Influence Of Table Banking On Livelihood Of Women: A Case Study Of Joyful Women Organization (Joywo) In Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Table banking is one of the key strategic interventions in providing financial resources to women globally to engage in livelihood projects thus improving their lives and eradicate abject poverty both in rural and urban slums where poverty is so rampant. Despite the importance of women empowerment in economic growth and employment creation, empirical studies have not shown clearly the effects of table banking on the livelihood of women in Uasin Gishu County thus knowledge on their investment decisions are few and scanty in the Kenyan context. The purpose of the study was to analyze the influence of Table Banking on livelihood of women focusing on Joyful women organization in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The specific objectives guiding this study were: to determine how credit accessibility through table banking has affected livelihood of women, to determine the influence of capacity building through table banking on livelihood of women, to determine how table banking has influenced women to access markets for their business products and services, and to establish the influence of membership power in table banking on livelihood of women. The study was guided by social capital theory, empowerment theory and social network theory. The study employed correlation research design, and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. The target population was 431 women self help groups in Uasin Gishu County beneficiaries of JOYWO. A sample of 81 women SHG was determined through simple random sampling where the women leaders of the groups were used as the main respondents. In the pilot testing, all the variables under study showed a cronbach‟s alpha of above 0.7, implying that all the variables were reliable this is evident by the estimated cronbach‟s alpha of 0.769 for credit accessibility, 0.848 for capacity building , 0.797 for market accessibility , 0.824 for membership power and 0.786 for livelihood. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. From the determination coefficients, there is a strong relationship between dependent and independent variables given an R2 values of 0.849 and adjusted to 0. 845. This shows that the independent variables (credit accessibility, capacity building, market accessibility, and membership power) accounts for 84.5% of the variations in Livelihood of Women. the study found that holding credit accessibility, capacity building, market accessibility, and membership power, at zero Livelihood of Women will be 3.77. Also, a unit rise in credit accessibility, while holding (capacity building, market accessibility, and membership power) constant, will lead to a raise in Livelihood of Women by 0.782 (p = 0.003). Further, unit raise in Capacity building, while holding (credit accessibility, market accessibility, and membership power) constant, will lead to arise in Livelihood of Women by 0.463 (p = 0.001). A unit rise in market accessibility, while holding (credit accessibility, capacity building, and membership power) constant, will lead to a raise in Livelihood of Women by 0.473 (p =0.005). Moreover, unit rise in Membership power, while holding (Credit accessibility, Capacity building, Market accessibility) constant, will lead to a raise in Livelihood of Women by 0.532 (p = 0.004). The study recommends that Women should endeavor to join table banking groups and engage in table banking programme to spur economic growth by engaging in entrepreneurship activities. The study also recommends that the government should embrace entrepreneurship education to women‟s and especially on table banking. A critical study of operationalization of table banking activity will help in determination of the influence of the groups‟ financial assets transactions, the influence of the groups‟ memberships, and the influence of groups‟ organizational cognition on the general levels of women‟s economic empowerment. It is hoped that information generated by the study will encourage investments in JOYWO to spur development in rural economies.