Access to financial services by women entrepreneurs in Migori County: A Case of West Sakwa Ward

Women entrepreneurs’ access to finance services is crucial to the economic development and growth in a particular area. They need to have access to financial services to make their work easier regarding saving, investing and even insuring their businesses against disasters like the fire that can lead to many losses. Accessing financial services improves the living standards and reduces the economic dependency of individuals, families and even groups. It is a fundamental aspect towards poverty reduction and development of a particular area since it opens up employment opportunities, attracts both local and foreign investors, leads to the development of infrastructure and economic growth. The study aimed at exploring the factors affecting women entrepreneurs’ access to financial services in Migori County, West Sakwa ward. Given that their financial access restricted regarding options available, there are few m-past shops, one Equity bank agent and KCB mtaani agent, all owned by one person worsening the situation in case the owner has an emergency to attend to or is not around. Determination of the effects of financial exclusion and effects of economic illiteracy on women entrepreneurs’ access to financial services in Migori County, West Sakwa ward were the specific objectives. The study used random sampling method and 378 female entrepreneurs of Migori County, West Sakwa ward as the appropriate sample size. The study adopted descriptive design. The study was conducted in West Sakwa ward, Migori County. Data collection was done by using questionnaires; SPSS was used to analyze the data collected. The analyzed data was submitted in various forms; charts, graphs, and tables. The major findings of the study established that culture is the greatest barriers to access to financial services for the women entrepreneurs, small levels of education has had a great impact on their access to financial services, more than half of the respondents only have the primary school education

Determinants of Choice of Finance by Coffee Farmers in Machakos County

Coffee farming in Kenya has faced numerous challenges over time ranging from land ownership to access to information, cultural beliefs and collateral challenges to acquisition of bank credit. This study aims to establish the determinants of choice of finance by coffee farmers in Machakos County Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive approach which utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The study used questionnaires to collect data from a sample of ninety-six (96) respondents. Multiple regression analysis was undertaken to test the relationship between the independent variable (collateral, interest rates, bureaucracy and accessibility to financial institutions) and the dependent variable (choice of finance). The findings indicate that R is 0.726, R2 is 0.527 and adjusted R2 is 0.5905. ANOVA of the data showed that F calculated is greater than F critical (26.361>2.49), indicating that the overall model was reliable in predicting the relationship between the independent variable (collateral, interest rates, bureaucracy and accessibility to financial institutions) and the dependent variable (choice of finance).The study concludes that there was a statistically significant association between collateral, interest rates, bureaucracy and accessibility to financial institutions and selection of funding as the p values 0.039, 0.001, 0.015, 0.011 and 0.018 are less than 0.05 at 5% level of significance. The study recommends that government and financial institutions, as well as other lending institutions, should consider coming up with policies and procedures geared towards catering for specific credit needs of farmers

How the Cynefin Framework from Complex Adaptive Systems Theory and Action Research can inform Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Social Marketing Practice

This study examines how social marketing for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention in Zimbabwe can be improved using the notion of ‘emergence’. The research context is that of a community exposed to VMMC promotional campaigns aimed at increasing the uptake of VMMC services. Promotional strategies were developed by contracted partners and overseen by the government formed VMMC Technical Working Group (TWG). The national strategy aimed for 80% take-up for males aged between 10 and 29 by 2015, but by 2016, only 16% of the target population had been circumcised, mainly the school-going populations. The challenges cited for missing the objectives included low levels of mobilisation in the community, motivation and absence of facilitators in all contexts (NAC, 2017; George et al., 2014; Hankins, Forsyth and Njeuhmeli, 2011). In my scholar-practitioner role, I engaged as a strategic information adviser in the organisation that advises and supports the government to identify evidence for effective strategic interventions. I engaged with the research by examining how to develop sustainable VMMC promotion and uptake using Social Marketing, informed by theoretical perspectives and practice of social marketing design. I began by looking into the multiplicity of concepts in the expansive field of promotional campaigns for social marketing. I distilled the theory into two units of analysis; the reductionist approach and complexity system. The research commences with the examination of the already enacted promotion and proceeds through action research cycles. The objectives are (1) to bring about change and make organisational VMMC promotion design sustainable - informed by 'emergence' in Complex Adaptive System and the Cynefin framework, (2) to understand and articulate how VMMC promotion is being enacted within the selected context, how it has affected belief systems and the consequences of would be recipients' actions, (3) to identify how the communication content of, and medium VMMC for, promotion can be altered to accommodate complex reactions within the context, and (4) to generate actionable knowledge that is relevant for academic and practitioner communities. I worked with a VMMC technical working group consisting of 6-19 co-researchers, through three action research cycles enacted to implement change process (above), and explore the espoused theories and theory-in-use, which underpin social marketing practice whereby implicit contextual dynamics concepts are made explicit. The proposed actionable knowledge is a reconceptualised promotional design and practice for the organisation to consider. I conclude the research with a reflection of my changed view in designing promotional campaigns

Accessibility of Financial Credit and the Growth of Women Owned Small Retail Enterprises in Uasin Gishu County

Women in the world account the highest economic growth through the economic activities they engage in.  Even though women entrepreneurs in Kenya have been known to engage in small scale retail enterprises, there has been a need to grow their businesses beyond the current level. However, hindering factors such as lower academic standards, higher interest rates, low income from these businesses and socio-cultural constraints have contributed to poor growth and management of these businesses. Access to credit by these women has also been hampered by these factors. The study investigated the challenges of access to credit on the growth of women owned enterprises in Kapseret constituency, Uasin Gishu County. Use of questionnaires and interview schedules to collect primary data was preferred in this study.  The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. It targeted women entrepreneurs in Kapseret constituency and the management of various micro-finance institutions in the region. A total of 1468 women entrepreneurs were  targeted which is the total number of women identified to have small scale business enterprises in the region operating as small enterprises. The desired sample size was identified using the Morgan and Krejcie Table for Determining Sample Sizes where the sample size comprised of 306 respondents. SPSS was used to code and enter data for analysis. The study adopted both the qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to achieve the objective of the study where the former used descriptive statistics where graphs, tables and pie charts has been used. This research used quantitative analysis to analyze collected data. The study also employed descriptive methods such as means, mode and median. The study established that education levels affects access to credit by women entrepreneurs and interest rate affects access to credit by women entrepreneurs, Keywords. women entrepreneurs , micro-finance institutions , Financial Credit , Growth,  Small Retail Enterprise

Effect of Mobile Bank Innovation and Cost of Implementation on Financial Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya (A Case Study of a Commercial Bank in Embu County)

Financial institutions in Kenya are in the process of significant transformation. The force behind the transformation of these institutions is innovation in information technology, rapid development of information technology has made banking tasks more efficient and cheaper. Banks are now increasingly choosing mobile platforms for innovative payment models and commerce capabilities. The general objective of the study was to analyze the effect of mobile banking innovation on the financial performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya. The specific objective was to establish the effect of mobile banking innovation financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya and to ascertain the extent to which the costs of implementing and maintaining mobile banking service influence the financial performance of Commercial Banks This study adopted descriptive research design. Target population was a total of 120 respondents from a commercial bank of study in Embu. Stratified random sampling method was used to pick a sample size of 36 respondents. The study collected both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. Secondary data was collected from annual reports of the bank. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistic especially frequency and percentage presentation. The findings were presented using Graphs and Frequency Distribution Tables. The findings established that new innovation on mobile banking products and costs of implementing and maintaining mobile banking service influence the profitability and creation of shareholder wealth in the bank. This study concludes that new mobile banking product innovation significantly influence financial performance of commercial banks in Keny

Impact of five years of peer-mediated interventions on sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in Mombasa, Kenya

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since 2000, peer-mediated interventions among female sex workers (FSW) in Mombasa Kenya have promoted behavioural change through improving knowledge, attitudes and awareness of HIV serostatus, and aimed to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infection (STI) by facilitating early STI treatment. Impact of these interventions was evaluated among those who attended peer education and at the FSW population level.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A pre-intervention survey in 2000, recruited 503 FSW using snowball sampling. Thereafter, peer educators provided STI/HIV education, condoms, and facilitated HIV testing, treatment and care services. In 2005, data were collected using identical survey methods, allowing comparison with historical controls, and between FSW who had or had not received peer interventions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over five years, sex work became predominately a full-time activity, with increased mean sexual partners (2.8 versus 4.9/week; <it>P </it>< 0.001). Consistent condom use with clients increased from 28.8% (145/503) to 70.4% (356/506; <it>P </it>< 0.001) as well as the likelihood of refusing clients who were unwilling to use condoms (OR = 4.9, 95%CI = 3.7–6.6). In 2005, FSW who received peer interventions (28.7%, 145/506), had more consistent condom use with clients compared with unexposed FSW (86.2% versus 64.0%; AOR = 3.6, 95%CI = 2.1–6.1). These differences were larger among FSW with greater peer-intervention exposure. HIV prevalence was 25% (17/69) in FSW attending ≥ 4 peer-education sessions, compared with 34% (25/73) in those attending 1–3 sessions (P = 0.21). Overall HIV prevalence was 30.6 (151/493) in 2000 and 33.3% (166/498) in 2005 (<it>P </it>= 0.36).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Peer-mediated interventions were associated with an increase in protected sex. Though peer-mediated interventions remain important, higher coverage is needed and more efficacious interventions to reduce overall vulnerability and risk.</p

Errors in ‘BED’-Derived Estimates of HIV Incidence Will Vary by Place, Time and Age

The BED Capture Enzyme Immunoassay, believed to distinguish recent HIV infections, is being used to estimate HIV incidence, although an important property of the test--how specificity changes with time since infection--has not been not measured.We construct hypothetical scenarios for the performance of BED test, consistent with current knowledge, and explore how this could influence errors in BED estimates of incidence using a mathematical model of six African countries. The model is also used to determine the conditions and the sample sizes required for the BED test to reliably detect trends in HIV incidence.If the chance of misclassification by BED increases with time since infection, the overall proportion of individuals misclassified could vary widely between countries, over time, and across age-groups, in a manner determined by the historic course of the epidemic and the age-pattern of incidence. Under some circumstances, changes in BED estimates over time can approximately track actual changes in incidence, but large sample sizes (50,000+) will be required for recorded changes to be statistically significant.The relationship between BED test specificity and time since infection has not been fully measured, but, if it decreases, errors in estimates of incidence could vary by place, time and age-group. This means that post-assay adjustment procedures using parameters from different populations or at different times may not be valid. Further research is urgently needed into the properties of the BED test, and the rate of misclassification in a wide range of populations

Prevalence and risk factors for HIV-1 infection in rural Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania: Implications for prevention and treatment

BACKGROUND: Variability in stages of the HIV-1 epidemic and hence HIV-1 prevalence exists in different areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate the magnitude of HIV-1 infection and identify HIV-1 risk factors that may help to develop preventive strategies in rural Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and May of 2005 involving all individuals aged between 15–44 years having an address in Oria Village. All eligible individuals were registered and invited to participate. Participants were interviewed regarding their demographic characteristics, sexual behaviors, and medical history. Following a pre-test counseling, participants were offered an HIV test. RESULTS: Of the 2 093 eligible individuals, 1 528 (73.0%) participated. The overall age and sex adjusted HIV-1 prevalence was 5.6%. Women had 2.5 times higher prevalence (8.0% vs. 3.2%) as compared to men. The age group 25–44 years, marriage, separation and low education were associated with higher risk of HIV-1 infection for both sexes. HIV-1 infection was significantly associated with >2 sexual partners in the past 12 months (women: Adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.5 (95%CI: 1.3–4.7), and past 5 years, [(men: AOR, 2.2 (95%CI:1.2–5.6); women: AOR, 2.5 (95%CI: 1.4–4.0)], unprotected casual sex (men: AOR,1.8 95%CI: 1.2–5.8), bottled alcohol (Men: AOR, 5.9 (95%CI:1.7–20.1) and local brew (men: AOR, 3.7 (95%CI: 1.5–9.2). Other factors included treatment for genital ulcers and genital discharge in the past 1 month. Health-related complaints were more common among HIV-1 seropositive as compared to seronegative participants and predicted the presence of HIV-1 infection. CONCLUSION: HIV-1 infection was highly prevalent in this population. As compared to our previous findings, a shift of the epidemic from a younger to an older age group and from educated to uneducated individuals was observed. Women and married or separated individuals remained at higher risk of infection. To prevent further escalation of the HIV epidemic, efforts to scale up HIV prevention programmes addressing females, people with low education, lower age at marriage, alcohol consumption, condom use and multiple sexual partners for all age groups remains a top priority. Care and treatment are urgently needed for those infected in rural areas