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Recent Submissions

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The Effects of financial inclusion on entrepreneurial venture formation in marginalized areas in kenya - a case of Chepyuk Ward, Mt. Elgon Sub-County
(Strathmore University, 2023) Kipnusu, T. K.
Financial inclusion has widely been touted as a vital tool in alleviating poverty and reducing income imbalance among the rural-poor in developing economies. The concept of financial inclusion (FI) has become popular and has been described as a means of easy and voluntary access to basic financial services. This study sought to determine the effect of financial inclusion on entrepreneurial venture formation in marginalized areas with focus on Chepyuk Ward, Mt. Elgon Sub-County in Kenya. The highest financial exclusion of 29% is in marginalized areas compared to 2% in non-marginalized areas. Further, Commission for Revenue Allocation identifies Mt Elgon in Bungoma County, Western Kenya among 1,424 areas in 47 counties as most deprived and therefore marginalized. The overall objective of the study was to determine the effect of financial inclusion on entrepreneurial venture formation in marginalized areas with focus on Chepyuk Ward, Mt. Elgon Sub-County in Kenya. The study had three specific objectives: The first specific objective was to establish the extent of access to financial services and its effects on entrepreneurial venture formation in Chepyuk Ward, Mt. Elgon Sub-County in Kenya. The second specific objective was to establish the extent of usage of financial services and its effects on entrepreneurial venture formation in Chepyuk Ward, Mt. Elgon Sub-County in Kenya. The third specific objective was to investigate the level of awareness of existence of financial services and its effects on entrepreneurial venture formation among the marginalized areas of Chepyuk Ward, Mt. Elgon Sub-County in Kenya. This study used two theories; Capabilities theory and theory of asymmetric information. Descriptive research design was applied and a sample size of 379 households from a target population of 7,274 households from Chepyuk ward was used in this study. Two research assistants were trained and supported data collection process. The study adopted a spearman`s rank correlation coefficients and binary logit regression model. Results of the study indicated that there was a positive and not significant effect of access to financial services on entrepreneurial venture formation. There was an inverse and not significant effect of usage of financial services on entrepreneurial venture formation. Moreover, there was an inverse and significant effect of level of awareness of financial services and entrepreneurial venture formation in Chepyuk Ward, Mt. Elgon Sub-County. The study concludes that extent of financial access, access to financial training and financial literacy are catalysts of entrepreneurial venture formation. There is need for cost benefit analysis by financial services providers so as to examine the costs of credit facilities, use of mobile financial services and micro insurance so as to match the need with costs incurred by service seekers, especially the low income earners in the marginalized areas. There is need for deployment of strategies that may alter the inverse effect of access of financial services, access of financial training and financial literacy. There is need for development of policy programs that would mitigate against the levels of information asymmetry and ultimately increase uptake of financial products and reverse the trend of entrepreneurial venture formation.
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The Effects of financial literacy on the performance of Agro processing companies in Nairobi County, Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2023) Mwirichia, D. N.
Globally, financial literacy has gained attention in the business industry due to its significant impact on the sustainability of a business. This study sought to assess the effects of financial literacy on the performance of Agro processing companies in Nairobi County. The specific objectives of the study were: to determine the effects of financial budgeting literacy on the performance of Agro processing companies in Nairobi County; to establish the effects of financial risk management literacy on the performance of the Agro processing firms and to determine the effects of debt management literacy on the performance of Agro processing firms in Nairobi County. The study was anchored on financial literacy theory and used a descriptive correlational research design. The study target population comprised of all the 112 Agro processing companies in Nairobi County with the target respondents being the financial officers, chief accountants and other senior individuals in the firms’ finance and accounting departments. The study used census survey approach to obtain information from the 112 Agro processing companies in Nairobi County. Data was collected using questionnaires which were online administered using Google Docs. Gathered data was cleaned and then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically while quantitative data was analyzed by the aid of statistical software SPSS version 24. The study found that is a significant positive relationship between financial budgeting literacy, financial risk management literacy and debt management literacy as evidenced by the positive correlation. Further the model of the study concluded that financial budgeting literacy has a statistically significant impact on performance of Agro processing companies. The study recommends that Agro processing companies should move with speed in enhancing their staff members’ knowledge on emerging and disruptive financial concepts in relation to financial budgeting in order to maintain steady financial growth
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Predicting student performance trajectory by analysing internet technology utilization behavioural patterns: case of Kenyan university students
(Strathmore University, 2019) Khakata, E. N. G.
Learning within universities today is continuously being revolutionized by the presence and advancements made on internet technology. The use of internet technology by students in the learning process is greatly influenced by the adoption and utilization of the technology within their learning institutions. However, despite the investments made by the institutions for the provision of internet technology, it is not possible to determine whether the technology positively contributes to better student performance. Similarly, the students expend a certain level of effort in order to use the technology in the learning process. Nonetheless, it is not possible to determine whether their effort contributes to positive performance in their studies. Likewise, taking into account a student’s behaviour and the result they expect to achieve at the end of a learning process, it is not possible to determine the degree to which the effort of the student (effectiveness of student effort) contributes to improved performance. Therefore, there is need to develop a student performance prediction model that considers the investments made by institutions, the student effort expended and the effectiveness of student effort in the utilization of internet technology. The scientific contribution of this thesis involved generation of the student performance trajectory and the development of a student performance prediction model that focuses on student behaviour within a learning environment at a specific instance in time. This model will help educational practitioners to analyse the existing contextual factors within an institution and how the factors influence student performance without carrying out a longitudinal research that will be time and resource intensive. This research considered three major factors in the prediction of student performance, that is, the investment costs, the student effort and the effectiveness of student effort. Investment costs consider student behavioural costs such as the time budget, the physical costs and the mental budget. Student effort encompasses the behavioural intentions and the actions of the students. The effectiveness of student effort considers the expected outcome from performing an action and the behavioural costs. The time budget was mainly influenced by time spent using internet technology and the physical costs are determined by the physical environment and general infrastructure in the universities. The behavioural intentions and actions of a student were examined using the capability of the student, the attitude of the student, the relevance of the technology in the learning process, the productivity achieved in using the technology and the knowledge of a student in the use of the technology in the learning process. The key findings of this research showed that internet technology was a useful resource in the learning process of students and the students had embraced its use in their learning with vigour. The students perceived the technology as easy to use and useful in their studies. They had sufficient knowledge in the use of the technology in learning and they had used the technology to accomplish a number of tasks in their learning process. Furthermore, some universities had invested sufficiently for the provision of internet technology and hence, their students had benefited greatly from the technology. The study concluded by formulating the input factors based on key research findings that were used in the prediction of the student performance perceptions and the student performance trajectory. These formed the major research output and they could be used in predicting student performance at a given instance in time. Keywords: Internet technology, internet utilization, Cobb-Douglas theorem, student performance, predictive model, prediction algorithms, decision tree.
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Mathematical modelling of the impact of HIV intervention strategies in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2020) Omondi, E. O.
Since the identification of the first cases of AIDS almost three and half decades ago, HIV/AIDS continues to inflict major public health and socio-economic challenges. Although various intervention strategies have been employed, cases of new infections are still quite high especially in sub-Saharan Africa. At the end of 2018, nearly 37.9 million people were infected with HIV globally. In Kenya, approximately 1.6 million people are living with HIV with 25,000 deaths resulting from AIDS-related illness yearly. The rise in the cases of infections obviously poses danger in the efforts to contain HIV pandemic. HIV prevention and intervention measures need to be enhanced in order to achieve an HIV free society. In this work, mathematical models for HIV transmission dynamics with focus on the impacts of testing and counselling, PrEP uptake and ART treatment are formulated and analysed. Vital analyses that include positivity, steady states and their stability conditions for the models are precisely established. Numerical results from fitting the models to real-time surveillance data to show the evolution of populations over time are obtained. Through Pontryagin’s maximum principle, qualitative optimal control measure against HIV is established. Results are indicative of the fact that combination of various control measures lead to reduction in cases of new infections. Our findings show that the introduction of PrEP has a positive effect on the limitation of spread of HIV when the coverage is maintained at 40%. Furthermore, a combination of PrEP uptake, condom use and ART treatment is likely to offer the best control measure against HIV infections. It is thus critical to devote more resources to education on HIV preventive measures and treatment programmes. In summary, control of new cases of HIV infections should take into account PrEP uptake and combination of condom use and ART treatment. However, PrEP program coverage and individual-level adherence is very critical. These results have the potential to help in escalating programs against HIV infections in high risk populations by modifying the implementation of current interventions, or by adding new control measures.
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Women’s preferences for place of delivery: a study of Embakasi-North and Naivasha Sub-County’s, Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2020) Aridi, J. K. O.
High maternal mortality continues to affect many sub-Saharan African countries. Kenya continues to have an unacceptable high maternal mortality ratio. Despite a rise in coverage for facility-based delivery following a free maternity services policy in 2013, there is little data on what women value when making their decision in choosing a place of delivery. There is uncertainty regarding factors that influence women’s choice of health facilities and women’s perceptions of quality of care. This study sought to examine women’s preferences and to rank attributes of the health system that drive women’s choices. The study compared the preferences of women in Embakasi North a peri-urban setting in Nairobi County with those in a rural Naivasha sub-County. It utilized a mixed methods study incorporating a qualitative study and a quantitative study approach; a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) for evaluating the factors that women value when selecting their place of delivery. In Naivasha, women ranked the highest attribute preference as the presence of a kind and supportive attitude of healthcare worker (β=1.184, p<0.001), whereas in Embakasi-North sub- County the women’s highest preference was for the attribute on cleanliness of the health facility, (β=1.488, p<0.001).This was followed by availability of medical equipment and drugs in both the Naivasha (β=1.073, p<0.001), and Embakasi-North (β=1.435, p<0.001). The attribute ranked third for Naivasha was the quality of clinical services during delivery (β=0.826, p<0.001) whereas in Embakasi-North it was the alternative specific constant (β=1.424, p<0.001). The coefficient for both the distance to the health facility and cost of delivery for Naivasha (β=0.457p<0.001) and (β=0.00002, p<0.001) respectively and Embakasi-North (β=0.339, p<0.001) and (β= p<0.0002) were positive and statistically significant at the 1 % level. These results indicate a preference for high costs and long distance which contradict economic theory that predicts that most rationale people would have a preference for low costs and short distances respectively. This implies that women were bypassing closer health facilities and seeking care at further off health facilities. The cost result implies that women were willing to pay higher costs for services that they perceive would be of higher quality. The study established that sociodemographic such as age, marital status, income status and education level all influence the ranking of attributes with the exception of cost and distance in Embakasi-North. These findings suggest that women value both structural and process indicators of quality of care. Patient-centered aspects of care matters to women. By paying attention to their preferences, policy makers can provide care that women want and value. To prevent bypass of closer health facilities and promote affordable care, policy makers should provide care that has the requisite medical equipment and respectful healthcare workers that are responsive to women’s needs. This will assist in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets for reducing preventable maternal mortality. Keywords: Women preferences, place of delivery, Kenya, Discrete Choice Experiment