Effects of Women Enterprise Fund Programs on the Performance Of Women Enterprises in Moiben Sub-County, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Global statistics indicate that women are involved in various entrepreneurial activities. However, few of them have thrived. This is because many women lack access to the required initial capital to establish and /or expand their enterprises. Entrepreneurial activities enhance poverty reduction, according to the women beneficiaries, the opportunity to earn an independent income and create employment. For many years, women-owned enterprises in Kenya have continued to face challenges in achieving optimal performance, exhibiting high failure rates despite the establishment of the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) to enhance access to credit and entrepreneurial resources. However, evidence regarding the effectiveness of WEF remains mixed, and there is limited understanding of its impact on the performance of women enterprises in Moiben Sub-County, Uasin Gishu County. This study aimed to investigate the influence of Women Enterprise Fund programs on the performance of women-owned enterprises in Moiben Sub-County. Specifically, the study sought to determine the effect of credit facility provision, assess the impact of capacity-building initiatives, and examine the role of market linkages in enhancing enterprise performance. The study was guided by the Resource-Based Theory and Sociological Entrepreneurship Theory and adopted a descriptive research design. The target population consisted of 472 funded women’s groups in Moiben Sub-County, comprising 5,223 individual members. Consequently, the unit of analysis was the women’s groups, while the unit of observation was the individual group members. Using Yamane’s (1967) formula, a sample size of 371 respondents was determined. Participants were selected through a simple random sampling technique. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire, and the quantitative data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, while inferential analysis was conducted through regression analysis to examine the strength and direction of relationships. The findings revealed that all three WEF program components credit facilities, capacity building, and market linkages had a positive and significant effect on the performance of women-owned enterprises in Moiben Sub-County. Credit facilities were identified as significant predictors of enterprise performance, with a beta value of 0.169 (p = 0.000 < 0.005). Capacity-building initiatives showed a beta value of 0.213 (p = 0.000 < 0.005), while market linkages exhibited the strongest effect with a beta value of 0.253 (p = 0.000 < 0.005). Overall, the analysis indicated that these three factors collectively contributed positively to the growth, sustainability, and overall performance of women-owned enterprises in the study area. The significant F-values confirmed that WEF programs had a substantial influence, leading to the rejection of the null hypotheses. the study recommends that the Women Enterprise Fund should continue to strengthen and expand its provision of credit facilities, capacity-building programs, and market linkage initiatives to further enhance the performance of women-owned enterprises. Additionally, WEF is encouraged to design targeted training programs that address the specific needs and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs to maximize the impact of its interventions.