Women worldwide continue to face significant barriers to economic empowerment. Historically marginalized, women are disproportionately affected by poverty and exploitation. They often encounter challenges in securing employment, particularly in formal sectors, and may be relegated to low-wage, insecure work. Additionally, limited access to financial services hinders their ability to build assets and invest in their futures.
The situation is particularly acute for rural women in regions like sub-Saharan Africa. These women often bear the brunt of household responsibilities, spending countless hours on arduous tasks such as collecting water and firewood. Their limited access to land ownership and income-generating opportunities further exacerbates their vulnerability.
Microcredit offers a powerful tool to empower these women. By providing access to small loans, they can establish their own businesses, improve their livelihoods, and contribute to the economic well-being of their families and communities. As women gain financial independence, they become agents of change, driving positive social and environmental impacts.
Our Response
Lewa is committed to empower enterprising women through economic development opportunities. To this end, we launched the Women’s Micro-Enterprise (WME) programme in 2001, with the first credit rolled out in 2003. During the past few years, we have been able to expand the reach of the programme with major support from the Women’s Microfinance Initiative (WMI), a US-based non-profit providing financial inclusion for rural women in East Africa (wmionline.org) and KIVA (kiva.org), an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive.
Aside from receiving capital and training, women also learn the importance of environmental preservation and wildlife protection.
Lewa has been accelerating the potential of women through:
– Access to microloans to jumpstart small businesses. Using these loans, they are able to start small businesses, such as retail shops, butcheries, flourmills, dressmaking and tailoring, poultry rearing, and buying and selling cereals and livestock. Women form groups to ensure collective borrowing, which helps guarantee higher repayment rates.
– Business education and skills training.Lewa provides women entrepreneurs with the support they need through experiential training. This involves visits to other micro-businesses in the area and a two-week business-management training.
Real Women, Real Stories – How our Micro-Enterprise Programme is Improving Livelihoods
| Our Impact |
2,160+
Women in our micro-enterprise programme.
18M
Kenyan Shillings were disbursed to women in the programme in 2024.
90%
Repayment rate is maintained through the program.
