Investigation of factors that affect performance of small scale women groups in Kenya ( the case of women groups in Central Division of Machakos District)

Abstract

Women groups in the Central division of Machakos district brought about rural development through their small scale projects/activities. The groups were engaged in the primary sector activities, secondary sectors activities, and tertiary sector activities. Their projects/activities promoted women since through them they have educated their children, they have built good permanent living houses and provided quality food for their families. Benefits of their small scale business encouraged the coming up of many women groups though after a few month/years they stopped operating due to lack of profits or failure to expand their business thus poor performance.

This study sought to identify factors affecting the performance of the small scale women group projects/activities in Central division of Machakos district. The groups were stratified according to their categories of projects/activity. A portion of 40% of members in each group category was targeted to give a target population of 252 women. From the targeted population a random sample of 20% was chosen from each category to give a total sample of 50 women. Data for the study consisted of primary data collected by use of questionnaires.

The data were analyzed using statistical package of social sciences software and findings were presented in form of tables. Findings showed that training of women group members, appropriate funding and management, external support from government agencies and NGOs, and the nature of main projects/activities affected the performance of the women groups. Availability of all these factors significantly boosted their performance while their deficiency hindered any of their progress both in the long and short terms.