Empowering women through access to sustainable financial services
In Kenya, women perform most poultry-related tasks - cleaning, feeding, treating the birds – but ownership of the livestock and participation in decision-making are limited. To overcome these challenges and improve women’s skills and access to finance, the Kenyan microfinance institution Yehu provided training in poultry breeding and financial literacy. It also provided a selected group of women with gender-focused training. This project was developed in collaboration with SSNUP and its partner SIDI (Solidarité Internationale pour le Développement et l’Investissement) together with Soluti, its affiliate in East Africa.
SSNUP commissioned a perception survey among 220 participating poultry farmers, 84% of whom are women, to assess the effects of the capacity building. After the trainings in poultry breeding and financial literacy, women smallholder farmers increased their production and their participation in financial decisions.
As one female farmer explained: “The gender training increased my knowledge on how to ensure I make a profit from breeding poultry. Additionally, the other training we received on financial management has helped me constantly come up with ideas on where to get more money.”
For most of the participants, training led to an improvement in farming practices (92%), and to an increase in production (87%). 57% reported higher earnings, suggesting that additional support is needed such as reducing input costs and improved access to markets or that a longer period of time is needed to reflect the results in the earnings.
The survey also concluded that the gender-focused training is shifting decision-making power: 82% state that they now have more influence over household financial decisions.