MST-Department of Gender and Development Studies

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Browsing MST-Department of Gender and Development Studies by Author "Bosire, Kerubo Millicent"

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    Effects of the Constituency Women Enterprise Scheme on the Performance of Women Enterprises in Nyamira County- Kenya.
    (Kenyatta University, 2024-05) Bosire, Kerubo Millicent
    Globally, women’s economic empowerment has been identified as a prerequisite to enhancing their participation in economic development. It accelerates economic growth and improves women's financial independence by creating job opportunities. Additionally, their social, educational and health standards at the individual and family levels improve. The government of Kenya introduced the Women Enterprise Scheme to empower women economically through the provision of credit and business support services. Women in Kenya have been able to access credit through registered groups. However, businesses owned by women have experienced challenges such as collapse, low profits, and stagnation which have further led to high loan defaults among borrowers. Therefore, this study sought to assess the effects of the Constituency Women Enterprise Scheme on the performance of women's enterprises. The objectives of the study were: To assess the demographic characteristics of women beneficiaries, establish types of businesses operated by women, assess how C-WES has improved the performance of women enterprises, and identify challenges and mitigation measures of women enterprises. The liberal feminist theory guided the study. Krejcie and Morgan table (1970) was used to determine a sample size of 368 respondents who were further selected by systematic random sampling. Further, data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules; and was analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, and presented in form of graphs, charts, and tables. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (Version 17.0). Findings from the study revealed that loan size, lack of supervision, loan diversion, gender roles, competition, and business support services affected enterprise performance. Demographic characteristics such as age, marital status, and level of education also influenced enterprise performance. The study recommends that C-WES should tailor their financial products that better meet the needs of women entrepreneurs by increasing the grace and repayment period and loan size. Further, the Ministry of Public Service, Youth & Gender Affairs should devise strategies that help address gender-related challenges that affect the effective uptake of C-WES and the performance of business enterprises.