ceewa-ugbaselinestudy.doc
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A BASELINE STUDY ON ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN THROUGH THE USE OF ICTs IN UGANDA
(Final Report)
Compiled By:
Richard Kibombo and Samuel K. Kayabwe of Makerere Institute of Social Research
In collaboration withEdith Nsajja-Mwanje of CEEWA
Compiled For
The Council for Economic Empowerment of Women of Africa (CEEWA) - Uganda Chapter
Funded by:
IDRC
October 2000
Acknowledgement
This study would not have been successful without the assistance, support and cooperation from many individuals and Institutions. First and foremost, we wish to acknowledge the support of IDRC Canada through the IDRC Regional Office, Nairobi, and the Council for Economic Empowerment of Women – Uganda Chapter for ensuring that all logistical requirements for the exercise are put in place. In this respect, we wish to extend our sincere appreciation to Eva Rathgeber (Regional Director - IDRC), Edith Ofwona Adera (IDRC-Acacia Programme Officer), and Florence Etta (IDRC-Acacia Evaluation Consultant), Florence Kuteesa (Chairperson, CEEWA-Uganda), Goretti Zavuga (ICT Project Officer, CEEWA-Uganda & Co-ordinator of ICT baseline survey)
We would also like to thank the Buwama and Nabweru telecentre staff, particularly Ms Margaret Kulabako (Telecentre Manager – Buwama MCT), Florence Bakka (Information Officer – Buwama MCT), Edward Juuko (Telecentre Manager – Nabweru MCT) and Dan Ssemakula (Information Officer – Nabweru MCT) for providing office space for training of enumerators.
Our thanks also go to the community leaders together with the respondents we visited in Buwama Sub-county, Nabweru Sub-county, and Nakawa Division for their excellent cooperation. The enumerators who conducted the field interviews deserve special thanks: Rehema Baguma, Peter Waiswa, Moses Katongole, Carol Nsibambi, Joseph Mwebesa, Nuruh Nsimbe, and Prossy Mulindwa. Lastly, our thanks go to the data clerk/coder, Melch Natukunda, who helped in coding the questionnaires and entering the data.
Any errors that remain despite all the advice and support extended, are entirely our own.
Richard Kibombo (Statistician)Samuel K. Kayabwe (Social-Scientist)Edith Nsajja-Mwanje (Micro-enterprise Expert)October 2000
Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 BRIEF BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CEEWA - UGANDA..........................................................................11.2 ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN THROUGH ICTS PROJECT...................................................................11.3 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN UGANDA.................................................................11.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE BASELINE STUDY............................................................................................................2
2.0 METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 PREPARATION................................................................................................................................................ 32.2 FIELD PRE-VISITS.......................................................................................................................................... 32.3 POPULATION OF STUDY................................................................................................................................. 42.4 SCOPE OF COVERAGE.................................................................................................................................... 42.5 SAMPLE SELECTION....................................................................................................................................... 52.6 DATA COLLECTION....................................................................................................................................... 72.7 DATA EDITING, ENTRY AND ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................... 8
3.0 FINDINGS...................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.1 WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR FINDINGS................................................................................................................ 93.1.1 Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics...........................................................................................93.1.2 Respondents’ Economic Characteristics...............................................................................................103.1.3 Major Constraints to Respondents’ Most Important Business...............................................................143.1.4 Status of Respondent’s Economic Empowerment..................................................................................153.1.5 Respondents’ Awareness of ICTs.......................................................................................................... 153.1.6 Respondents’ Level of ICT Usage.........................................................................................................163.1.7 Type of Information Sent/Received Over the Last 3 Months Through Different ICTs............................173.1.8 Information Communication Needs......................................................................................................193.1.8 Respondents’ Training Needs............................................................................................................... 20
3.2 WOMEN ORGANISATIONS............................................................................................................................. 223.2.1 Business Activities............................................................................................................................... 223.2.2 Current Usage of ICTs......................................................................................................................... 233.2.3. Entrepreneurial Skills Training........................................................................................................... 23
3.3 MSE SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS................................................................................................................. 243.3.1 MSE Business Services..................................................................................................................... 243.3.2 Women’s Access and Demand for MSE Business Services....................................................................253.3.3 Women’s Ability to Pay for Services....................................................................................................253.3.4 MSE Problems Associated with Women Clients....................................................................................26
4. LESSONS LEARNT AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................26
5. MONITORING AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORK...............................................................................28
ANNEX 1: ADDITIONAL TABLES................................................................................................................. 31
ANNEX 2: MSE SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS VISITED..................................................................................35
ANNEX 3: LIST OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS SELECTED FOR TRAINING.....................................37
ANNEX 4: LIST OF ORGANISATIONS SELECTED FOR TRAINING.......................................................38
Annex 5: Survey Instruments............................................................................................................................... 39
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1.0 Introduction
1.1 Brief Background Information on CEEWA - Uganda
The Council for the Economic Empowerment of Women of Africa (CEEWA) – Uganda Chapter is a non-profit organisation that was set up with the explicit objective of promoting the economic empowerment of women through the advancement of women concerns in the economic development process. In the short term, CEEWA-Uganda has identified four major women’s concerns on which the programme is focusing. These concerns are:
Lack of control over land by women; Inappropriate microfinance delivery methodologies; Inadequate participation of women and civil society in economic decision making; and Inadequate and Inappropriate agricultural extension services.
In order to address these concerns, CEEWA – Uganda has adopted a number of strategies which include: Training and Sensitisation; Research and Documentation; Lobbying for participation in relevant technical committees and task forces commissioned by mainstream
economy-related organisations; and Participation in collaborative lobbying and advocacy initiatives with other NGOs.
In implementing the above strategies, CEEWA-Uganda has put in place four major programmes, namely: Women and Economic Decision-Making. This programme brings together women professionals in
various multidisciplinary fields to work as a group in mainstreaming women’s concerns in the economic development process.
Women and Finance. This programme aims at strengthening and enhancing gender equity in microfinance initiatives.
Resource Centre Project. The overall objective of this programme is to strengthen and enhance the use of information and communication technologies by women and their organisations.
Women and Agriculture. The primary objective of this programme is to support Government and NGOs in developing agricultural extension services deliverable in a gender responsive manner.
1.2 Economic Empowerment of Women through ICTs Project
In line with its overall goal – of increasing women’s access to and control of economic resources, CEEWA – Uganda is in the process of implementing a 2-year project that puts special focus on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to promote the growth and development of women enterprises. The overall objective of the project is to enable women entrepreneurs and women’s organisations that promote enterprise development to explore ways and means of exploiting ICTs for community economic empowerment. The project will specifically:
i) Identify the information needs of micro and small scale women entrepreneurs and women’s organisations in 3 project sites of Buwama, Nabweru, and Kampala;
ii) Build human resource capacity, among participating women entrepreneurs and women organisations, through training in entrepreneurship development and ICTs application in entrepreneurship;
iii) Establish a Women’s Information Resource and Electronic Services (WIRES) that will enable women entrepreneurs to access information relevant to the development of their entrepreneurial skills and the expansion of their existing enterprises; and
iv) Monitor, evaluate, and document the performance of the participating entrepreneurs and women’s organisations, and to disseminate the knowledge generated.
1.3 Information and Communication Technologies in Uganda
In the last decade, the Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) sector has seen explosive growth globally. The Internet and other global on-line networks are creating new commercial opportunities for networked enterprises. These include advertising and selling tangible goods, traditionally sold through other mechanisms over the Internet. Many sellers globally are adapting the Internet as a fast and cheap way of reaching their clients.
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Uganda, like the rest of the world, has also seen rapid advances in this area. The liberalisation of Uganda’s economy has resulted into a proliferation of private sector interests in the provision of information and communication services. As a result, the country now has over 20 private F.M radio stations where there was none just 10 years ago.
By the end of 1997, Uganda Posts and Telecommunications, the only national operator at the time had only 50,829 subscribers and had an installed switching capacity of 79,825. After the coming in of a second national operator, MTN (with a record subscription of 100,000 customers in just 1 ½ years of starting its operations), the teledensity of Uganda - which is still one of the lowest in the world, has tripled in the last 2 years. Many remote areas where telephone services were unheard of can now be reached through the cellular phone network.
More recently, there has also been a proliferation of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and cybercafes - though these are still more confined to Kampala – the capital. Consequently, because of the increased competition, there has been a general downward trend in user charges enabling the average Ugandan to enjoy services that were once the preserve of the affluent.
However, while some groups in the Ugandan society have taken advantage of these developments, others especially women and girls in rural areas have generally been disadvantaged. General observations and anecdotal notes from workshops and recent surveys suggest that few grass root women, women’s organisations, business associations or NGOs have access to ICT facilities. In order to address the problems associated with access and utilisation of ICTs, IDRC’s Acacia initiative has already set up two Multipurpose Community Telecentres (MCTs) at Buwama and Nabweru and a third one with UNESCO/ITU at Nakaseke. IDRC will also soon be implementing a series of research and demonstration projects such as SchoolNet and Telemedicine in Uganda. It is in this regard that the CEEWA-Uganda ICT project is developed, but with a specific focus on addressing the problem of inequality of ICT usage patterns, particularly as it affects women entrepreneurs. The project intends to exploit the Acacia ICT infrastructure, already in place, and use it to avail women-entrepreneurs with information and entrepreneurial development skills they lack (and are in most need) through use of ICTs.
1.4 Objectives of the Baseline Study
Arising from the foregoing, CEEWA – Uganda carried out in the proposed project areas of Kampala, Buwama, and Nabweru with the primary aim of collecting baseline data on the existing situation of women entrepreneurs particularly with regard to the current mode of communication used, type of information accessed, level of ICT awareness, as well as the women’s unmet entrepreneurial needs which impede entrepreneurial development.
The specific objectives were:
i) To identify micro and small scale women entrepreneurs, and women organisations engaged in entrepreneurial development initiatives in Kampala, Nabweru and Buwama study sites;
ii) To identify the relevant information that is currently obtained, communicated and means used by both women entrepreneurs and women organisations for their operations;
iii) To identify information and communication needs (information gaps and constraints) in trade and commerce;
iv) To establish levels of awareness and practice among women entrepreneurs and women organisations about ICTs;
v) To obtain relevant and useful information on MSE associations and support institutions in Buwama, Nabweru and Kampala that will meet the identified information, communication and capacity building needs of women entrepreneurs and women organisations;
vi) To identify three MSE sub-sectors, in Buwama and Nabweru study sites, based on their dynamism and peculiarities compared to other categories of MSE sub-sectors and on basis of their potential to maximise different learning experiences;
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vii) To determine a sample of MSE women entrepreneurs in Buwama and Nabweru study sites, stratified by the identified MSE sub-sectors, that will be monitored during the project lifetime;
viii)To assess and document the socio-economic status of the selected women entrepreneurs in each of two study sites;
ix) To determine the elements of economic empowerment and advise on the monitorable indicators to be used in the construction of M&E framework; and
x) To determine the training needs (entrepreneurial skills & use of ICTs) of the sampled women entrepreneurs.
2.0 Methodology
2.1 Preparation
At the preparatory stage, a review of the existing data on the three project areas was done to help the study team identify and develop key monitoring and evaluation indicators that will feed into the monitoring and evaluation framework for the assessment of project impact.
2.2 Field Pre-visits
Field pre-visits which begun on the 9th June 2000 were conducted in all the proposed project areas of Buwama, Kampala, and Nabweru. The purpose of the pre-visits was to:
i) Introduce, sensitise and seek consensus about the survey and the two-year ICT project from the community leaders (LCs)– most especially the women leaders, telecentre staff, and local telecentre steering committees.
ii) Identify and recruit potential enumerators for training as data collectors for the survey. Seven enumerators (three of whom were to work in all the 3 project areas, while two were to work only in Buwama and another two in only Nabweru and Kampala) were trained in various data collection techniques.
iii) Train the enumerators in administering the survey questionnaires and equip them with the necessary interview skills. During training, several interview simulation exercises were conducted to sufficiently prepare the enumerators for the actual one-to-one field interviews. The training exercise lasted two days at each site with the exception of Kampala where no training was done as data collection in Kampala was done by the Nabweru team which had already been fully trained.
iv) Pilot test the questionnaires. This was done at the end of the training exercise. Pilot testing was carried out within the project sub-counties but in parishes that had not been selected for the study. This was done to avoid polluting the environment in the actual study parishes. Pilot testing helped the research team to further fine-tune the data collection instruments as well as strengthening the capacity of the enumerators to ably administer the questionnaires.
v) Construct a sampling frame for the Individual Women Respondents. Before selecting the study sample, there was need to construct a sampling from which the respondents were to be chosen. To do this, the population of women entrepreneurs was sub-divided into four groups (strata) of fairly homogeneous economic activities, i.e., Agriculture, Trade, Manufacturing, and Services. Then, through discussions with the local enumerators and/or community leaders, each stratum was further sub-divided into
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more homogeneous sub-strata and proportions of women entrepreneurs falling under each stratum and sub-stratum determined. This was made to ensure that women entrepreneurs, in whatever economic activity they are involved in, had a fair (proportional to size of activity group) chance of being selected in the study sample.
vi) Construct a sampling frame for women entrepreneurial organisations/groups. For similar reasons as in (v), an attempt was made to compile an exhaustive list of women entrepreneurial organisations/groups present in the selected parishes for each study site. Information on nature and size of membership, and type of activities organisation/group is involved in etc. was also collected to help the research team in choosing which organisations/groups to visit.
vii) Construct a sampling frame for MSE support institutions in the study areas on basis of which a sample of MSEs (especially those involved in provision of training, credit and information services) would be selected for inclusion in the study.
2.3 Population of Study
The study looked at the women population and women organisations that are involved in micro and small-scale entrepreneurial activities – activities done primarily for commercial purposes and from which they regularly earn income on a regular basis. The study also looked at MSE associations and support institutions that are involved in giving support services (such as training in entrepreneurial skills development, credit facilities, business information services etc.) to the business community.
2.4 Scope of Coverage
Since the CEEWA-ICT project is going to complement services of the already existing Acacia Telecentres in both Buwama and Nabweru, the study focussed on the women population that lives within easy reach (5-km radius) of the already established Acacia telecentres. Thus, study samples from each site were selected from 3 parishes1 neighbouring the telecentre. As for Kampala, the focus was on parishes surrounding the proposed site for the Women’s Information Resource and Electronic Service (WIRES) which will serve the Kampala population as well as Nabweru and Buwama through a computer network.
Parishes Selected for the Study:
Name of Sub-County Parishes VisitedBuwama Mbizzinnya, Jalamba, KateboNabweru Kazo-Nabweru, Nansana, MaganjoNakawa (Kampala) Bukoto II, Bugolobi, Banda
2.5 Sample Selection
1 The only exception was Katebo Parish in Buwama. Katebo Parish, though quite far (16 Km) from the community telecentre, was identified by the telecentre management as one of parishes that is very enthusiastic about the services being provided by the community telecentre.
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a) Selection of women entrepreneurs
As already indicated, the women entrepreneurial population was stratified by the different type of economic activities in each project area. Then, in each of the study parishes, 2 villages with the highest concentration of women entrepreneurs involved in the two most dominant economic activities were purposively selected for inclusion in the study sample.
Then, using proportional allocation (according to size of each stratum), a total number of twenty (20) micro and small-scale women entrepreneurs were randomly selected for visiting – across all economic strata – per parish. Thus, a total number of 60 respondents (from all the three parishes) were visited per project site giving a total sample of 180 individual women respondents for all the three study areas of Kampala, Buwama, and Nabweru.
b) Selection of Women Organisations
Using the sampling frames developed during the pre-visits, women entrepreneurial groups/organisations were also stratified by economic activity (or service they offer) in each study area – parish by parish. Three representative2 women organisations per parish (across the different economic activity strata) were then selected for inclusion in the study. Thus, nine (9) women organisations per project site were visited giving an overall total of 27 women organisations in all the three study areas:
List of Women Entrepreneurial groups/Organisations Visited
Kampala Study Site::
Number of Members
Name of Respondent
Bukoto II Parish:
1. Bakyala kwekulakulanya Group2. Kamwekanwe Group3. Lugalama Women’s group
801020
Hanifa NabukaluJohn MugalulaPerepetwa Gimadu
Banda Parish:
2 Some organisations were purposively selected because of the uniqueness of the economic activities/services they were involved in.
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1. Agalyawamu Women’s Group2. Banda Development Association3. Banda Community Self Help Project
(BCOSEP)
203030
Rehema LutakomeDeborah KatabalwaJanet Nantongo
Bugolobi Parish:
1. Bugolobi Market Progressive Traders2. Munnomukabi Women’s Group3. Nakawa Micro and Small Enterprises
Development Initiative.
720
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Agati MugyenyiHadija Katayike
Christine Nansikombi
Nabweru Study Site:
Number of Members
Name of Respondent
Nansana Parish:
1. Nansana Young Farmers2. Twekembe Women’s Group3. ZEDCO Women’s group
402030
Teddy KabuuzaSarah LutayaDaniel Bisaso
Kazo-Nabweru Parish:
1. Lugoba Women Traders’ Association2. Muganzilwazza Tusitukirewamu3. Kwagalana Women’s Group
153012
Ruth SessangaJolly NsubugaPassy Jane Najjalwambi
Maganjo Parish:
1. Kawempe Twekembe2. Maganjo Cooperative Group3. Ttula Enterprises Development
251015
Victoria NakubulwaRegina BakitteFlorence Nabbanja
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Buwama Study Site::
Number of Members
Name of Respondent
Jjalamba Parish:
1. Akwatempola Women’s Group2. Tukolerewamu Women’s Group3. Tusiime Women’s group
92035
Teo BbaleMaxensia NabyumaRose Nakato
Mbizzinya Parish:
1. Agalyawamu Women’s Group2. Home Care Women’s Group3. Tulibumu Women’s Group
181522
Carol NsibambiMary NakkaziNoel Nagaddya
Katebo Parish:
1. Ddembe Women’s Group2. Katebo Women’s Group3. Tusitukirewamu Women’s Group
151610
Nalongo KiggunduBetty SsemujuAgnes Nakigozi
c) Selection of MSE associations and Supporting Institutions
As was the case in (b) above, an inventory of all the major MSE supporting institutions that provide entrepreneurial development-related services (such as business information, credit services, and training) in the project sites of Buwama, Kampala, and Nabweru was compiled. Then, site by site, these MSE supporting institutions were stratified by type of business service they offer and using secondary data and local knowledge, from within each group (stratum), “best-practice” MSE supporting institutions (altogether 30) were selected for inclusion in the study. The “best practice” MSE support institutions selected fell into four major sectors, namely: i) Trade (covering 30%); ii) Information and Consultancy (25%); iii) Credit (10%); iv) Industry/manufacturing (10%); and Others (20%).
However, given the difference in the level of economic development between the three study sites, it was not possible to select an equal number of MSEs across all the study sites. Thus, 75% of the institutions surveyed were based in Kampala, while 15% and 10% were found in Buwama and Nabweru, respectively. Arising from the foregoing, there was an inevitable imbalance in the coverage of sectors across the study sites. Thus, Kampala site happened to be represented by MSE supporting institutions across all the four sectors unlike Buwama and Nabweru sites.
The MSE support institutions ranged from large and complex organisations like Uganda Manufactures’ Association (UMA) and Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry to small orgainisations which are manned by one-to-two persons (see Annex2).
2.6 Data Collection
This exercise started on June 16, 2000 and ended on the June 28, 2000. A number of data collection techniques (both qualitative and quantitative) were used. These included:
a) Survey using questionnaires
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Interviews with 180 individual women entrepreneurs and 27 representatives (such as chairpersons or secretaries) of selected women organisations were conducted by enumerators using two sets of structured questionnaires (one for the individual women entrepreneurs and another for women entrepreneurial organisations).
b) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
In order to supplement and enrich survey data, one FGD was conducted with a cross section of women entrepreneurs in every parish that was visited. During these sessions, discussions were held concerning the women entrepreneurs’ current mode of communication, enterprise development-related type of training they have had and training they would need, their priority information and communication needs, and type of enterprise development support services (such as credit facilities, business promotion services etc.) that are available in the project areas and those that are lacking. These discussions were conducted using semi-structured checklists.
c) Key-Informant Interviews
Using a questionnaire guide, key informant interviews were conducted with representatives of MSE associations and supporting institutions in order to assess the type of services they offer and explore the possibility of these organisations extending their services to the women entrepreneurs in the project areas but more specifically to the women entrepreneurs that will finally be selected to participate in the 2-year ICT project.
2.7 Data Editing, Entry and Analysis
First, two coding sheets were developed for purposes of coding the open-ended questions in the women entrepreneur questionnaire. The questionnaires were then entered into a pre-designed Epinfo data templates. The data was exported to a statistical analysis software - Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for cleaning and eventual analysis. As part of the data cleaning process, consistency and validity checks were made and frequency runs on all variables were made to check for any existing inconsistencies and outliers. All the necessary data corrections were done accordingly. Then using the SPSS software package, data analysis was done following an analysis plan drawn up by the research team. Data analysis basically involved univariate and bivariate analysis on selected variables of interest.
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3.0 FindingsThe findings are presented in three major sections: i) Women Entrepreneur Findings; ii) Women Organisation Findings; and iii) MSE Support Institutions Findings.
3.1 Women Entrepreneur Findings
The findings presented in this section are a blend of both household survey and FGDs basically focusing on those issues pertaining to womens’ economic empowerment (entrepreneurial development). These findings are split into several sections including, the socio-economic aspects; awareness and current use of ICTs; information communication needs; business support services needed and training needs.
3.1.1 Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics
Overall, the majority of women entrepreneurs (75%3) in the three study sites fall below 45 years of age (table 3.1). Thus, the majority of the respondents are in a very active age group both socially and economically. The data also shows that 52.8% of the respondents are heads of households with an average size of 6 persons per household – a clear indication of the daunting challenges facing many of these women, irrespective of whether rural or urban, and therefore the need to empower them economically to shoulder such challenges. It is also worth noting the fact that almost 48% of the respondents were single implying direct full responsibility over their households.
Table 3.1: Distribution of Age, Marital Status and Household Responsibility
Buwama Site
(n=60)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=180)
Age Distribution: 15-24 25-34 35-44
45- 5455 and above
3.3% 43.3% 20.0% 20.0% 13.3%
5.0% 43.3% 31.7% 16.7% 3.3%
13.3% 21.7% 43.3% 16.7% 5.0%
7.2% 36.1% 31.7% 17.8% 7.2%
Marital Status:MarriedNever marriedDivorced/separatedWidow
55.0%5.0%
23.3%16.7%
55.0%21.7%11.7%11.7%
46.7%23.3%18.3%11.7%
52.2%16.7%17.8%13.3%
Head of Household:RespondentSpouseOther
58.3%40.0%3.3%
51.7%46.7%1.7%
48.3%48.3%3.3%
52.8%45.0%2.2%
Household size:1 - 2 people3 - 56 - 910 and above
Mean
13.3%33.3%41.7%11.7%
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8.5%30.5%42.4%18.6%
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13.3%25.0%46.7%15.0%
6
11.7%29.6%43.6%15.1%
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3.1.2 Respondents’ Economic Characteristics
3 This is not very different from the findings of the general Acacia ICT baseline study that looked at all the potential ICT users in Buwama and Nabweru sites—Buwama had 80.9% and Nabweru 87.2% of their potential users under this active age group.
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Level of education, being one of the determining variables for one’s economic performance, was found to be lowest among the rural Buwama respondents (Figure 1 and Table 3.2). This comes out very clearly when you combine those who did not attend school with those who attended some primary school (but never completed up to P7) as one category which never had the opportunity to attain a basic level of education4. Failure to attain a basic level of education is as bad as not attending school. In Buwama, 53.3% of the respondents had no basic education whereas in Nabweru and Kampala only 20% and 30%, respectively, lacked a basic level of education. This poor status of women entrepreneurs’ education was further approved during the FGDs in all the study sites –the participants asserted that many of their colleagues don’t know how to read, write or count numbers and do not even want others to know it! This kind of situation gives a true baseline picture of the type of women entrepreneurs expected to participate and benefit from the CEEWA ICT project. Indeed, it is not surprising that 21.5% of the 180 respondents expressed a need for training in numeracy and writing skills (see table 3. 9).
Figure 1
Table 3.2 Distribution of Respondents’ Level of Education
Buwama Site(n=60)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=180)
Level of Education:
Did not attend schoolSome Primary (P1 – P6)Completed PrimarySome Secondary (S1 – S3)Secondary school certificate [ O level]Secondary school certificate [ A level]Some post-secondary schoolPost-secondary diploma [tech school]UniversityOther
13.3%40.0%18.3%20.0%3.3%1.7%
-3.5%
--
1.7%18.3%15.0%35.0%21.7%1.7%1.7%3.3%
-1.7%
1.7%28.3%13.3%23.3%15.0%1.7%3.3%8.3%3.3%1.7%
5.6%28.9%15.6%26.1%13.3%1.7%1.7%5.0%1.1%1.1%
Women micro enterpreneurs, as indicated in the sampling procedure, were engaged in a variety of businesses 5 across the four main sectors of trade, service, agricultural production, and manufacturing in all the three study sites although there were some variations within sectors between different sites. Overall, most women
4 Basic education, defined as primary education up to and including P7, is considered as a right to everybody (or every child) in Uganda.5 A business was loosely defined as an activity or group of activities carried out at the same location and time for predominantly commercial purposes.
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respondents (66%) were engaged in only one business enterprise. In Buwama, most women entrepreneurs were engaged agro-related business enterprises especially piggery (48%) while in both Nabweru and Kampala the most dominant sector was trade through retail shops, market/roadside stalls, and cloth vending (table 3.3).. In Buwama, most of the women traders were either fishmongers (23%) or had market/roadside stalls (20%).
Table 3.3: Distribution of Businesses Owned/co-owned 6 by Respondents
Buwama Site(n=60)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=180)
Ag. Production Sector:Cattle keepingVegetable productionFruit productionPoultry keepingPiggeryFloricultureApiaryOther Agric. Businesses
20.0%3.3%6.7%5.0%
48.3%1.7%1.7%
(coffee & fishing) 10.0%
8.5%--
16.9%6.8%1.7%
-(mostly crops) 7.0%
1.7%--
8.3%5.0%
--
(Fish Farming) 2.0%
10.1%1.1%2.2%
10.1%20.1%
1.1%0.6%6.0%
Trade Sector:Retail shopMarket/roadside stallHawkerOther Trade Businesses
11.7%20.0%
-(mostly Fish 23.0% mongers)
15.3%22.0%
-(mostly Charcoal 10.0% Sellers)
13.3%20.0%
1.7%(mostly cloth 15.0%vendors)
13.4%20.7%
0.6%13.0%
Service Sector:Hair saloonRestaurant/tea roomOther Service Businesses
3.3%10.0%
(Bar) 2.0%
13.6%15.3%
(mostly bars) 12.0%
11.7%10.0%
(clinics, schools, 15.0% and rental units)
9.5%11.7%
9.0%
Manufacturing Sector:Brick makingHandicraftWeavingTailoringBakingOther Manuf. Businesses
-3.3%1.7%
--_
3.3%5.1%1.7%
10.2%1.7%
-
1.7%1.7%3.3%8.3%
-(Stone 5.0%quarrying & a bakery)
1.7%3.4%2.2%6.1%0.6%1.7%
NB: Multiple responses possible.
With regard to what the respondents considered the most important business7 (Table 3.4a), irrespective of location, businesses in trade sector took the lead (42%); followed by the service sector (33%); agriculture (21%); and manufacturing (4%). As for the Buwama site, these results contrast sharply with those obtained in table 3.3 where agro-related businesses especially piggery were the most dominant. This is a clear indication that rearing of animals especially pigs is looked at as a store of cash value - used in case of unanticipated household financial crises. This observation was also made during the FGDs held in Buwama. Even when examined from the number of pigs kept, on average each pig keeper in Buwama had only 3 pigs, the maximum being 11 pigs! In Kampala, on the other hand, where none of the 3 respondents keeping pigs valued piggery as the most important income generating enterprise, the average number kept was 9, the maximum being 20. This is a clear illustration of the differences in scale of production between rural Buwama and peri-urban Kampala.
6 Co-ownership here refers to ownership of business by respondent together with another person regardless of whether the other person a household member or not.7 Most important business was taken to be the one which generates the most revenue or one that is projected to generate the most revenue in the near future
11
Table 3.4a: Distribution of Respondents’ Most Important Income Generating Enterprises
Buwama Site(n=56)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=176)
Ag. Production Sector:
Cattle keepingVegetable productionFruit productionPoultry keepingPiggeryOther Sector Businesses
1.8%1.8%3.6%
-16.1%
(Mostly coffee 10.7%and fishing)
5.0%--
11.7%1.7%
(Mostly crop 3.3%farming)
1.7%--
6.7%--
2.8%0.6%1.1%6.3%5.7%4.5%
Trade Sector:
Retail shopMarket/roadside stallHawkerOther Sector Businesses
10.7%19.6%
-(Mostly fish 21.4%mongers)
11.7%16.7%
-(Mostly 6.7%drug shops and charcoal sellers)
11.7%20.0%
1.7%(Mostly cloth 6.7%vendors and charcoal sellers)
11.4%18.8%0.6%11.4%
Service Sector:
Hair saloonRestaurant/tea roomTailoringOther Sector Businesses
3.6%7.1%
-(Bar) 1.8%
13.3%15.0%
3.3%(Mostly Bars) 10.0%
10.0%10.0%
6.7%(Mostly Malwa 16.7%Brewers and a few clinics & Schools)
9.1%10.8%3.4%9.7%
Manufacturing Sector:
HandicraftOther Sector businesses
1.8%-
1.7-
1.7%(Stone 6.7%Quarrying and a Bakery)
1.2%2.3%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
There seems to be a significant correlation between the education levels of respondents and their enterprises (Table 3.4b). Respondents who completed secondary school or with higher levels of education dominate the service sector. As would be expected, no respondent with less than O’level education owned a school or a clinic. It is, however, interesting to note that even hair salons were being run by respondents who had at least attained Primary Seven education. In addition, in the trade sector, the drug shops – like the clinics and schools – were also being run by respondents who had attained at least O’level education. On the other hand, Brewing of Malwa, running of bars, fish mongering, and stone quarrying are businesses that were exclusively being carried out by respondents who had either never gone to school or had attained only some basic education and had not completed secondary education.
12
Table 3.4b: Distribution of Respondents’ Most Important Income Generating Enterprises by Level of Education
Never Gone to School/Didn’t
Complete Primary(n=58)
Completed Primary/Didn’t
Complete Secondary(n=75)
Completed Secondary School or higher
(n=43)
Row Total
(n=176)Ag. Production Sector:Cattle keepingVegetable productionFruit productionPoultry keepingPiggeryOther Agric. Businesses
0.6%--
0.6%4.0%
(mostly coffee) 5.5%
0.6%0.6%0.6%3.4%1.1%
(crops & fishing) 5.3%
1.7%-
0.6%2.3%0.6%
(Crop Farming) 2.3%
2.8%0.6%1.1%6.3%5.7%4.5%
Trade Sector:Retail shopMarket/roadside stallHawkerOther Trade Businesses
1.1%9.7%
-(mostly Fish 20.6% mongers)
6.8%9.1%
-(fish mongers 4.0%& Charcoal Seller)
3.4%-
0.6%(Drug shops) 11.6%
11.4%18.8%
0.6%11.4%
Service Sector:Hair saloonRestaurant/tea roomTailoringOther Service Businesses
-2.8%0.6%
(Malwa Brewers 6.9%and Bar)
4.5%6.8%1.7%
(Malwa brewers 6.7%/bars)
4.5%1.1%1.1%
(clinics & schools) 18.6%
9.1%10.8%
3.4%9.7%
Manufacturing Sector:HandicraftOther Manuf. Businesses
1.1%(Stone Quarrying) 5.2%
-(Bakery)
1.3%
0.6%-
1.2%2.3%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
As far as employment generation is concerned, there are significant differences between the urban/peri-urban sites of Kampala and Nabweru and rural Buwama. Results show that at least 12% of the respondents in Kampala had one or more skilled employee working in their most important business enterprise. The corresponding percentage in Nabweru was 8% (Table 3.5a). On the other hand, only 4% of the respondents in Buwama had at least one skilled employee working in their most important business enterprise. Similarly, employment of unskilled labour was significantly higher in both Kampala (27%) and Nabweru (32%) as compared to Buwama (5%). The generally low employment rate of both skilled and unskilled workers by the respondents is a clear indication of the small nature of their businesses - not warranting hiring labour outside the free household labour.
13
Table 3.5a: Distribution of skilled and unskilled labour working in most important business enterprise
Number of Workers
NabweruFrequency %age
BuwamaFrequency %age
KampalaFrequency %age
Row TotalFrequency %age
Skilled:01
2 or more
Total
5492%
3 5%2 3%
59 100%
5596%
1 2%1 2%
57 100%
5188%
2 3%5 9%
58 100%
16092%
6 3%8 5%
174 100%Unskilled:
01
2 or more
Total
4068%
1220%
712%
59 100%
5595%
- -3 5%
58 100%
4473%
610%
1017%
60 100%
13979%
1810%
2011%
177 100%
Also, the small size of businesses could further be verified by both the cumulative monthly expenditure to buy inputs for respondent’s most important business enterprise and the nature of business contacts the respondents had outside their own community (parish). For example, Table 3.5b shows that in Buwama, respondents spent a cumulative average of only Ug. Shs 189,698 (approximately US$100) on buying inputs for their most important business enterprise. This means that, on average, respondents in Buwama spent only Ug. Shs 6,323 (Us$3.5) per day to buy inputs for their most important business enterprise. However, cumulative average monthly expenditures of respondents in Nabweru and Kampala – though still small - were much higher than expenditures of Buwama respondents.
Table 3.5b: Cumulative monthly expenditure to buy inputs for Respondent’s most important business
Buwama Nabweru Kampala TotalMean Expenditure 189,698/= 341,831/= 535,864/= 356,741/=
Similarly, out of 180 respondents, 57.2% had business contacts8 outside the parish but within the sub-county; 43.3% had business contacts in Kampala; only 17.2% had contacts elsewhere in Uganda; none had business contacts elsewhere in Africa; and only three respondents (1.7%) had business contacts outside Africa (Annex 1, table 1). Buwama had the smallest percentage of women entrepreneurs (15% had Kampala contacts, and only 10% had contacts elsewhere in Uganda) with business contacts outside the sub-county.
3.1.3 Major Constraints to Respondents’ Most Important Business
Lack of working capital was found to be the biggest major constraint to respondents’ most important business in all the study sites (61.7%) followed by lack of markets for products (31.1%), etc. as indicated in Annex 1, table 2. The FGDs held revealed a common lack of cheap affordable credit facilities. There was a general complaint that MFIs demand high rates of interest without any grace period making it difficult for some women to access credit facilities. Lack of markets, however, was more of a rural Buwama than a peri-urban (Kampala & Nabweru)
8 Business Contacts here refer to contacts that are commercial in nature, say, with suppliers of inputs, buyers of respondent’s commodities, contacts with micro-finance institutions, Business Information Support Services, Training Services etc.
14
problem basically due to the long distance from Buwama to Kampala city (major market for rural products) and the fact that most of the women entrepreneurs have agro-based enterprises which are highly seasonal.3.1.4 Status of Respondent’s Economic Empowerment
Given the fact that almost 45% of the respondents were single (table 3.1), it is no wonder that 90% of the 180 respondents were the major decision makers on use of income generated from the enterprises (Table 3.5c). Nevertheless, this is a promising baseline finding as far as economic empowerment of women is concerned since the difference between 90% and 45% is a big proportion (45%) representing married women with full use-rights over enterprise income
Table 3.5c: Decision making on Enterprise Income.
Buwama Site(n=60)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=180)
Who determines income use?
Respondent decidesSpouse decidesJoint decision respondent & spouseOthers decide
91.7%1.7%6.7%
-
91.7%1.7%5.0%1.7%
86.7%1.7%8.3%3.3%
90.0%1.7%6.7%1.7%
Another element of women economic empowerment is reflected through the fact that 74% of the respondents’ households depended mainly on income derived from their enterprises. Only 26% of respondents’ households depended on income from other sources (including enterprise earnings of other household members, remittances and salary) as a major source of family income (see table 3.5d)
Table 3.5d: Major Sources of Family Income by Marital Status
Marital StatusMarried (n=93)
Single(n=86)
Row Total(n=179)
Major source of family income
Own/co-own enterprise Other Sources
73%27%
74%26%
74%26%
.
3.1.5 Respondents’ Awareness of ICTs
Owing to the fact that most people in the areas of the study are aware of what a radio/TV/newspaper/magazine is, though not necessarily owning/using the same, it was deemed unnecessary (if not humiliating) to ask the respondents questions relating to awareness on these items. However, the respondents were tested on whether they knew what a VCR / Fax/ telephone/ computer is/does (table 3.6). The results show an overall high level of awareness on the functions of a telephone (92.8%). Even in rural Buwama where there has been no telephone service since 1970’s till just a couple of months back, the level of awareness is remarkably high (81.7%). However, the level of awareness on computers across all the study sites is still low, perhaps because this technology is very recent, especially in Buwama.
15
Table 3.6: Distribution of Respondents’ Awareness of ICTs
Buwama Site(n=60)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=180)
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes NoWhether respondent knows a (use of)::
Video Tape RecorderFax MachineTelephoneComputer
41.7%20.0%81.7%38.3%
58.3%80.0%18.3%61.7%
75.0%56.7%100%58.3%
25.0%43.3%
-41.7%
83.3%33.3%96.7%50.0%
16.7%66.7%3.3%
50.0%
66.7%36.7%92.8%48.9%
33.3%63.3%7.2%
51.1%
3.1.6 Respondents’ Level of ICT Usage
Given the foregoing levels of ICT awareness, this sub-section tries to assess the current usage (directly or indirectly) of different types of ICTs by those respondents who claimed to be aware (table 3.7) since being aware does not necessarily mean usage.
Table 3.7: Distribution of Respondents’ Usage of ICTs
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes NoWhether respondent ever used:Radio (send information)TV (send information)Fax Machine (receive or send)Telephone (receive or send)Computer (directly or indirectly) Newspaper (send information)Magazines/brochures (send)Photocopied Posters (send)
25.0%1.7%
16. 7%34.7%30.4%3.3%1.7%11.7%
75.0%99.3%83.3%665.3%69.6%96.7%98.3%88.3%
35.0%1.7%17.6%83.3%28.6%6.7%
-8.3%
65.0%99.3%82.4%16.7%93.3%11.7%100%91.7%
36.7%3.3%30.0%77.6%46.7%3.3%3.3%16.7%
63.3%96.7%70.0%22.4%53.7%96.7%96.7%83.3%
32.2%2.2%36.7%67.1%35.2%4.4%1.7%12.2%
67.8%97.8%63.3%32.9%64.8%95.6%98.3%87.8%
Arising from table 3.7, there is an overall poor usage of ICTs by women entrepreneurs as a means of communication with exception of telephone services (67%). The high usage of telephones, especially in Kampala (77.6%) and Nabweru (83.3%) is no wonder given the long history of telephones as a means of communication plus the recent in-coming of cellular phone service providers on the market. Even though there is an overall poor usage of ICTs, it is surprising to note that usage of computers and photocopied materials in rural Buwama is higher (though not significant) than in peri-urban Kampala by 1.8% and 3.4% for computer and photocopier, respectively! This is a difficult scenario to account for, but the heavier usage of telephone services in peri-urban Kampala (83.3%) than in rural Buwama (34.7%) could partly account for this scenario. Another possible explanation, as far as usage of computers is concerned, could be due to the fact that 66.7% of Kampala respondents who had never used a computer (despite awareness) complained of lack of computer services in the area whereas in Buwama this same complaint was lodged by only 17.6% of the respondents who had never used a computer (Annex 1, table 3).
Furthermore, it is interesting to note the overall poor usage of radio (32.2%) and TV (2.2%) as a means of communication (or advertising) to other people/clients whereas 88.3% and 63.3% of the respondents listen to radio and watch TV, respectively. As far as advertising products was concerned, the majority of respondents especially those in trade (retailers and market vendors) did not see much need to advertise themselves given the small stock of goods they deal in. One FGD participant of Jjalamba Parish had this to say:
16
Thus, given the foregoing facts on the very low utility rate of ICTs for purposes of communication, FGD participants in all the study sites reported that they mostly rely on the local network of fellow entrepreneurs to receive information relating to their businesses. Some of them also listen to the radio to learn new skills especially relating to crops and animal husbandry, while others in urban Kampala watch TV programs like “Kola ng’omuddu” on WBS TV station. Nonetheless, usage is still limited as commented by one FGD participant in Banda parish:
The respondents who never used ICTs to receive or send information, despite being aware of their functions, gave several reasons for non-usage ranging from having no one to communicate with, to services not being readily available (Annex 1, table 3).
3.1.7 Type of Information Sent/Received Over the Last 3 Months Through Different ICTs
Further analysis pertaining to the most important usage against each type of ICT, as per respondents who accessed ICTs over the last three months, shed more light on the poor usage of ICTs for enterprise development purposes (table 3.8), except for the telephone services. However, it is also important to note that of the 110 respondents who had ever used a telephone, only 30.8% used it for enterprise development purposes while 45.5% used it for “other” personal (social) functions like greetings to friends and relatives, and 23.7% never used a telephone in the last three months.
It is surprising to note the respondents’ view with regard to what would be the best medium for promoting enterprise development. The majority (74.6.% in Buwama, 81.7% Nabweru, and 73.3% Kampala) preferred radio as the best medium to promote enterprise development—only one respondent out of 179 mentioned use of computers! (Annex 1, table 4). This is a surprise because results from FGDs indicated that micro women entrepreneurs rarely get time to listen to a radio due to both enterprise and household gender responsibilities. Nonetheless, the main reason for preferring “radio” is based on the fact that a radio is more affordable to acquire at household level than any other type of ICT. In fact, 90% of all the study respondents (180) owned radios (Annex 1, table 5). They, thus, reasoned that because radios are readily available in most homes, you reach a much wider audience at a very much cheaper cost as compared to any other means of communication.
“We simply wait for the buyers to come or we go and find the markets ourselves. As for the prices, we don’t get the value for our goods; it is the buyers who dictate the terms. Another problem is that we produce our products individually and in small quantities. Each individual rears only one pig or two so it doesn’t make economic sense to look for bigger markets through advertising. It is also simply too expensive to advertise given the small size of our businesses.”
“We get some useful information on radio and sometimes on TV. However, the problem with radio and TV is that you can’t ask questions for clarifications. We don’t have telephones to participate in the live-phone in Radio/TV programmes. Worse still, most of us don’t have TVs and then, there is the language barrier—many of the programmes are in English”.
17
Table 3.8:Distribution of Most Important Information Sent/received Through ICTs in Last 3 Months
Buwama Site(n=15)
Nabweru Site(n=21)
Kampala Site(n=22)
Row Total(n=58)
Most Important information communicated to other people through radio:
NonePersonal AnnouncementsInformation related to markets/pricesParticipation in socio-cultural programs
20.0%73.3%6.7%
-
14.3%85.7%
--
27.3%54.5%4.5%
13.6%
20.7%70.7%3.4%5.2%
Buwama Site(n=1)
Nabweru Site(n=1)
Kampala Site(n=2)
Row Total(n=4)
Most Important information communicated to other people through TV:NoneParticipation in socio-cultural programsOther
-100%
-
-100%
50%-
50%
25%50%25%
Buwama Site(n=2)
Nabweru Site(n=6)
Kampala Site(n=6)
Row Total(n=14)
Most Important information communicated through Fax:
NoneSend information on product market opportunitiesReceived information on entrepreneurial skills devSent/received information on educational and socio-cultural issuesOthers (personal affairs/ communicate to relatives, etc)
---
-100%
16.7%16.7%
-
33.3%33.3%
50.0%16.7%16.7%
-16.7%
28.6%14.3%7.1%
14.3%35.7%
Buwama Site(n=17)
Nabweru Site(n=49)
Kampala Site(n=44)
Row Total(n=110)
Most Important information communicated through telephone:
NoneSale of products to middlemen/traders/organisationsBought merchandise/inputsReceived/sent information on market pricesReceived information on new marketsSent information on market opportunities for productsReceived information on entrepreneurial (skills) devel.Sent/received information on educational & socio-cultOthers (personal affairs/ communicate to relatives, etc)
17.6%-
5.9%5.9%
-5.9%
-5.9%
58.8%
26.5%2.0%8.2%4.1%4.1%2.0%4.1%4.1%44.9%
22.7%2.3%4.5%2.3%2.3%
15.9%6.8%2.3%
40.9%
23.6%1.8%6.4%3.6%2.7%8.2%4.5%3.6%45.5%
18
Buwama Site(n=5)
Nabweru Site(n=9)
Kampala Site(n=13)
Row Total(n=27)
Most Important use for which a computer was used:
Bought merchandise/inputs using itLearning how to send or receive information using computerReceived/sent information on market pricesReceived information on new marketsSent information on market opportunities for productsReceived information on entrepreneurial (skills) devel.Sent/received information on educational & socio-cultOthers (personal affairs, etc)
17.6%-
5.9%5.9%
-5.9%
-5.9%
58.8%
26.5%2.0%8.2%4.1%4.1%2.0%4.1%4.1%44.9%
22.7%2.3%4.5%2.3%2.3%
15.9%6.8%2.3%
40.9%
23.6%1.8%6.4%3.6%2.7%8.2%4.5%3.6%45.5%
Buwama Site(n=2)
Nabweru Site(n=3)
Kampala Site(n=2)
Row Total(n=7)
Most Important information communicated through newspaper::Personnal announcementsInformation related to markets/ prices (adverts)
50.0%50.0%
66.7%33.3%
-100%
42.9%57.1%
Buwama Site(n=1)
Nabweru Site(n=0)
Kampala Site(n=2)
Row Total(n=3)
Most Important information communicated through magazines/brochures:
Information related to markets/ prices (adverts)Socio-cultural articleOthers
-100%
-
---
50.0%--
50.0%
33.3%33.3%33.3%
Buwama Site(n=7)
Nabweru Site(n=5)
Kampala Site(n=10)
Row Total(n=22)
Most Important information communicated through photocopied posters:
Personal AnnouncementsInformation related to markets/ prices (adverts)Socio-cultural articleOthers
71.4%-
28.6%-
60.0%40.0%
--
-80.0%
-20.0%
36.4%45.5%9.1%9.%
3.1.8 Information Communication Needs
Majority of respondents pointed out a variety of different types of information they would need in order to improve their enterprises. Nevertheless, there was on overwhelming need for information pertaining to credit facilities (40.8%) and how to improve products/services (40.2%) as indicated in table 3.9. The distribution pattern for the most important type of information respondents need to receive to improve their businesses (Annex 1. Table 6) is more or less the same as indicated in table 3.9.
19
Table 3.9:Distribution of Types of Information Respondents Need to Improve their Businesses
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Information respondents would need::
NoneInformation on entrepreneurial skillsInformation on how to improve products/servicesInformation on current prices for commodities/inputsInformation on new market opportunities for commodities/inputsInformation on credit facilitiesOther types of information
8.5%22.0%55.9%32.2%
30.5%33.9%5.1%
20.0%21.7%35.0%5.0%
11.7%40.0%8.3%
21.7%36.7%30.0%6.7%
8.3%48.3%6.7%
16.8%26.8%40.2%14.5%
16.8%40.8%6.7%
N.B: Multiple responses possible
3.1.8 Respondents’ Training Needs
Out of 179 respondents, 93.8% expressed the desire to undergo some training to promote their business activities as indicated in table 3.10. From the table, there are basically two issues to note: First, is the fact that only 8.7% of the respondents indicated the need to be trained in using computers to process information, and only 6.4% expressed the need to be trained in using computers to receive/send information (email/enternet). These percentages even reduce further down to 4.2% and 1.7%, respectively, when it comes to the selection of the most important training the respondents would wish to have (Annex 1, table 7). As expected, the majority of those who were interested in using computers for either processing information or for receiving and sending messages were respondents who were running schools and clinics. Also a few retail shop owners, tailors, poultry and cattle keepers, and fruit farmers also indicated interest in getting training to use computers for both information processing and for e-mail/Internet purposes. The challenge facing CEEWA, this being an ICT-based project, is getting the women entrepreneurs interested in learning how to use computers, not forgetting that most women who participated in FGDs did not seem to understand how computers could be applied to women entrepreneurs like retailers and market vendors.
However, across all categories of respondents, there was overwhelming interest in training related to Savings and Credit Management (53%), Costing and Pricing (36%), and Marketing Skills (26%). Among retail shop owners, 74% expressed interest in Saving and Credit Management, 42% in Costing and Pricing, and 37% in Marketing skills. Similar trends were also observed among Market/Road Stall Vendors and Hair Salon owners.
Another issue worth giving attention (Figure 2 and table 3.10), though not explicitly an ICT training issue, is the need for training in numeracy and writing skills as 21.5% of the respondents felt that they needed this type of training for the sake of improving their business activities and perhaps to enable them utilise the telecentre services optimally. This need was also expressed by the FGD participants that many businesses collapse simply because of lack of numeracy skills.
It is also important to note the big proportion (32.6%) of the unexpected training needs falling under the response category “Other”. This response category is largely (about 60%) composed of livestock keepers who badly lack field extension services on livestock husbandry and, therefore, felt it necessary to undergo some training to enable them perform better. Judging from the types of seminars conducted for the communities, the agricultural and livestock sector appears to be better off than other sectors like trade that have never had an opportunity to attend a training seminar specifically on trade-related aspects. The expressed need for training in livestock husbandry practices, despite some seminars already conducted, is by itself an indication that not enough was done. The FGD participants pointed out some loopholes with regard to the manner such seminars are organised. For example seminars are held at the sub-county headquarter not reachable by most women entrepreneurs given their household
20
gender roles, and second some seminars are closed for certain individuals like members of an organisation. Participants suggested that such seminars should be open to whoever would like to attend.
Figure 2
Table 3.10:Distribution of Respondents’ Training Needs
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Type of training respondent would need::
Don’t KnowSaving and credit managementMarketing skillsCosting and pricingUsing computers to process informationUsing computers to receive/send information (e-mail/internet)Training in numeracy and writing skillsOther (Enterprise Specific)
-64.4%45.8%28.8%5.1%
8.5%22.0%37.3%
9.3%37.0%11.1%42.6%13.0%
5.6%24.1%37.0%
13.6%55.9%20.3%35.6%8.5%
5.1%18.6%23.7%
7.6%52.9%26.2%35.5%8.7%
6.4%21.5%32.6%
NB: Multiple responses possible
21
3.2 Women Organisations
3.2.1 Business Activities
The 27 organisations visited were involved in a variety of business activities most of which were in the agricultural production sector (piggery, poultry keeping, vegetable production and cattle keeping) especially in Buwama and Nabweru sites (table 3.11). Kampala (Nakawa) site, however, had many of the women organisations involved in rotational credit and handicrafts. It is, however, important to note the fact that these activities are mainly undertaken individually (51.9%), while 33.3% of other women organisation activities are either individually or jointly operated. Only 14.8% of the activities are undertaken jointly by group members. The results from FGDs showed that women organisations are used as a means to share business experience between members given the lack of an effective formal extension service at the grassroots.
The major constraint facing the women organisations are similar to those facing the individual women entrepreneurs, ie. Lack of working capital (96%), followed by lack of information/guidance on business-related services (59%), high cost of inputs (41%) and lack of markets for products (33%). See Annex 1, table 8.
Table 3.11: Distribution of Women organisation activities
Buwama Site(n=9)
Nabweru Site(n=9)
Kampala Site(n=9)
Row Total(n=27)
Ag. Production Sector:
Cattle keepingVegetable productionFloricultureFruit productionApiaryRabbit keepingPoultry keepingPiggery
44.4%66.7%
-22.2%11.1%11.1%33.3%66.7%
33.3%33.3%
----
77.8%44.4%
--
22.2%---
11.1%-
25.9%33.3%7.4%7.4%3.7%3.7%40.7%37.0%
Service Sector:Dance and dramaRotational credit
22.2%-
11.1%22.2%
11.1%44.4%
14.8%22.2%
Manufacturing Sector:
Brick makingHandicraftWeavingTailoringBaking
-22.2%
-11.1%11.%
11.1%22.2%22.2%33.3%22.2%
11.1%44.4%
-11.3%11.1%
7.4%29.6%7.4%18.5%18.5%
Other: (Technical training, trade etc).
66.7% 55.6% 88.9% 70.4%
N.B: Multiple responses possible
22
3.2.2 Current Usage of ICTs
Findings show that there was no significant difference in means of communication (receiving and sending)between the women organisations and the rest of individual women entrepreneurs—there was a heavy reliance on telephone (40.7%) as a means of communication compared to other ICTs (table 3.12). Again, just like for the individual women entrepreneurs, 66.7% of the women organisations preferred a radio, despite the current high usage of telephones, as the best business communication/promotion medium.
Table 3.12: Distribution of Women Organisations’ Usage of ICTs
Buwama Site(n=9)
Nabweru Site(n=9)
Kampala Site(n=9)
Row Total(n=27)
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes NoWhether organisation has ever communicate using:
Radio TV Telephone (receive or send)Computer (receive or send) Newspaper/Magazines/brochurePhotocopied material (posters)Fax (receive or send)
11.1%11.1% 22.2%
-11.1%22.2%11.1%
88.9%11.1%77.8%100%88.9%77.8%88.9%
44.4%22.2%55.6%
-33.3%22.2%
-
55.6%77.8%44.4%100%66.7%77.8%100%
22.2%11.1%44.4%
--
22.2%-
77.8%88.9%54.6%100%100%77.8%100%
25.9%14.8%40.7%
-14.8%22.2%3.7%
74.1%85.2%59.3%100%85.2%77.8%96.3%
3.2.3. Entrepreneurial Skills Training
Entrepreneurial skills development among the members of women organisations was found to be extremely poor, except in only one aspect where 59.3% of all the organisations had their members trained in savings and credit management (table 3.12). Thus, it is not surprising that all the organisations (100%) responded positively to the question whether their members would need to be trained in a number of skills development aspects (table 3.12).
With regard to access to essential business support services, findings show that there is limited access (Annex 1. Table 9), especially in the urban study sites. For example, whereas 56% of women organisations in Buwama had access to both business promotion exhibitions and business counselling only 11% of the organisations in Kampala had access to such services.
23
Table 3.12: Distribution of Women Organisations that have Undertaken Training in Skills Development
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes NoWhether members of the organisation have ever had training in:
Savings & credit management Marketing skillsCosting and pricingBusiness planningUsing computers to process informationUsing computers to receive and send information
33.3%--
22.2%
-
-
66.7%100%100%77.8%
100%
100%
77.8%11.1%
--
-
-
22.2%88.9%100%100%
100%.
100%
66.7%-
22.2%-
-
-
33.8%100%77.8%100%
100%
100%
59.3%3.7%7.4%7.4%
-
-
40.7%96.3%92.6%92.6%
100%
100%
With regard to training needs for organisational skills development, all organisations – including those who have had some training - indicated that they required (further) training in all the above fields.
3.3 MSE Support Institutions
3.3.1 MSE Business Services
The MSE support institutions included in the survey provided a broad range of business services including, among others, i) Business information; ii) Export and Import services; iii) Business training (Accounts/ Computer/ store management) services; iv) Credit provision & management services; v) Exhibition services; vi) Business counseling services; and vii) Advocacy services. On the whole, most of the organisations provide business information and training to their clients.
i) Business Information:95% of the organisations studied offer information (hard and soft copies) to both members and non-members. Of those who provide information, 40% have electronic databases (including internet information). Access to information by clients was found to be free among 62% of the MSEs visited, while the 38% were charging especially the non-members for use of libraries/documentation centres. On average, the charge per visit was U shs 500/=, but the usage fee for electronic information/databases was slightly higher.
ii) Business Counseling Services: 25% of the MSEs covered offer counselling services along side other services like information and training. New comers into the business sector were found to be the major consumers of this type of service which was being offered for free by all the MSE support institutions.
iii) Credit Services:20% of the MSEs offered credit services out of which 15% were located in Kampala and 5% in rural Buwama. Their loan portfolio ranged from U shs 10 million down to 100,000/= and the majority of their customers were women entrepreneurs. Among the outstanding MSE credit institutions visited were: a) The Uganda Women Finance and Credit Trust (UWFCT); b) Pride Africa; and c) World Vision which targets mainly the rural areas.
iv) Advocacy Services:This service was found to be offered by 30% of the organisations studied. These MSEs (e.g.Uganda Manufacturers’ Association, Uganda National Chamber of Commerce, Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Ltd, and Uganda Small Scale Industries Association) advocate for favorable policies and regulations for their members in their respective sectors. There is no direct charge for usage of this type of service as its consumption
24
is a collective benefit to both members and non-members as once a policy change is lobbied and achieved, all business operators in the concerned sector benefit regardless of whether they are members or not.
v) Consultancy Services:Only 15% of the organisations interviewed were providing consultancy services and the majority of consumers were reported to be medium to large companies due to the high fees involved in paying for the consultancy services. The fees charged ranged between U shs 500,000/= to 10 million per consultancy. Hence, it can be argued that this is not the type of service that CEEWA clients might be able to access in the short run due to the high charges involved.
vi) Exhibition Services:40% of the MSEs were noted to be offering exhibition services to both non-members and members. Organisations that offered this type of service were all membership organisations that held an exhibition function once or twice a year. Two types of costs were identified: a) Registration fees which ranged between U shs 5,000/= to shs 20,000/= per exhibitor; and b) Exhibition space fee that varied according to the size and location of space.
vii) Advertising Services:Only 25% of the institutions studied offered this type of service. The institutions produce their own magazines/newspapers and charge for advertising space within the magazines. Costs range between U shs 50,000/= and shs 250,000/= depending on the space.
3.3.2 Women’s Access and Demand for MSE Business Services
It is interesting to note the lack of discrimination (between small and micro entrepreneurs) among MSE institutions as far as service provision and recruitment of members is concerned. In all cases surveyed, the organisations indicated that they do not bar non-members from accessing services. However, 86% of the institutions studied stated that they extend preferential treatment to their members when it comes to providing services. In such cases, whereas members can access free information and some of the training services, non-members do pay for all the services provided to them. In other cases, members pay lower fees than non-members. The purpose for offering members services at lower fees is to create incentives to attract the non-members to join the organisations.
According to the MSE responses, the highest demand from a majority of their women clients had something to with access to credit for entrepreneurial development, especially among business starters. This is a genuine observation as it is confirmed by the high percentage of women organisations (93.3%) and women entrepreneurs (61.7%) who mentioned lack of working capital as a major constraint to their most important business (see Annex 1 tables 2 & 8). Second in importance to the demand for access to credit, is the demand for training in business management followed by the demand for counselling services, information, exhibition, advertising, advocacy and consultancy in that order of importance.
The MSE support institutions further mentioned that very few women inquired for advocacy services and those who did, wanted Government to reduce business taxes. On the other hand, those few women entrepreneurs who required consultancy services were mainly interested in getting their business plans prepared for presentation to financial institutions to access credit.
3.3.3 Women’s Ability to Pay for Services
Based on the information collected from the MSEs, 63.5% of women clients are able to pay for the business services, while 36.5% are either unable to pay or pay with difficulty. This implies that overall, more than half of women entrepreneurs who visit the MSEs have the capacity to pay for the services they require.
25
3.3.4 MSE Problems Associated with Women Clients
i) Loan defaults: Credit providing institutions complained of high rates of non-recovery of loans, a factor that hinders sustainable provision of credit services—13.7% of the MSEs raised this as a constraining issue.
ii) Lack of business skills: MSEs noted the limited and/or lack of business skills among their women clients as a hindrance to effective exploitation of services provided.
iii) Illiteracy among women entrepreneurs: This was raised as one of the problems limiting women entrepreneurs from utilisimg the MSE services. Actually, this view by MSEs is confirmed by the household survey findings (table 3.2) whereby 34.5% of the respondents had never attained basic education.
4. Lessons Learnt and Recommendations
Low awareness of ICTs (especially computers and fax):
Outreach sensitisation and demonstration seminars focusing on women entrepreneurs should be conducted at parish level. Results from FGDs revealed that communities, especially the women given their household gender roles, dislike being called for seminars at the sub-county headquarters (or telecentre sites) far away from their areas of residence. Hence, the most ideal location for such seminars to make an impact should be at a parish level, and thereafter those women in need of ICT services would voluntarily travel to wherever the ICT services are. However, due to the fact that women are time-constrained for reasons already given above, these sensitisation seminars should be integrated in a holistic manner with other community programmes going on at the parish level to save time and avoid seminar fatigue among communities.
Location of ICT Services :
Women entrepreneurs in Kampala (66.7%) complained of lack of computer services within reach as a limiting factor towards usage. In reality, there is a good number of computer service providers in Kampala downtown which is just only four kilometres from the parishes visited for interview. Whereas this is not a long distance for anyone badly in need of a service, women generally want services very close to where they live/work –This poses to be a real dilemma in getting women entrepreneurs started in usage of ICTs for their economic development given the high cost involved in setting up ICT services and moreover in a peri-urban setting like Banda or Bukoto II parishes where the demand for such services is still weak.
Usage of ICTs:
The FGDs shed light on an important issue for consideration in promotion of ICTs for enterprise development and economic empowerment of women. Respondents, particularly the market vendors who compose a big percentage of women entrepreneurs in Kampala and Nabweru sites, did not think they need to use any type of ICT in order to transact business as their operations are very small and localised in a sense that traders come direct to the area where they operate. The question arising from this is, does every woman in business need to use ICTs in order to progress, or ICTs should be promoted for a particular class of women? This is an issue that the CEEWA ICT project could look into when selecting the 30 women entrepreneurs for participation in the two-year project—not every sub-sector requires use of ICTs. Hence, it is recommended that the 30 women (per site) should be selected from sub-sectors (e.g. crop and livestock production, etc.) that may benefit from use of ICTs in order to enable project impact assessment at the end of the day.
Information Needs:
The FGDs emphasised the need for a variety of information just as the one-to-one interviews revealed. Unfortunately, except in Mbizzinnya and Katebo parishes of Buwama Sub-county, group formation among
26
women entrepreneurs in other parishes was found to be very weak as many women groups had collapsed. This was noted to be a sad affair especially for purposes of accessing credit facilities from MFIs which insist on formation of credit groups consisting of individual members. There is need to train the women entrepreneurs in group dynamics.
Training Needs:
From the above findings, the training needs by women entrepreneurs are well spelt out. As to how these training needs fit into the CEEWA two-year project is purely a function of the project officials. However, we are of the view that:
An adult literacy programme should be put in place for the benefit of the illiterate (or semi-literate) women entrepreneurs so that they can make maximum use of the ICT services at the telecentres. In order to make these programmes more attractive, given the fact that most illiterates fear exposing themselves as illiterates, such programmes could focus on functional adult literacy based on the identified training needs. Using the telecentre site as a training base will be a good opportunity to expose the trainees to ICT applications as one of the ways to improve their economic empowerment.
Looking a the current range of services CEEWA can offer, it is clear that meeting some of the major training needs of women entrepreneurs poses a new challenge because many of them are enterprise specific. For example, many farmers expressed the need to be trained in modern farming practices, those with hair salons needed training in hair care and hair styling, while those with bakeries needed lessons in bakery. Thus, to meet such diverse and technical needs, it may be necessary for CEEWA to hire on contract specialised resource personnel/organisations to conduct the training - perhaps at some reasonable fee to the beneficiaries. In this respect, CEEWA could out-source the personnel from the MSE support institutions (Annex 2) on the basis of their charges (lowest bidder wins).
Given the generally low levels of education of the micro and small scale women entrepreneurs, CEEWA should, to the extent possible, package its messages in the local languages to enable the intended beneficiaries to fully benefit from the training and other interventions CEEWA intends to make.
MSE Links/opportunities that need exploring
The women clients of CEEWA should be advised to join relevant MSE institutions with a view to benefit from the preferential treatment offered to members of those MSEs.
Many MSEs were reportedly offering free business counselling services yet lack of business guidance/counselling was highlighted as one of the major constraints facing many women entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurial organisations. This indicates an apparent gap between the grassroot and the MSE support institutions. Thus, CEEWA should play a go-between role to guide women entrepreneurs to MSEs where they can get appropriate business counselling services.
It is evident that many MSEs have already put together databases that may be containing invaluable business information. To avoid duplication, CEEWA should link up with such MSEs to explore ways of sharing this information so that it can be accessed by the women entrepreneurs through the proposed WIRES.
27
5. MONITORING AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORK
Conventionally, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities are geared towards guiding managers in improving the effectiveness of programme interventions and also to monitor progress being made against the goals in terms of coverage, access, utilisation, impact and cost effectiveness. M&E is an integral part of the implementation process of the 2-year ICT project. It will support and reinforce the process for entrepreneurial development process through ICT applications by women and will provide timely and reliable information on progress towards achieving the project objectives and CEEWA goals—i.e. increasing women’s access to and control of economic resources.
The main mechanisms for M&E could be the quarterly reviews and mid-term review processes. The inputs to these reviews could be:
i) Data from routine information systems (e.g. monthly reports);ii) Findings from monitoring and supervision visits b y the ICT project managers; andiii) Findings from external evaluations.
During the periodic monitoring and supervision exercises the M&E matrix below should be used as an extraction form.
28
MONITORING AND EVALUATION MATRIX
Project Goal: To build human resource capacity among participating women entrepreneurs and women organisations through training in entrepreneurship development and ICT application in entrepreneurship, and to train a cadre of trainers who will provide support.
INDICATORS ON ICT USAGE Cumulative Status as of 1st half of Year One
Cumulative Status as of 2nd Half of Year One
Cumulative Status as of 1st half of Year Two
Cumulative Status as of 2nd Half of Year Two
1. No. of women who used a phone to send/receive information related to markets for products2. No. of women who used a phone to send/receive information related to price of products3. No. of women who used a phone to sell products 4. No. of women who used a phone to send/receive information related to source of inputs 5. No. of women who used a phone to send/receive information related to price of inputs6. No. of women who used a fax to send/receive information related to markets for products7. No. of women who used a fax to send/receive information related to price of products8. No. of women who used a fax to sell products 9. No. of women who used a fax to send/receive information related to source of inputs 10. No. of women who used a fax to send/receive information related to price of inputs11. No. of women who used a computer to send/receive information related to markets for products12. No. of women who used a computer to send/receive information related to price of products13. No. of women who used a computer to sell products 14. No. of women who used a computer to send/receive information related to source of inputs 15. No. of women who used a computer to send/receive information related to price of inputs16. No. of women who used a computer to process business-related information
29
ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS
Cumulative Status as of 1st half of Year One
Cumulative Status as of 2nd Half of Year One
Cumulative Status as of 1st half of Year Two
Cumulative Status as of 2nd Half of Year Two
1. No. of women trained in savings & credit management2. No. of women trained in marketing skills3. No. of women trained in costing & pricing4. No. of women trained in usage of computers to process information5. No. of women trained in e-mail/internet usage 6. No. of illiterate women trained in numeracy & writing skills7. No. of women farmers trained in crop/animal husbandry practice
ECON EMPOWERMENT INDICATORS1. No. of women employing others since ICT project started2. No. of women whose income from most important business has increased ICT project started3. No. of women whose most important business has grown in size since ICT project started4. No. of women who have opened new product markets since ICT project started5. No. of women who have accessed credit since ICT project started
30
Annex 1: Additional Tables
Table 1: Distribution of Respondents’ Business Contacts
Buwama Site(n=60)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=180)
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes NoWhether respondent has business contacts::
Outside parish but within sub-countyIn commercial area of KampalaElsewhere in UgandaElsewhere in AfricaOutside Africa
60.0%15.0%10.0%
-1.7%
40.0%85.0%90.0%100%98.3%
53.3%56.7%16.7%
-1.7%
46.7%43.3%83.3%100%98.3%
58.3%58.3%25.0%
-1.7%
41.7%41.7%75.0%100%98.3%
57.2%43.3%17.2%
-1.7%
42.8%56.7%82.8%100%98.3%
Table 2: Distribution of Major Constraints to Respondents’ Most Important Businesss
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Major Constraints::
Lack of markets for productsLack of working capitalHigh cost of inputsCompetitionHigh business taxesLack of informationHousehold responsibilitiesOther
48.3%63.3%35.0%6.7%3.3%5.0%1.7%
18.3%
25.0%65.0%18.3%10.0%23.3%5.0%8.3%21.7%
20.0%56.7%8.3%
28.3%36.7%
-13.3%35.0%
31.1%61.7%20.6%15.0%21.1%3.3%7.8%25.0%
N.B: 1. Multiple responses possible
2. The overall percentage for “other” went out of proportion because of the unexpected (during instrument design) high incidence of “bad debts” (customers buying on credit and never paying back). Actually, bad debts compose about 45% of “other”
Table 3:Distribution of factors responsible for non usage of ICTs
31
Buwama Site(n=10)
Nabweru Site(n=27)
Kampala Site(n=14)
Row Total(n=51)
Why never used a fax:
No one to communicate toToo costly/not affordableServices not readily availableNot aware how it can be usedOther
30.0%-
40.0%30%
-
40.7%14.8%18.9%7.4%18.5%
35.7%14.3%42.9%
-7.1
37.3%11.8%29.4%9.8%
11.8%Buwama Site
(n=32)Nabweru Site
(n=13)Kampala Site
(n=14)Row Total
(n=59)Why never used a telephone:
No one to communicate toToo costly/not affordableServices not readily availableNot aware how it can be used
21.9%12.5%43.8%21.9%
46.2%30.0%15.4%7.7%
57.1%21.4%21.4%
-
35.6%18.6%32.2%13.6%
Buwama Site(n=32)
Nabweru Site(n=13)
Kampala Site(n=14)
Row Total(n=59)
Why never used a computer:
No need to use oneToo costly/not affordableServices not readily availableNot aware how it can be usedOthers
17.6%11.8%17.6%47.1%5.9%
23.1%15.4%26.9%26.9%7.7%
13.3%6.7%
66.7%13.3%
-
35.6%18.6%32.2%13.6%
Table 4:Distribution of Respondents’ Views on the Best Medium to promote business
Buwama Site(n=59)
Nabweru Site
(n=60)
Kampala Site
(n=60)
Row Total(n=179)
What should be the best medium to promote business?
Telephone Computer TVRadioNewspaperPosters
8.5%--
74.6%-
16.9%
11.7%-
5.0%81.7%1.7%
-
5.0%1.7%6.7%73.3%1.7%11.7%
8.4%0.6%3.9%76.5%1.1%9.5%
Table 5:Ownership of ICTs
32
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes NoWhether respondent owns:
A telephone A Fax MachineA computer A TVA radio
3.4%--
12.1%95.0%
96.6%100%100%87.9%5.0%
11.7%--
51.7%93.3%
88.3%100%100%48.3%6.7%
20.3%1.7%3.4%51.7%95.0%
79.7%98.3%96.6%48.3%5.0%
11.9%0.6%1.7%38.8%90.0%
88.8%99.4%98.9%61.2%10.0%
Table 6:Distribution of Most Important Information Respondents Need to Improve their Businesses
Buwama Site(n=59)
Nabweru Site(n=60)
Kampala Site(n=60)
Row Total(n=179)
Information respondents would need::
NoneInformation on entrepreneurial skillsInformation on how to improve products/servicesInformation on current prices for commodities/inputsInformation on new market opportunities for commodities/inputsInformation on credit facilitiesOther types of information
8.5%5.1%
39.0%6.8%
20.3%15.3%5.1%
20.0%18.3%23.3%1.7%
3.3%28.3%5.0%
21.7%18.3%20.0%3.3%
-31.7%5.0%
16.8%14.0%27.4%3.9%
7.8%25.1%5.0%
Table 7:Distribution of Respondents’ Most Important Training Needs
Buwama Site(n=55)
Nabweru Site(n=51)
Kampala Site(n=59)
Row Total(n=165)
Type of training respondent would need::
Don’t KnowSaving and credit managementMarketing skillsCosting and pricingUsing computers to process informationUsing computers to receive/send information (e-mail/internet)Training in numeracy and writing skillsOther
-25.5%16.4%7.3%
-
3.6%9.1%
38.2%
9.8%27.5%2.0%
13.7%5.9%
-9.8%
31.4%
13.6%30.5%3.4%15.3%6.8%
-10.2%20.3%
7.9%27.9%7.3%12.1%4.2%
1.2%9.7%29.7%
33
Table 8: Distribution of Major Constraints Facing Women Organisations
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Major Constraints::
Lack of markets for productsLack of working capitalHigh cost of inputsCompetitionHigh business taxesLack of information/guidanceHousehold responsibilitiesOther
44.4%88.9%44.4%11.1%11.1%66.7%11.1%
-
44.4%100%33.3%
--
77.8%22.2%11.1%
11.1%100%44.4%
-22.2%33.3%11.1%11.1%
33.3%96.3%40.7%3.7%11.1%59.3%14.8%7.4%
N.B: 1. Multiple responses possible
Table 9: Access to Essential Business Support Services
Buwama Site Nabweru Site Kampala Site Row Total
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes NoWhether members of the organisation have access to :
Business promotion exhibitionsBusiness counselling servicesBusiness exposure tour opportunitiesBusiness planningAgric/livestock extension servicesOther business support services
55.6%55.6%44.4%22.2%66.7%
-
44.4%44.4%55.6%77.8%33.3%100%
33.3%44.4%22.2%
-55.6%
-
66.7%55.6%77.8%100%44.4%100%.
11.1%11.1%33.3%
-22.2%
-
88.9%88.9%66.7%77.8%77.8%100%
33.3%37.0%33.3%7.4%
48.1%-
66.7%63.0%66.7%92.6%51.9%100%
34
Annex 2: MSE Support Institutions Visited
Name of Institution Location Services Provided to ClientsFree Service Paid-for Service
1. Pride Africa Nakawa Branch, UMA Show Ground
- Counselling- Training
-Provision of credit
2. Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Jinja Road - Advocacy - Export/Import information- Business training- Business consultancy- Exhibition services
3. Uganda National Farmers’ Association
Lumumba Avenue - Counselling services- Advocacy services
- Export and Import- Business training (Accounts, computer, store management- Credit management- Advertising services- Exhibition services
4. Uganda Manufacturers’ Association
Lugogo Show Ground
- Counselling services- Provision of credit & and savings services-
- Export and Import- Business training - Business consultancy services- Advocacy services- Exhibition services
5. Uganda Women Entrep Assoc. Ltd
Lumumba Avenue - Business information - Business training - Business consultancy services- Exhibition services
6. Uganda Small Scale Industries Association
Lugogo Show Ground
- Counselling services- Advocacy services
- Business training - Credit management services- Exhibition services
7. Business Uganda Development
Lumumba Avenue - Export and Import- Business training - Business consultancy services- Counsellin services- Exhibition services
8. UMA Consultancy and Information Services
Kalitunsi Road - Advocacy services - Business consultancy services
9. Plan International Uganda
- Income generation- Reproductive health- Education Support- Capacity building
10. Uganda Women Finance Credit and Trust
Buganda Road - Counselling services- Information services- Advocacy services
- Training services- Credit services
11. Creda Africa Ltd. Wandegeya - Farm Planning services - Feasibility study services
12. Uganda Oil Seed Processors’ Association
UDA building s 1st Flow
- Advocacy services -Training services- Information services
13. Uganda Honey Bee Keepers Association
P.O. Box 7156, K’la
- Information services -Training services- Consultancy services
14. Uganda Coffee Farmers’ Association
Nile Hotel - Information services - Training services
15. Uganda Importers and Exporters’ Association
P.O. Box 23579, Kampala
- Advocacy -Training services- Information services
35
16. Uganda Poultry Dev’nt Association
P.O. Box 11498, Kampala.
-Information services -Training services
17. Agri-Business Development Centre
Prince Drive Street, Plot 18.
- Information services -Training services
18. Private Sector Dev’nt Programme
- Business training - Business consultancy services- Credit Provision & Mng’t services
19. Business Community Multi purpose Telecentre
Masaka Road - Information on available social services
- Computer training- Modern communication services- Printing documents
20. FISA (Association. of Informal Sector Organisations
- Information services- Advocacy services
- Training services
21. Buwama Sub-county Buwama Subcounty - Business training - Counseling services- Advocacy services
- Credit Provision & Savings Services
22. Buwama Telecentre Buwama Subcounty - Computer training- Internet/e-mail services- Photocopying service- Telephone services
23. World Vision Buwama Subcounty - Business training- Counseling services- Credit management
-Credit and Savings Services
24. Nabweru Telecentre Nabweru Subcounty
- Computer training- Internet/e-mail services- Photocopying service- Telephone services
36
Annex 3: List of Women Entrepreneurs Selected for Training
37
Annex 4: List of Organisations Selected for Training
KAMPALA (NAKAWA) SITE
Name of OrganisationName of Respondent Parish Village
Membership Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3 Activity 4 Activity 5 Activity 6 Major Constraint
NAKAWA MICRO & SMALL ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
CHRISTINE NANSIKOMBI Bugolobi
BUGOLOBI JAMBULA 16 Floriculture
Rotational Credit
TRAINING PROGRAMMES . . . Lack of working capital
BANDA COMMUNITY SELF HELP PROJECT (BCOSEP)
NANTONGO JANET Banda
BANDA ZONE B6 30 Floriculture
FISH FARMING . . . . Lack of working capital
BAKYALA KWEKULAKULANYANABUKALU HANIFA Bukoto II
MUTOLA ZONE 80 Baking Handicrafts Brick making
Rotational Credit
TRAINING AND CONSULTATION PROG. . Lack of working capital
NABWERU SITE
LUGOBA WOMEN FARMERS ASSO.
SSESANGA RUTH
Kazo-Nabweru
KAZO-LUGOBA 15 Weaving Tailoring Brick making
Poutry Keeping
Dance and Drama
BANANA PLANTATION Lack of working capital
NANSANA YOUNG FARMERSTEDDY KABUUZA Nansana
NANSANA WEST 1 40 cattle keeping
Poutry Keeping Piggery
ROAD STALLS . . Lack of working capital
TTULA ENTERPRISES DEV'TFLORENCE NABANJA Maganjo
KAWEMPE ZONEB 15 Handicrafts
FISH FARMING . . . . Lack of working capital
BUWAMA SITE
TUSIIME WOMENS GROUPM/S ROSE NAKATO Jalamba LUBANGA B 35 Handicrafts
Vegetable Production Poutry Keeping Piggery
COFFEE TRADING .
Lack of information/guidance on business-related services
AGALIAWAMU WOMENS GROUPCAROL NSIBAMBI Mbizzinya BUWAMA B 18 Tailoring Baking Handicrafts
cattle keeping Piggery Other Lack of working capital
KATEBO WOMENS GROUPRESTY SSEMUJJU Katebo KATEBO 16
Vegetable Production Piggery FISHING . . .
Lack of information/guidance on business-related services
38
Annex 5: Survey Instruments
39
Women Entrepreneur Questionnaire
We are researchers from Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University, carrying out a study on the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs through the use of ICTs. This work is being done on behalf of CEEWA in collaboration with IDRC. The information you give us will help in designing appropriate interventions to meet the training and information needs deemed necessary in empowering women entrepreneurs in this area. All the information you will give will be kept strictly confidential.
Name of Respondent:_______________________________ ID No.____________
Name of Interviewer: ______________________Date of interview: _______, 2000 Time: ____:____
Study site:(1) Kampala(2) Nabweru (3) Buwama
Name of parish/LC2______________________________
Name of LC1______________________________
Socio-economic Characteristics
1. Age: 1- Less than 15 years2- 15-243- 25-344- 35-445- 45-546- 55 years old and over
2a. Marital Status: 1- Married2- Never married3- Divorced/separated4- Widow
2b. Head of household: 1- Respondent2- Spouse3- Other (specify___________________________)
3 Educational Level (highest): 1- Did not attend school
2- Some primary school
3- Primary leaving certificate
4- Some secondary school
5- Secondary school certificate (“O” level)
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6- Secondary school certificate (“A” level)
7- Some post-secondary school
8- Post-secondary diploma (Tech School)
9- University degree
10-Other (Specify)_________________4. What is the size of the Respondent’s household: __________people
5. Business Information:
5a What business(s) does the Respondent own or co-own (Tick all that apply)?
1- Retail shop 12- Cattle keeping2- Market/roadside stall 13- Vegetable production3- Hawker 14- Fruit production4- Hair saloon 15- Rabbit keeping5- Restaurant/tea room 16- Poultry keeping6- Dance and Drama 17- Piggery7- Brick making 18- Floriculture8- Handicraft 19- Apiary9- Weaving 20- Other (Specify
____________)10- Tailoring11- Baking
circle the most important above in terms of income generation
5b. If animal/poultry keeping, how many animals/birds do you have? ______Birds
______ Cattle
______ Pigs
______ Rabbits41
______Other animals
5c. If crop farming enterprise, what is the total acreage of the business crops? ______ acres.
5d. How many workers do you employ in the most important enterprise ? ___Skilled people.
___ Unskilled people
5e. What was the source of start-up capital for most important enterprise?1- Spouse2- Loan3- Savings from other
enterprise4- Other
(Specify__________)
5f. How much do you spend daily/weekly/monthly to buy inputs/commodities for your most important enterprise? ________/= per day
_________/=per week
_________/= per month
5g. How much sales revenue do you get daily/weekly/monthly from your most important enterprise?________/= per day________/= per week________/= per month
5h. Who determines use of income generated from your enterprise(s)?1- Decision is made by myself2- My spouse makes the
decision3- Both 1 & 24- Other (Specify
_____________)
5i Do you keep records for your most important business?1- Yes2- No.
(If yes), for how long do you keep the records?____________________________
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5j Do you have business contacts with people/organisations:
Has Contact?
1- Yes 2- No
Type of Contact
1- Suppliers of Commodities/Inputs2- Buyers3- Credit Support Services4- Information Support Services5- Training Services6- Other Services (specify)
a) Elsewhere in sub-county (Outside parish)b) In Kampala City (Commercial Area)c) Elsewhere in Ugandad) Elsewhere in Africae) Outside Africa
5k. What are the major constraints to your most important business (tick all applicable and circle most important?
1- Lack of markets for products2- Lack of working capital3- High cost of inputs4- Competition5- High business taxes6- Lack of information /guidance on business related services7- Household responsibilities8- Other (Specify _____________________)
5l How can these constraints be solved (trace answers to each of the ticked constraint)?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________6. What non- enterprise income generating activities is the respondent engaged in?
1- None2- Salaried employment3- Casual employment4- Other (Specify _______________________)
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7. What is the major source of family income:1- Own/co-own enterprise (s)
2- Enterprises of other HH members3- Non-enterprise4- Remittances5- Other (Specify ________________)
Assessment of Awareness and Current Use of ICTs
8. Do you listen to the radio? 1- Yes 2- No
(If NO, Skip to 11)
9. What programs do you listen to? (Tick all applicable)
1- Entertainment (Music, Drama, greetings)2- News bulletin3- Listen to personal announcement4- Business skills development programs5- Non-business Educational programs (say on health)6- Social-cultural programs (such as talk shows, current affairs etc.)7- Other (Specify ____________________________________)
CIRCLE program most listened to above.
10. How often do you listen to the radio? 1- Everyday2- 1 – 2 days a week
3- 2 - 6 days a week4- Rarely
11. Have you ever used the radio to communicate to other people? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 13)
12. In the last 3 months, what type of information did you communicate to other people using radio? (Tick all applicable)
1- None2- Personal announcements3- Information related to markets/prices4- Participated in social-cultural programs (such as talk shows, greetings etc.)5- Other (Specify ____________)
CIRCLE most important above & SKIP TO 14
13. Why have you never used the radio to send information?
1- No one to communicate to using radio2- Too costly/not affordable3- Services not readily available4- Don’t know how radio can be used to communicate information
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5- Others (Specify_____________________________)
14. Do you watch T.V? 1- Yes 2- No
(If NO, Skip to 16)
15. What programs do you watch on TV? (Tick all applicable)
1- Entertainment (Music, Drama, greetings)2- News bulletin3- Listen to personal announcement4- Business skills development programs5- Non-business Educational programs (say on health)6- Social-cultural programs (such as talk shows, current affairs etc.)7- Other (Specify ____________________________________)
CIRCLE program most watched above
16. Have you ever used the TV to communicate to other people? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 18)
17. In last 3 months, What type of information did you communicate to other people using TV? (Tick all applicable)
1- None2- Information related to markets/prices3- Participated in social-cultural programs (such as talk shows etc.)4- Other (Specify ____________)
CIRCLE most important above & skip to 19
18. Why have you never used the TV to communicate to other people?
1. No one to communicate to on TV2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available4. Don’t know how TV can be used to communicate information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
19. Do you know the use of a Video Cassette Recorder? 1- Yes 2- No (If No, Skip to 21)
45
20. In the last three months, what program(s) did you watch on a Video Cassette? (Tick all applicable)0- None1- Entertainment (Music, Drama, Films)2- skills develop programs3- Business-related documentaries4- Non-Educational programs (say on health)5- Other (Specify ___________________)
CIRCLE most important above
21. Do you know what a fax machine does? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 25)
22. Have you ever used a fax to receive or send a message? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 24)
23. In the last three months what did you use a fax for? (Tick all applicable)
1- Nothing2- Made sale of products to middlemen/ traders/organisations by fax3- Bought merchandise/inputs by fax4- Received/sent information on market prices5- Received information on new markets6- Sent Information on market opportunities for product7- Received information on entrepreneurial (skills) development issues8- Sent/received information on educational and social cultural – issues9- Other (Specify ____________________)
(CIRCLE most important above & SKIP TO 25)
24. Why have you never used the fax?
1. No one to communicate using a fax2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available/Doesn’t have one4. Don’t know how fax can be used to communicate information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
25. Do you know a telephone? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 29)
26. Have you ever used a telephone to receive or send a message? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 28)
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27. In the last three months what did you use a telephone for? (Tick all applicable)1- Nothing 2- Made sale of products to middlemen/ traders/organisations by telephone3- Bought merchandise/inputs by telephone4- Received/sent information on market prices5- Received information on new markets6- Sent Information on market opportunities for products7- Received information on entrepreneurial (skills) development issues8- Sent/received information on educational and social cultural – issues9- Other (Specify ____________________)
CIRCLE most important above & SKIP TO 29
28. Why have you never used the telephone to communicate to other people?
1. No one to communicate to on telephone2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available/Doesn’t have one4. Don’t know how telephone can be used to communicate information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
29. Do you know what a computer does? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 33)
30. Have you ever used a computer (directly or through someone)? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 32)
31. In the last three months what did you use a computer for? (Tick all applicable)
0- Nothing1- Made sale of products to middlemen/ traders/organisations by computer2- Bought merchandise/inputs by computer3- Received/sent information on market prices4- Received information on new markets5- Sent Information on market opportunities for products6- Received information on entrepreneurial (skills) development issues7- Sent/received information on educational and social cultural – issues8- Learning use of computers to process documents/data9- Learning how to use computers to send or receive information10- Processing business related data/documents11- Processing personal information (non-business related)12- Other (Specify ____________________)
CIRCLE most important and SKIP TO 33
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32. Why have you never used the computer?
1. No need to use one2. Too costly/not affordable3. Computer Services not readily available/Doesn’t have one4. I have know knowledge of computers5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
33. Do you read newspapers? 1- Yes 2- No
(If NO, Skip to 36)
34. How often do you read the newspapers?1- Everyday2- 1 – 2 times a week3- 3 – 6 times a week4- Rarely
35. What do you read about? (Tick all applicable)
1- Entertainment Issues(Stories)2- News/Current Affairs3- Business (Skills) Development Issues4- Business Adverts5- Educational Issues (such as on Health etc)6- Other (Specify ___________________)
CIRCLE type most read above
36. In the last 3 months, did you ever use the newspapers to communicate to other people?
1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 38)
37. What type of information did you communicate to them? (Tick all applicable)
1- Personal announcements2- Information related to markets/prices (Business Adverts)3- Contributed article on social-cultural issues4- Other (Specify ________________________________)
CIRCLE most important above & SKIP TO 39)
38. Why have you never used newspapers to communicate to other people?
1. No one to communicate to in newspapers2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available4. Don’t know how newspapers can be used to communicate information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
48
39. In the last 3 months, did you use magazines/newsletters/brochures to communicate to other people?1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 41)
40. What type of information did you communicate to them? (Tick all applicable)1- Personal announcements2- Information related to markets/prices (Business Adverts)3- Contributed article on social-cultural issues4- Other (Specify _________________________________)
CIRCLE most important above & SKIP TO 42
41. Why have you never used magazines/brochures to communicate to other people?
1. No one to communicate to through magazines/brochures2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available4. Don’t know how magazines/brochures can be used to communicate information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
42. In last 3 months, did you ever use photocopied posters to communicate to other people?
1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 44)
43. What type of information did you communicate to them? (Tick all applicable)
1- Personal announcements2- Information related to markets/prices (Business Adverts)3- Contributed article on social-cultural issues4- Other (Specify ____________)
CIRCLE most important above & SKIP TO 45
44a. Why have you never used posters to communicate to other people?1. No one to communicate to through fliers2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available4. Don’t know how fliers can be used to communicate information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
49
44b In your opinion what would be the best medium to promote your business and why ( read through to guide the respondent and tick the best with explanation why) ?
1- Telephone2- Fax3- Computer4- TV5- Radio6- News paper7- Magazines/brochures8- Posters9- Other (Specify _________________________________)
REASON(S): _________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
44c. Which one of these do you own: (Read) Own?
1. Yes 2. No
Location1- Home2- Business3- Mobile
Does it function?1-Yes 2-No
Did you use it in the last week?1-Yes 2-No
Did you use it today?1-Yes 2-No
1- Telephone2- Fax3- Computer(s)4- e-mail (Don’t ask if has no computer)5- Internet (Don’t ask if has no computer)6- TV7- Radio
Information Communication Needs
45. What type of information would you need to receive to improve your enterprise activities? (Tick all applicable)
0- None1- Information on entrepreneurial skills2- Information on how to improve product/service3- Information on current prices for commodities/inputs4- Information on new market opportunities for commodities/inputs5- Information on credit facilities6- Other type of business-related information (Specify_____________)
50
CIRCLE most important above
46. What type of information would you need to send to boost your enterprise activities? (Tick all applicable)
1- None2- Information on current prices for products3- Information on market opportunities for products4- Other type of business-related information (Specify_____________)
CIRCLE most important above
Training Needs Assessment
47. Would you need training to promote your business activities? 1- Yes 2-No (skip to 48 )
(If Yes) What type of training would you need (tick all applicable)?
1- Don’t know2- Savings and credit management3- Marketing skills4- Costing and pricing5- Using computers to process information6- Using computers to receive/send information (e-mail/Internet)7- Training in numeracy and writing skills.8- Other (specify_________________________)
(CIRCLE most important if more than one)
48. Do you belong to any women entrepreneurial organisation? 1. Yes 2. No
49. If yes, which one? ______________________________________________
50. What services do you get from this organisation?
_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
51
Thank your respondent for giving you the opportunity to talk to her and find out her contact address for future visits.
Name by which the respondent is commonly known (could be different from the one on the cover page)________________________________-
First Immediate contact person (Name)_______________________________________________
Contact person’s address (name of village & LC 1)________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Second immediate contact person (Name)_______________________________________________
Second Contact Person’s address (name of village & LC 1)________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Name of Enterprise ________________________________________________________
52
Women Entrepreneurial OrganisationsQuestion Guide for Organizational Interviews
Name of Person Interviewed: _____________________ Date of Interview:_________
Name of Organization: ____________________________ Parish:_______________
Study site: (1) Kampala(2) Nabweru(3) Buwama
Type of Organisation
1. What are the principal business activities of the organisation (Tick all that apply and circle the most important)?
1- Weaving 8- Vegetable production2- Tailoring 9- Fruit production3- Baking 10- Apiary4- Handicraft 13- Fruit production5- Dance and Drama 14- Rabbit keeping6- Brick making 15- Poultry keeping7- Cattle keeping 16- Piggery
17- Floriculture18- Other (Specify
____________________)
2. Do members undertake these activities jointly or individually?1- Individually (If individually, skip to 7)
2- Jointly3- Some individually, others
jointly
3. If animal/poultry keeping, how many animals/birds do you have? ______Birds
______ Cattle
______ Pigs
53
______ Rabbits
______Other animals
4. If crop farming enterprise, what is the total acreage of the enterprise crops? ______ acres.
5. Number of Members in the organisation: ___________
6. Number of salaried workers employed by the organisation:__________
54
7. Does the organisation have business contacts with people/organisations:Has Contact?
1- Yes 2- No
Type of Contact
1- Suppliers of Commodities/Inputs2- Buyers3- Credit Support Services4- Information Support Services5- Training Services6- Other Services (specify)
a) Elsewhere in sub-county (Outside parish)b) In Kampala City (Commercial Area)c) Elsewhere in Ugandad) Elsewhere in Africae) Outside Africa
Assessment of ICT Use
8. Has the organisation ever used the radio to send enterprise-related information?(1) Yes (2) No (If NO, skip to 10)
9. In the last 3 months, what type of information did the organisation communicate to other people using the radio? (Tick all applicable and SKIP TO 11)
0- None1- Information related to markets/prices of products (advertisement)2- Other (Specify _________________________________)
10. Why has the organisation never used the radio to send enterprise-related information?1. No need to because market is readily available2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available4. Don’t know how radio can be used to communicate enterprise-related
information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
11. Has the organisation ever used the TV to communicate to other people? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 13)
12. In last 3 months, what type of information did the organisation communicate to other people using the TV? (Tick all applicable)
0- None1- Information related to markets/prices (advertisement)2- Other (Specify __________________________________)
13. Has the organisation ever used newspapers/magazines/brochures to communicate to other people? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 15)
55
14. In last 3 months, what type of information did the organisation communicate to other people using newspapers/magazines/brochures? (Tick all applicable and SKIP TO 16)
0- None1- Information related to markets/prices (advertisement)2- Other (Specify ____________)
15. Why has the organisation never used newspapers/magazines/brochures to send enterprise-related information?
1. No need to because market is readily available2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available4. Don’t know how newspapers can be used to communicate enterprise-related information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
16. Has the organisation ever used photocopied fliers to communicate to other people? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 18)
17. In last 3 months, what type of information did the organisation communicate to other people using photocopied fliers? (Tick all applicable and SKIP TO 19)
0- None1- Information related to markets/prices (advertisement)2- Other (Specify __________________________________)
18. Why has the organisation never used fliers to send enterprise-related information?1. No need to because market is readily available2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available4. Don’t know how fliers can be used to communicate enterprise-related information5. Others (Specify___________________________________________)
19. Has the organisation ever used a fax to receive or send business related messages? 1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 21)
20. In the last three months what did the organisation use a fax for? (Tick all applicable and circle most important, SKIP 22)
0- Nothing1- Made sale of products to middlemen/ traders/organisations by telephone2- Bought merchandise/inputs by telephone3- Received/sent information on market prices4- Received information on new markets5- Sent Information on market opportunities for products6- Received/sent information on entrepreneurial (skills) development issues7- Sent/received information on educational and social cultural – issues8- Other (Specify ____________________)
56
21. Why has the organisation never used fax to send enterprise-related information?1. No need to because market is readily available2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available/Doesn’t have one4. Don’t know how a fax can be used to communicate enterprise-related information5. Others (Specify_____________________________)
22. Has the organisation ever used a telephone to receive or send business-related messages?1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 24)
23. In the last three months what did the organisation use a telephone for? (Tick all applicable and circle most important, SKIP TO 25)
0- Nothing1- Made sale of products to middlemen/ traders/organisations by telephone2- Bought merchandise/inputs by telephone3- Received/sent information on market prices4- Received information on new markets5- Sent Information on market opportunities for products6- Received/sent information on entrepreneurial (skills) development issues7- Sent/received information on educational and social cultural – issues8- Other (Specify ____________________)
24. Why has the organisation never used the telephone to send enterprise-related information?1. No need to because market is readily available2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available/Doesn’t have one4. Don’t know how a telephone can be used to communicate enterprise-related information5. Others (Specify____________________________________________________)
25. Does the organisation use computers to process business-related information? 1- Yes2- No
26. Has the organisation ever used a computer to receive/send information to other people/organisations?1- Yes 2- No (If NO, Skip to 30)
27. Does the organisation use e-mail? 1- Yes 2- No
28. Does the organisation use the Internet? 1- Yes 2- No
57
29. In last 3 months, what did the organisation use computers for? ? (Tick all applicable and circle most important, SKIP TO 31)
0- Nothing1- Made sale of products to middlemen/ traders/organisations by computer2- Bought merchandise/inputs by computer3- Received/sent information on market prices4- Received information on new markets5- Sent Information on market opportunities for products6- Received/sent information on entrepreneurial (skills) development issues7- Processing business-related documents for the organisation8- Members learning use of computers to process documents/data9- Members learning how to use computers to send or receive information10- Sent/received information on educational and social cultural – issues11- Other (Specify ____________________________________________)
30. Why has the organisation never used computers to send enterprise-related information?1. No need to because market is readily available2. Too costly/not affordable3. Services not readily available/Doesn’t have one4. Don’t know how computers can be used to communicate enterprise-related information5. Others (Specify_____________________________________________________)
31. Which one of these does the organisation own and functions? (Read: Tick all applicable)1- Telephone2- Fax3- Computers4- e-mail (Don’t ask if has no computer)5- Internet (Don’t ask if has no computer)6- None of the above
Information Communication Needs
32. What type of information would the organisation like to receive from outside the community? (Tick all applicable and circle most important)
0- None1- Information on business management skills2- Information on how to improve product/service3- Information on current prices for commodities/inputs4- Information on new market opportunities for commodities/inputs5- Other type of business-related information
(Specify_________________________)
58
33. What type of information would the organisation like to send outside the community? (Tick all applicable and circle most important)
0- None1- Information on current prices for products2- Information on market opportunities for products3- Other type of business-related information
(Specify__________________________)
Training Needs Assessment
34. Have members of the organisation received training in savings and credit management? 1. Yes2. No
35. Would members need (further training) training in savings and credit management? 1. Yes2. No
36. Have members ever had training in marketing skills? 1. Yes 2. No
37. Would members need (further training) training in marketing skills? 1. Yes2. No
38. Have members ever had training in costing and pricing skills?1. Yes 2. No
39. Would members need (further training) training in costing and pricing? 1. Yes2. No
40. Have members ever had training in using computers to process information?1. Yes
2. No
41. Would members need (further training) training in using computers to process information? 1. Yes2. No
42. Have members ever had training in using computers to receive/send information? 1. Yes2. No
43. Would members need (further training) training in using computers to receive/send information? 1. Yes 2. No
44. Does the organisation have some members who never attended school? 1. Yes2. No
45. If yes, would these members need training in numeracy and writing skills? 1. Yes2. No
59
Assessment of Other Support Services Needs
46. Are members knowledgeable about information pertaining to available credit facilities?1. Yes, all
2. Yes, some3. None (skip to 49)
47. Do members have capacity to access credit? 1. Yes, all
2. Yes, some
3. None (skip to 49)
48. How many members have had a loan from a formal source in last 6 months? ____ people.
49. Does the organisation have a savings and credit scheme? 1. Yes 2. No
50. Does the organisation have access to business promotion advisory services? 1. Yes 2. No
51. If yes, what type of advisory services does the organisation have access to (Read: Tick all applicable and circle most important)
(If ticked) From which organisations?
Write down amount paid or (0)
if free?1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.(specify__________________________)
60
MSE Associations/ Support Institutions Questionnaire
We are researchers from Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University, carrying out a study on the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs through the use of ICTs. This work is being done on behalf of CEEWA in collaboration with IDRC. The information you give us will help in designing appropriate interventions to meet the training and information needs deemed necessary in empowering women entrepreneurs in this area. All the information you will give will be kept strictly confidential.
Name of the Interviewee _________________________________________ Title of Interviewee_______________________________________
Name of the Organisation___________________________ ____Type: 1. MSE AssociationStudy site: (1) Kampala
2. Support Institution (2)Nabweru
(3) Buwama
Name of Interviewer: _____________________________ Date of interview: _______, 2000Time start: ________Time end: ____________
1.Who are your clients ? 1- Members only2- Members and non-members3- Open to all (no membership required)4- Other( specify ___________________________)
2. What is the estimated number of clients served?
Number of clients Period (e.g. daily, weekly, termly, etc.)
Males Females Total
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3. What service(s) does your organisation offer the MSE entrepreneurs? (tick all applicable)
4. Is this service paid for?1- Yes 2- No
5. (If yes) what is the amount paid (per call/ per month/per year/per course etc.)?9
6. What are the conditions attached to each type of service?
1a -Export oriented information b-Import oriented information
2- Business consultancy services Type: i) ii) iii) iv) v)3- Business training Type: i) ii) iii) iv) v)4- Counselling services
5- Exhibition servicces
6- Advocacy services
7- Credit management services
5- Provision of credit & savings services SKIP TO SECTION ON CREDIT PROVIDERS
5.-Other services (specify
9 It may be necessary to secure brochures for price lists as charges for business training courses differ from one another.
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7. On the whole, are the services you offer being fully utilised by women entrepreneurs? 1- Yes2- No
If No why? _________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
8 What should be done to improve the utilisation of your services by women entrepreneurs?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
9. Are there services demanded but not offered by your institution? 1- Yes 2- No
If yes, what are they?___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
10 From experience in your institution, what is the ability of clients to pay for the services you offer?
1- All pay easily2- All pay with difficulty
3- Most pay easily4- Most pay with difficulty
11.a What constraints do you face as a service provider?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
11.b What solutions would you suggest to improve the situation?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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CREDIT PROVIDERS’ SECTION
12. What are the credit sizes given to clients (in Ushs)?
13. Pay-back period(in months)
14. Interest rate payable (per week/month/year)
15. Grace period
16. Type of collateral required
64