‘We would look at the chickens as a source of security’: microenterprise and health in rural Uganda

Abstract

Background: Development interventions may promote sustainable livelihoods among participants via improved income generation, health, education, and quality of life. Within the development literature, microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide individuals with funds and/or startup capital to develop small businesses. However, the evidence on whether MFIs are successful in ensuring sustainable livelihoods is mixed. In this study, we assessed participants’ perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to a poultry microenterprise intervention, and the impact of the intervention on enabling sustainable livelihoods for the participants, their families, and their community. Methods: During exit interviews, 30 women who had participated in a poultry microenterprise demonstration project in rural Uganda nine months prior described their experiences in the intervention, including perceived benefits and challenges, and discussed specific factors that impacted their continuity in the project. We analysed the interviews using a content analysis approach. Results: The participants noted instrumental and interpersonal benefits of the intervention: greater financial security, increased trust from community members, social support, empowerment, and skills-building. Despite these facilitators, challenges precluded some of them from establishing sustainable livelihoods. Pervasive poverty, poultry disease outbreaks, poor spousal/familial support, and challenges in effectively communicating the goal of the intervention stood as barriers to the establishment of sustained poultry businesses. While most participants (n/N=20/30) reached the final phase of the intervention, only six continued rearing chickens beyond the project. Conclusions: Barriers and facilitators described by the participants and identified in our analysis bear implications for the design, implementation, and evaluation of microenterprise interventions aimed at providing participants with sustainable livelihoods. Our findings highlight the importance of qualitative research in identifying concerns and informing intervention adaptations.