Abstract:
Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) have been recognized as important economic
institutions that play a significant role in economic empowerment and poverty alleviation
globally. The study aimed at to assess the effect of economic empowerment on members of saving
and Credit Cooperatives in the study area. Explanatory sequential mixed research design was
used to achieve the stated objectives with simple sampling methods that employed to recruit a
total of 240 participants. Primary data was collected using survey questionnaires and interviews
method. From a total of 240 distributed questionnaires 236 of them were returned back with
98% of rating scale whereas 20 key informants were selected for interview schedules. The study
found that a significant proportion of respondents perceived a high level of economic
empowerment, particularly in access to financial resources, employment opportunities,
entrepreneurship support, and financial literacy programs. Moreover, across various socioeconomic
variables such as poverty reduction, gender equality, health and wellbeing, community
development, empowerment, reduced inequality, social cohesion, political participation, and
education, there is a strong consensus among respondents regarding the positive impact of
economic empowerment which implies that the majority of respondents agree on the positive
effects across these variables, indicating tangible socio-economic benefits associated with
SACCOs' economic empowerment initiatives. The result of linear regression illustrated that,
53.8% of the variance in overall economic wellbeing of members of saving and credit
cooperatives was attributed to the overall economic empowerment, and the remaining 46.2% of
variation in the overall economic wellbeing of members of saving and credit cooperatives can be
explained by other variables not considered in this study. The regression analysis indicates that
economic empowerment is a significant and strong predictor of economic wellbeing among
saving and credit cooperative members (beta=.663, p<.001). Based on these findings, the
SACCOs should implement continuous assessment and tailored interventions, enhance financial
literacy, entrepreneurship support, economic empowerment, inclusive growth, collaborative
partnerships, and expand financial services, while promoting member participation and
continuous monitoring.
