The Effects of Education on Management of Women Owned Small and Medium Enterprises in Kisumu Town East Constituency: A survey of Women Enterprise G Fund

Abstract

Education is a powerful tool for building capacity which can lead to reducing poverty, redressing inequality, improving health and social well-being and creating a foundation for sustained economic growth. However, inadequate knowledge in financial management has actually led to the failure of many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) established by women despite many opportunities provided to access finance for enterprise development. Women continue to have systematically poorer command over a range of production resources, including education and financial resources. The main purpose of this study therefore was to find out the effects of education on the management of women owned SMEs established through the Women Enterprise Fund. The specific objectives were; to examine the accessibility of Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) to the women entrepreneurs, to determine how management of SMEs established through WEF are affected by education level of the women borrowers and to examine management constraints facing the SMEs established through the WEF. The study was conducted in Kisumu Town East Constituency and it employed the use of survey research. A sample size of 216 respondents was selected from the total population of 245 women groups. Simple random sampling was used to select the women group members for interviews while purposive sampling was used to select key informants. The instruments used to collect primary data included questionnaires, focus group discussions, observation and interviews. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively at a significance level of 0.05 and results presented in the form of charts, tables and graphs. Qualitative data were summarized into themes and presented in a narrative form to provide explanation on the findings. From the study, only 09% of registered groups had acquired funds since the inception ofWEF.74% of the respondents felt that the process of acquiring the fund was long and the registration fee charged was high. 71% were convinced that if women could have full control in decision making on acquisition of fund and management of business enterprise then many would go for the fund. 80% of the respondents agreed that they had been trained in various areas related to business and fmancial management.However, only 43% confessed that they had experienced improved living standards. 31% accepted that education affects the performance of a business. Women who are well educated have ease of accessing the funds because they have a better understanding of the processes involved. Some women disputed the perception that businesses established by educated women perform well.Some of the constraints that limit the success of SMEs established through micro-credit funds include poverty, cultural factors and strict institutional policies. The study concludes that though education is important in the success of women SMEs established through the micro-credit funds there are mixed perception among the respondents which calls for further investigations. The study recommends review of policy frameworks on credit acquisition, intensification of training on SMEs through needs assessment, creation of a level playing ground for all borrowers at group level and increasing sources of credit for women entrepreneurs. This study may be important to policy and decision makers in providing frameworks for improved performance of women SMEs and increased access to micro-credit funds. It may also benefit other researchers as a source of reference in their study.