FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO DECLINATION OF WOMEN PROJECTS FUNDED BY LOCAL MFIS

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the factors contributing to declination of women projects funded by local MFIsMethodology: A qualitative and quantitative case study was adopted. The target population was included all the Kabete women groups financed by the KWFT Kabete branch. The number of groups was 200 with a total of 1000 members. As it not feasible for the researcher to study every member in the target population, a sample of 10% was considered representative. A nonrandom sampling technique was used to select 3 respondents from the various groups where the group leaders such as chair lady, treasurer and secretary were requested to fill in the questionnaires which were the instruments for data collection. The data collected was analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: Findings indicated that the main causes of failure of women projects funded by MFIs can be attributed to the general SME constraints such as competition, lack of technical training and capacity building and inappropriate information and technology. In addition, genders issues such as women immobility, lack of confidence, inadequate time and unequal distribution of productive resources contributed to failure. It was also found that low degree of formal training in various business areas was a state common with many women undertaking projects funded by local MFIs. It was found that despite local MFIs offering flexible borrowing and repayment terms, majority of women borrowers found it difficult to repay loans on time. It was also found that majority of women projects had not expanded nor contracted, that is, they had no noticeable growth. Nonetheless, it was unfortunate that a significant portion of women projects had actually collapsed as a result of the general and gender constraints listed in this study.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: It was recommended that general constraints to SMEs and gender disparities needed to be sorted out. The policy calling for improvement in the legal and regulatory framework require a comprehensive review of all pertinent Acts in order to determine the extent to which such acts have adverse impact on SMEs. The government effort to create markets such as Muthurwa and the other potential markets should be reinforced by the provision of amenities such as water, sanitation and electricity in those markets. Furthermore, more work places and land need to be set aside for the construction of effective trading structures. The government and stakeholders as well need to come together and establish public private partnerships with the mandate of providing business training as well building capacity among SME owners. The researcher recommends a study on an analytical study shedding light to the reasons for the slow implementation of various policies aimed at benefiting the SME sector