Mobile Money Services and Entrepreneurial Development in Rural Communities: The Case of the Agricultural Kikuyu and Pastoral Maasai Communities in Kenya

Mobile Money Services and Entrepreneurial Development in Rural Communities: The Case of the Agricultural Kikuyu and Pastoral Maasai Communities in Kenya

2011

East Africa

Kenya

The proposed study is set against the background of low entrepreneurial attitude and behavior in Kenya and the little exposure to modern banking services among rural communities. The use of banking services is likely to influence personal finance management abilities and skills such as budgeting, saving, investment and risk management which may also contribute to positive entrepreneurial attitude and behavior. Given that in recent past mobile money services (MMS) have spread to rural areas offering transactional and saving services, the question is whether this translates among users? personal finance management abilities and skills as well as entrepreneurship. The study also seeks to understand the influence of demographic and situational variables, impact of MMS use on livelihoods and realization of development goals such as the MDGs, and strategies of accelerating its use.

James Karatu Kiemo, Barbara Leseni

James Karatu Kiemo is a sociologist and currently a Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Nairobi. He obtained Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Nairobi (Kenya) and PhD from Uppsala University (Sweden). He has major interest in entrepreneurship research, education and social policy. Specific areas of interest regarding entrepreneurship include ethics and the conduct of business; corporate and white-collar crime; culture, entrepreneurship and development; and proposal writing and fundraising. Kiemo also works in the areas of criminology, psychiatry, gerontology and monitoring and evaluation. He has previously worked as a researcher at the Australian Institute of Suicide Research and Prevention (Griffith University) and the Centre for Corporate Governance (Kenya).

Barbara Leseni is a specialist in monitoring and evaluation. She is currently a Programme Assistant at the United Nations World Food Programme (Kenya) and a graduate student at Institute of Anthropology, Gender and Development Studies, University of Nairobi. She has a Bachelor?s degree in communication and tourism from the University of Nairobi. At WFP Barbara runs a cash transfer programme which uses cash disbursement to the community as a means of responding to food insecurity especially among marginal agricultural communities in Kenya. Her research interests include the interface between gender, marginal communities and development.