Contribution of Women Entrepreneurs to Economic Development in Wajir Townshipship, Kenya
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Date
2022
Authors
Mulei, Mirriam Wanza
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Women have long been regarded as significant pillars of both social and economic support in pastoralist communities, with their primary function being that of caregivers rather than wage earners. However, as women's empowerment grows, more of them are engaging in income- generating activities, with many of them pursuing entrepreneurship. The specific objective of the study was to establish the contribution of women entrepreneurs to economic development in Wajir township. The general objectives were to: determine the contribution of women entrepreneurs' risk-taking to the economic development of Wajir Township and determine the contribution of women entrepreneurs' competitiveness to the economic growth of Wajir Township, and determine the contribution of women entrepreneurs' innovativeness to the economic development of Wajir Township. A descriptive survey research design was used to conduct the study. This study was done among the 848 women entrepreneurs registered with the county's Department of Gender and Special Programs who operate inside the township. A 10% proportion was employed to choose a sample of one hundred (100) women for the study. The respondents were chosen using a basic random sampling procedure. Closed ended questionnaires were used to collect data, with key informant interviews used to triangulate the results. The questionnaire was evaluated and retested with a sample of respondents from pilot research, and the findings were compared to the Cronbach's Alpha correlation coefficient test, yielding a reliable result of 0.712. The study supervisors assessed the questionnaire and provided helpful feedback to test the instrument's validity. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and the results were presented in tables and figures. The study found that women entrepreneurs make a significant contribution to economic development in Wajir township. Risk taking was viewed as a mark of a succesful woman enterprenuer and it improved entreprise productivity and its ability to create more jobs. On the other hand, the women felt that their competitiveness enabled them to start more businesses effectively creating more jobs and generating personal wealth. Finally, both process and product innovativeness in women enterprenuers increased enterprise productivity hence contributing to economic development. The study recommends that the County government should put in place appropriate legislative frameworks that will allow the women entrepreneurs risk taking, competitiveness and innovativeness to flourish which will in turn result to increased economic development of the region.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the School of Business, Economics and Tourism in Partial Fulfilment for the Award of Degree in Master of Business Administration (Entrepreneurship) of Kenyatta University,October, 2022
Keywords
Contribution of Women Entrepreneurs, Economic Development, Wajir Townshipship, Kenya