An Overview of Women Enterprise Fund Uptake and Socio-economic Empowerment in Kisumu West SubCounty, Kisumu County, Kenya

Josia Alai Ongai, Dr Shanyisa M. Wilkister & Mr. Ombugu Phillip
The Catholic University of Eastern Africa
Corresponding author: josiahongai@gmail.com

Abstract: Women form majority of the world’s population, two-thirds of the world’s labour, majority of uneducated and earn one-tenth of the world’s income and possess less than one tenth of global property. Efforts to empower women have born less fruits. The establishment of women enterprise funds has seen fewer women benefiting from the same making their empowerment to remain low. The study’s’ broad objective was to investigate women enterprise fund uptake and socioeconomic empowerment in Kisumu West Sub County, Kisumu County, Kenya. Specific objectives were; to explore the disbursement procedure of Women Enterprise Fund in Kisumu West Sub County, to determine how culture influences utilization of women enterprise fund in Kisumu West subcounty, to examine how education level determines access to Women Enterprise Fund in Kisumu West Sub County, and, to propose a strategy that can be deployed by women to ease access to women enterprise fund in Kisumu West Sub County. A transformative worldview was adopted with a focus on mixed methods research approach. Descriptive research design was adopted. Questionnaires and Interviews were utilised in the collection of data. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS while thematic content analysis used for qualitative data. The findings revealed that although women enterprise fund uptake and socio-economic empowerment in Kenya remain low and a great puzzle to understand, its effectiveness and uptake can lead to realization of sustainable development goals in Kenya. The government should be proactive to ensure a larger proportion of women take up the fund to realize their socio-economic empowerment.