"Elevated to somewhere": A Case Study on the Influence of Women's Microcredit Groups on Empowerment in Eastern Kenya Open Access

Abstract

Background: Over 40% of Sub-Saharan Africa's population lives on less than $1 a day,
and the region is at risk of not meeting any of the Millennium Development Goal targets.1
For the past 40 years, microfinance has been heralded as a solution to poverty, a means of
empowerment, and a way to directly improve health outcomes. However, there is little
published research that has examined the effect of microfinance on empowerment in an
African context.
Objectives: This research will examine how women's involvement in Vinya Wa Aka, a
unique microcredit group in Eastern Kenya, influences empowerment as a process and
outcome. This research seeks to address the gap in literature on empowerment and
microcredit in Kenya.
Methods: This study uses a case study approach with two groups of participants, VWA
founders and trainees. A total of 24 in-depth interviews were conducted in 5 study sites in
Nairobi and Eastern Province, Kenya. Participants were selected based on differential
length of involvement, residence, and income-generating activities. Grounded theory
guided data collection and analysis, with comparison and conceptualization being used
extensively. Participant observations were also conducted during social and business
meetings with VWA founders.
Results: Money plays a complex role in the groups' empowerment, yet it was reported as
one of the least important benefits of involvement with VWA. There was a clear, cyclical
process of "enlightenment" and empowerment that occurred in the trainee groups due to
their involvement with VWA. "Enlightenment" consisted of trainings, where participants
were "exposed" to new ideas and "woken up" to the possibilities that this unique model
could provide. Participants were empowered through "moving up" financially and
socially, achieving security in the group, and finally, feeling stable enough to "move
forward" and help other groups achieve empowerment, thus continuing the cycle.
Discussion: In public health discourse, "empowerment" is often proxy for development,
increasing women's status, and improving women's health outcomes. This research
provides the process by which women in this microcredit group begin to achieve such
empowerment, which de-emphasizes monetary inputs, and which may prove useful to
donors and others engaged in public health work in Kenya.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1

LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................................................................................3

Microfinance and Poverty Reduction ...................................................................................7
Microfinance and Health ...................................................................................................8
Microfinance and Empowerment .........................................................................................9

MANUSCRIPT ................................................................................................................13
Contributions .................................................................................................................14
Abstract .......................................................................................................................15
Background ...................................................................................................................16
Aims ............................................................................................................................19
Methods .......................................................................................................................20
Results .........................................................................................................................29
Discussion .....................................................................................................................42

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................46

PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS ......................................................................................52

APPENDIX 1: List of Codes and Definitions ......................................................................55
APPENDIX 2: Emory University IRB Exemption Approval ..................................................60
APPENDIX 3: Founding Member In-Depth Interview Guide ................................................62
APPENDIX 4: Trainee In-Depth Interview Guide ...............................................................64

About this Master's Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Hubert Department of Global Health
Degree	MPH
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health
Keyword	empowerment women gender poverty Africa development microcredit Kenya microfinance qualitative
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Hennink, Monique, Emory University
Partnering Agencies	Community-based non-profit organization (e.g., AID Atlanta)

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