayment of microfinance. International Journal of Science and Humanities, 1(1), 3-6.
Paxton J. (1996) Determinants of Successful Loan Repayment: An Application to Burkina Faso. Paper Presented at Ohio State University, Ohio.
Shu-Teng, L., Zariyawati, M. A., Suraya-Hanim, M., & Annuar, M. N. (2015). Determinants of microfinance repayment performance: Evidence from small medium enterprises in Malaysia. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 7(11), 110.
Tundui C. &Tundui H. (2013). Microcredit, Micro Enterprising and Repayment Myth: the Case of Micro and Small Women Business Entrepreneurs In Tanzania. American Journal of Business and Management 2(1), 20 – 30.
WEF. (2016). Loan status report as at 18th July 2016. http://www.wef.co.ke/updates-and-reports/loan-status
WEF. (2017). Loan status report as at 31st March, 2017. http://www.wef.co.ke/updates-and-reports/loan-status
Yibrie, O., & Ramakrishna, R. (2017). Determinants of loan repayment performance in ACSI. International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences, 6(4), 151-169
Zhang, Z., Lu, G., Zhong, Y., Tan, Q., Chen, H., Liao, W., ... & Liu, Y. (2010). fMRI study of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy using amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation analysis. Human brain mapping, 31(12), 1851-1861.
Copyright (c) 2022 Millicent Kerubo Bosire, Grace Wamue-Ngare, PhD, Grace Bonaneri Okong’o, PhD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
