Role Of Saccos In The Eradication Of Poverty Among Farmers In Muranga County A Case Of Selected Sacco’s In Muranga Town

Abstract

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, (2012) more than 40% of the Kenyan population in these areas is still living in poverty where a family survives with less than one United States dollar a day which makes it difficult for them to participate in the national building. The main objective of this study was to find out the role of SACCOs in the eradication of poverty of the members’ among farmers in Muranga County. To successfully achieve the study objective the research will be guided by the following specific objectives:- To determine the extent to which deposits/share capital help in eradication of poverty among farmers in Muranga County; To find out how the loans issued by the SACCOs help in eradication of poverty among farmers in Muranga County. The results of this study was of great value to the government may be guided in disbanding funds by establish clear and enabling policy guidelines so as to help the poverty eradication measures to be taken. The study employed a descriptive survey research design to find out the role of SACCOs in the eradication of poverty of the members’ among farmers in Muranga County. The target population of this study consisted of all the forty three SACCOs in Murang’a County licensed by the regulator and under the regulation of the ministry of co-operatives. The study adopted a census study. The collected data was examined and checked for completeness and comprehensibility. The data was tabulated with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0) that has data handling and statistical analysis capability that can analyze data statistics and generate descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, means and standard deviations. Data presentation was done by the use of pie charts, bar charts and graphs, percentages and frequency tables. The study findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between share capital/deposit and poverty eradication (p=0.000), between loan issued and poverty eradication (p=0.003), but there was no significant relationship between training and poverty eradication (p=0.711). The study concluded that growth in SACCO loans facilitates members in wealth creation. This implies that the size of the loan that a member qualifies will determine the economic status of such a member. The study recommended that the SACCO should continuously encourage members to increase their share capital and also to increase their borrowings so as to increase their economic strength.