Covid -19 nearly brought to halt business operations not only in Kenya but globally. This follows the stiff measures that were placed to curb the spread of the virus, these measures affected women’s labour markets. Businesses such as greengrocery, mitumba (second-hand) clothes, and fish mongering which are dominated by women were hard hit as compared to those operated by men. The situation was exacerbated by the spike in cases of gender-based violence witnessed during the stay-at-home period.
To re-energize and rebuild the resilience of women survivors of SGBV, Mastercard Foundation supported a consortium of three organizations- CREAW, Groots Kenya and CCGD to develop Jasiri Fund. This non-collateral loan sought to facilitate affordable financial services s women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Kenya in the wake of Covid-19.
To date, over 700 women have benefitted from the program. One of them is Ms Dolrose Awino, a greengrocery businesswoman based at Kinango market in Kwale County. Despite having a successful business before the onset of Covid-19, all the success she had made was watered down by the pandemic. Her situation was worsened by the continuous domestic violence she experienced in her marriage.
“My ex-husband used to beat me, he demanded that I leave the house by 10:00 am and come back by 5: 00 pm failure I would be battered. The man used to beat me daily because of the nature of my job where I have to leave early to the market and come back late in the night,” she narrated.
But when push came to shove, Ms Awino walked out of the abusive marriage. She was later enrolled as a beneficiary of the Jasiri Fund program where she was among other survivors who were taken through many entrepreneurship training before being given loans.
“Personally, I was given a loan worth Ksh, 80,000 which I used to boost my business and the profit ploughed from the business is what I used in buying these five cattle as I plan to venture into livestock keeping.,” she explained.
Added: “From the loan, I could use Ksh. 15,000 to buy a sack of sardines from Kisumu out of which I would make a profit of Ksh. 10,000 per sack and that is how I managed to raise money to buy these cattle.”
Ms Awino has not only ventured into cattle rearing but aspires to open up a retail shop within Kinango “As we speak, there is a place I have identified that am planning to open up a retail shop this is due to the harsh economic time we are facing. So, if I can combine the two businesses – greengrocery and shop then I will be one step ahead;” she said.
She remains buoyant that Jasiri will continue empowering more women like her. She, however, calls upon the program implementors to onboard more women in the program as this will help in reducing cases of SGBV in the county.
Despite making business progress, Ms Awino faces several challenges which she says has affected the business considering that her businesses rely heavily on Jasiri loan. “Some of the challenges we are facing here in Kinango are drought and rise in the price of commodities which have adversely affected our businesses,” said Ms Awino.
She pleaded with women in business to reduce expenses in their businesses and turn their focus into savings.
“I urge fellow women in business to put more effort into savings and avoid too many expenses in their businesses. They should also set targets in their businesses,” she said.
With support from Mastercard Foundation, through the Response, Recovery and Resilience Project in partnership with CREAW and GROOTS Kenya, CCGD has facilitated affordable financial services to women such as Ms Dolrose Awino through Jasiri Fund. CCGD is currently implementing the program in Kwale, Kajiado and Busia Counties.
By Maurice Goga
