How Social Enterprise is Changing Lives of Women: A Case Of KASONET Diana Nandagire Ntamu Makerere University Business School

Background Society has marginalised women through various processes Marginalisation is a result of biological and physical differences Led to the feeling that women are inferior and should continue doing domestic chores Position of women has improved due to affirmative action and feminist movements especially in the developed countries There has been progress towards equality

Background Make up 52.5 percent of the labour force in Uganda Increase in the number of women owned businesses over a 10 year period by 19% up from 37% in 2001/2002. Women face more challenges than men in starting, managing and growing their businesses While Uganda has made progress in promoting women entrepreneurs, the challenges have not changed much

Background In developing countries especially in Africa and India, the position of women has not improved much There are still a number of bottlenecks in the road to empowerment

Women do not participate in decision making

Women beaten up by men

Beast of Burden

Women bear and support alot of children

The Problem? You the men!! And we the women are part of the problem

How do we get out of the situation The women themselves have to act Men must support women Government affirmative action Philanthropists Individuals with moral sentiments Social entrepreneurs

What is KASONET? A women association of vulnerable people Located in Iganga district in Eastern Uganda Membership is 140 people Mobilised by a group of individuals to help them improve their lives Women come together on weekends They receive training from volunteers They save and start businesses They support each other socially

Background of Women in KASONET Mostly housewives Very poor families Have an average of 5 children 70 percent have completed primary school education Majority engage in subsistence farming

Social Entrepreneurship Innovative activity with social objective in either for profit (social enterprise) or not for profit sector Underlying drive – create social value rather than personal or share holder wealth Characterized by creating something new rather than simple replication of existing practices Central driver – social problem being addressed

Objectives of the Paper Establish the reasons for founding the association Establish how the association secures resources to create change in the community Establish what the social goals are and how the social goal is achieved and what this social goal is in actual terms

Theoretical Framework Many theories explain this including: Moral sentiments theory Empathy – altruism theory Social bricolage theory Social capital theory

Methods Used qualitative approaches In-depth interviews with the officials and the members of the association Observations Focus group discussions

Findings Age Number of children Education standard Marital status Ownership of property

Findings Age Below 20 – 2 21 – 30 – 21 31 – 40 – 20 41 – 50 – 2 Above – 50 - 1 Total 46 Average number of children - 5

Level of education Primary - 16 Secondary Post Secondary - 1 Total 46 ‘O’ Level - 26 ‘A’ Level - 3 Post Secondary - 1 Total 46

Marital status Single 6 Married 35 Divorced 3 Widowed 2 Total 46

Ownership of property Land 3 House 3 Other 4 None 36 Total 46

Findings Objective 1: Establish the reasons for founding the association - Empowerment of women to take action - Educate women about health issues and improve their lives - Promote food security in households - Provide business skills to women to enable them start up - Improving the standards of living

Findings Objective 2: Establish how the association secures resources to create change in the community They call on friends with expertise to train the women They use friends to get trainers Women with expertise in specific fields train others They improve through discussion and sharing experiences among themselves

Findings Objective 3: Establish what the social goals are and how the social goal is achieved and what this social goal is in actual terms There has been improvement in the lives of women and household Incomes Founded businesses from which they get revenue Improved agricultural produce through advice of experts Members health has improved through training By organising social functions members are happier

Findings: Case 1 When I heard that women were being assisted, I went to find out what it was about. i found the women in a training session they were being taught about family planning and how to relate to your husband. In my mind I said this was impossible because my husband had other women and we all wanted to have children. The next training session I attended was talking about the various diseases that women may get; breast cancer, cervical cancer, fistula. I had seen somebody in my family with fistula. She had died because she didn't have treatment and we didn't know what it was. I found the training very useful; because it made me aware of the challenges that we experienced as women. When I told my husband about the training he told me not to go there and yet I found this very important. I started going without permission. At times my husband would be away for two to three weeks. I used that opportunity to attend. One Saturday he returned and i was not home. When I came back, he beat me up. I felt humiliated . He never gave us money. Our children were not going to school and he was preventing me from going to learn how to improve myself. I decided to leave him. I now rent a house from the income that i get by selling sugarcane in the market. I was taught how to save and how to differentiae my personal money from my business money. I have some savings with KASONET and now I am learning tailoring. Through KASONET I get a steady income. I like the ladies who come to teach us.

Findings: Case 2 I heard about KASONET, that it was a group of women coming together and that they were lending women money. I came hoping to borrow money. When I joined, there was no money and I felt like going back but there was a lady from Kampala who was talking about how women can improve themselves without borrowing money. That lady told us about how to get on well with your husband so that the husband can allow you to go to work. I was told there would be another training the following weekend. And I returned, it was interesting. These educated women were talking about how one should treat their husband and get respect from him. I never thought it was possible. I started trying what they said at home and my husband was responsive. He would abuse me, saying I was wasting time with those training programmes. We were taught how to improve our gardens. I got the feeling that I should be better that the other women in the group. I now grow different vegetables, I also participate in making snacks (daddies) which we sell every weekend. I am happy I now get some money every weekend. In the last school term, I was able to pay school fees for one of my children but it was not enough. I have five children but I have learnt that I should have had a smaller family. We were taught about family planning and now I see the use of planning a family. I think If i had less children, I would be able to buy them clothes. I thank KASONET

Findings Case 3 One of the volunteers who took interest in the association posted the activities of the association on face book. A friend of this volunteer followed these stories overtime and got her financial institution pick interest in the women the financial institution is now arranging credit for the women. The institution undertook a financial literacy training of the women.

Discussion KASONET was founded by Social entrepreneurs The members are beneficiaries Founders mobilise resources through social capital bonding Bridging is between the external resources and beneficiaries This leads to achievement of social goals

Conclusions Poverty especially among women continues to be a challenge Social economic conditions are worsening the problem Marginalisation continues to disadvantage women Women on their own are not able to break the glass ceiling

Conclusions Government has attempted to address this but has not been able to do so successfully Social entrepreneurship is complemented by government Social groupings help create social change

Recommendations Continue affirmative action Avail education universally Need for additional government programmes to support women Facilitate the development of social entrepreneurship Encourage social groupings