PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN ENTERPRISE FUND ON WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT (A survey of North Imenti Constituency)
Abstract
Women  Enterprise  Fund  is  a  powerful  tool  to  fight  poverty  .When  women  have  access  to  financial services  they  can  earn  more,  build  their  assets,  and  cushion  themselves  against  external  shocks  .Women Enterprise  Fund  can  enable  women  to  move  from  everyday  survival  to  planning  for  the  future.  Women Enterprise  fund  means  building  financial  systems  that  serve  the  poor  .In  most  developing  countries ,women  are  majority  of  the  population,  yet    they  are  the  least  likely  to  be served by the banks. In spite of many  efforts  in  Kenya  to  empower  women entrepreneurs  through  capacity  building  and  to  avail  them with  needed  resources,  there  is  a  gap  between  supply  side  and  demand  side,  most  women  entrepreneurs appear  not  to  have  taken  full  advantage  of  these  opportuni
ties  (ILO  2008).There  is  a  feeling  that  the maximum  of  fifty  thousand  given  to  the  groups  of  around  fifteen  women  is  very  little  to  start  and  sustain the  income  generating  activities,  given  that  some  of  these  women  chose  to  go  to  business  individually. The researcher  therefore  intended  to  assess  the  performance  of  the  Women  Enterprise  Fund  in  women economic  empowerment  in  North  Imenti  Constituency.  A  representative  sample  was  selected  from  the population  using  stratified  simple  random  and  cluster  sampling  methods. Data  was  collected  by  use  of questionnaires  which  contained  both  structured  and  unstructured  questions.  The  data  was  analyzed  using 
descriptive  and  inferential  statistics  and  findings  presented  in  tables,  graphs  and  pie  charts. The  study revealed  that  the  WEF  is  primarily  reaching  low-income  moderately  poor  micro  entrepreneurs,  who  are their  target  group.    This  conclusion  is  based  on  findings  that show that those who benefited from the fund have  more  basic  durable  assets  with  respondents  having  an  enterprise  that  generates  cash  on  a  weekly. This  helps  women  reduce  their  financial  vulnerability  through  diversification  of  income  sources  and accumulation  of  assets.  The  data  suggest  that  WEF  should  consider  the  feasibility  of  providing  individual loan  products  to  participants  who  have  been  diligent  in  repaying  their  group  loans.  Female  population should  be  encouraged  to  participate  in  various  economic  activities  in  order  to  improve  their  livelihoods. These  include  enrolment  in  post-primary  education,  observing  individual  health  needs  and  accessing productive   income   generating   activities   and/or   well-paying  employment.  Introduction  of  Women’s Development  Fund  is  a  positive  initiative  towards  economic  empowerment  of  female  population,  but  its implementation  needs  strong  identification  and  monitoring  systems  in  order  for  the  poor  women  to equally  benefit.

