An assessment of factors affecting sustainability of income generating activities undertaken by churches: case study Dagoretti, Nairobi

Abstract

Due to the increasing pressure for employment, more and more Kenyans are turning to the informal sector for job creation. Every country requires a strategic approach to developing its entrepreneurs and enterprises so as to harness the tremendous amount of human resource capabilities that exist, especially among women, youth and other special groups. Such a strategy can create many businesses and employment opportunities - including self-employment -leading to improved standards of living, poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods. Understanding who entrepreneurs are, what they do and the factors that affect their sustainability provides an essential starting point for consideration of policies and strategies to improve the delivery of training and business services to the entrepreneurs (Mullei & Bokea, 1999). The purpose of this study was to assess the factors affecting sustainability of income-generating activities undertaken by a special group - churches in Kenya. Survey Research design was used to derive descriptive data from a population of 129 churches (appendix 6) registered in Dagoretti, Nairobi (FTT, 2004). Purposive sampling method was used to derive the sample of 30 churches that have income generating activities (appendix 7). The independent variables in the study were the factors affecting sustainability of these income -generating activities. These were limited by time to: Leadership, Finance and Social demographic factors. The dependent variable is sustainability. Data was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. This was done descriptively by content and frequency of concurrence and tabulated using percentages. The results of the study show the factors affecting sustainability of income generating activities by churches in Dagoretti. It is hoped that the conclusions and recommendations provided at the end of the project will give guidance to this special group of enterprises in Kenya and enhance their life cycle.