i Evaluation of a SavingS & Micro-crEdit PrograM for vulnErablE Young WoMEn in nairobi ii Evaluation of a SavingS & Micro-crEdit PrograM for vulnErablE Young WoMEn in nairobi Annabel S. Erulkar Erica Chong December 2005 iii The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that seeks to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations around the world and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and resources. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research and helps build research capacities in developing countries. Established in 1952, the Council is governed by an international board of trustees. Its New York headquarters supports a global network of regional and country offices. © 2005 by The Population Council Population Council Population Council Population Council P.O. Box 17643 P.O. Box CT 4906 One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Nairobi, KENYA Accra, GHANA New York, NY 10017 USA Tel: (254) 20 – 2713480-3 Tel: (233) 21 – 780712 / 2 Tel: 212-339-0500 Fax: (254) 20 - 2713479 Fax: (233) 21 – 780713 Fax: 212-755-6052 http://www.popcouncil.org To build the field of micro finance through the development of appropriate products and services to create economic opportunities for low-income people and contribute to eliminate poverty. K-Rep Development Agency Mandera Road, Kileleshwa P.O.Box 10528-00100 Nairobi KENYA Tel: 4343493/95,0733630062/0722206039 E-mail: kda@k-rep.co.ke Annabel S. Erulkar, MSc, PhD is Program Associate at the Population Council’s Regional Office for sub-Saharan Africa in Accra, Ghana. Erica Chong, MPH is Program Coordinator at the Population Council’s New York Headquarters. Photo Credits: Mathare Youth Sports Association Shootback Programme, James Matheka Cover Photo: James Matheka iv tablE of contEntS Executive Summary vi I. Introduction 1 II. “Tap & Reposition Youth” (TRY) Savings & Micro-Credit for Adolescent Girls 4 Group formation 4 Micro-credit 5 Mentoring 5 Young savers clubs 5 III. Research Methods 6 Research design 6 Evaluation framework 7 Analysis 7 Data quality 9 IV. Participation in TRY, 2001–04 10 Membership 10 Program participation 11 Savings 11 Loans 12 Drop-out 13 V. Impact of TRY Project 15 Improvements in assets, earnings, and savings 16 Changes in gender attitudes 18 Changes in reproductive health knowledge, behavior, and decision making 19 VI. Discussion 21 v tablES & figurES Table 1 Hypotheses, indicators and variables 8 Figure 1 Number of female members in TRY program, by month and year 10 Table 2 Exposure to TRY program components, by length of exposure and status 11 Figure 2 Average amount of savings per saver (in KSH) 12 Figure 3 Absolute change in TRY membership (new clients minus dropouts), 2001-04 12 Table 3 Characteristics of TRY participants by membership status at endline 13 Table 4 Sample characteristics of TRY participants and controls, by time of survey 15 Table 5 Household assets, earnings from paid work, and savings among TRY participants and controls, by time of survey 16 Table 6 Household assets, earnings from paid work, and savings among TRY participants and controls, by age group and time of survey 17 Table 7 Percentage of TRY respondents and controls holding progressive gender attitudes by time of survey 18 Table 8 RH knowledge of TRY participants and controls by time of survey 19 Table 9 Decision making within relationships by TRY participants and controls by time of survey 20 vi acknoWlEdgEMEntS The study was supported through grants from Ford Foundation and DFID. This study would not have been possible without the support from a number of individuals. Banu Khan and Ann Gathuku oversaw implementation of the TRY project, including data collection for this study. James Matheka undertook day-to- day management of data collection and helped with data cleaning and follow-up information. Lucy N’gang’a oversaw data entry. Shireen Jeejebhoy, Ayo Ajayi, Judith Bruce, Aleke Dondo and Jennefer Sebstad made invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this report. We are grateful to Ayo Ajayi, Ian Askew, Alex Ezeh, Jennefer Sebstad, Judith Bruce, Aleke Dondo and Kelly Hallman for input on the study design and instruments. We would also like to thank Mathare Youth Sports Association for generously sharing their photographs and for ongoing collaboration. vii ExEcutivE SuMMarY Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY) was a four-year initiative undertaken by the Population Council and K-Rep Development Agency (KDA). The overall aim of the project was to reduce adolescents’ vulnerabilities to adverse social and reproductive health outcomes by improving their livelihoods options. The project targeted out-of-school adolescent girls and young women aged 16 to 22 residing in low income and slum areas of Nairobi. TRY used a modified group-based micro-finance model to extend integrated savings, credit, business support and mentoring to out-of-school adolescents and young women. TRY included a monitoring and research component that allowed managers to track performance of the project and measure changes associated with the intervention. The impact of the TRY project on participants was assessed by comparing them to a group of suitable controls who had not been exposed to the project. The study consisted of a longitudinal study of participants with a matched comparison group identified through cross sectional community based studies, undertaken at baseline and endline to enable an assessment of changes associated with the project. TRY participants were interviewed upon entering and leaving the program. Each participant was matched to a control of approximately the same age, education, marital status, parenthood status, and employment status who lived in the same neighborhood. Controls were identified through house-to-house surveys taking place in the vicinity of the participants’ homes. Comparison of participants and their controls allowed us to assess changes in the TRY participants that may be associated with the project activities. In all, 326 participants and their controls were interviewed at baseline and 222 pairs were interviewed at endline. While matching controlled for background variables such as age, education, educational attainment, marital status, and work status, we compared experimental respondents and their matched controls on economic and financial indicators, gender attitudes, and reproductive health knowledge, behavior and negotiation. While TRY participants and their controls had comparable income levels at baseline, at endline, girls who had participated in TRY had significantly higher levels of income compared to controls. Similarly, while their household assets were similar at baseline, at endline, the assets of TRY participants were considerably higher than their peers who had not participated in the program. Comparing TRY savers and control savers, TRY participants had significantly more savings and were more likely to keep savings in a safer place, compared to control girls who were more likely to keep savings at home where they were at greater risk of being stolen or confiscated by parents, guardians or husbands. Girls who participated in TRY demonstrated changes toward more liberal gender attitudes, compared to controls. While their reproductive health knowledge was not significantly higher, viii there was some indication that TRY girls had greater ability to refuse sex and insist on condom use, compared to the controls. The study’s limitations were the low response rate at endline, 68 percent, and the challenges of controlling for selectivity of TRY participants. Nearly one third of TRY participants could not be located for follow-up interview, largely those who dropped out of the program. It is possible that girls we failed to interview may have been those who are less successful participants, thus biasing our results. In addition, though respondents are matched on a large number of background variables, it is nonetheless unlikely that we could control for selectivity effects. Finally, the high rate of drop out from TRY, especially by younger adolescents, suggests that the model requires further examination and adaptation, in particular, to respond to the realities of vulnerable girls living in high HIV settings. ix 1 i. introduction The last decade has witnessed increasing program and policy attention to the experience of adolescence in sub-Saharan Africa. Much of that interest stems from the fact that, in sub-Saharan Africa, young people aged 15 to 24 carry the burden of HIV infections with half of all new infections among this age group (UNAIDS, 2004, Bankole et al. 2004). Young women are particularly affected; in sub-Saharan Africa, girls aged 15 to 24 are more than three times as likely to be infected compared to their male peers (UNAIDS/UNFPA/UNIFEM, 2004). However, most existing programs for youth 1 target the unmarried and focus prevention efforts on educating on the risks of HIV and premarital sex, reducing risky premarital sexual behavior, and promoting a “just say no”-to-sex approach. What these efforts overlook is the context of sexual behavior, including conditions that may make adolescent girls and boys vulnerable to unprotected sex and HIV infection. In the 1998 Demographic and Health Survey for Kenya (KDHS), 21 percent of Kenyan girls reported that they had traded sex for money or gifts in the last year. Subsequently, a number of other studies have revealed the extent to which the sex that adolescents experience may result from force, threats, or coercion, including economic coercion (Lary et. al, 2004, Erulkar, 2004, Luke, 2003). These findings suggest that factors such as poverty and lack of financial resources and social isolation may contribute to risky sexual behavior, rather than simply lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS. As a result, the Population Council and K-Rep Development Agency developed and tested a model to reduce the economic vulnerability and increase the social connectedness of girls residing in low-income and slum areas of Nairobi. The model uses savings, group-based credit and adult mentors to reach young women with livelihoods and social support, as well as reproductive health information. Mentors’ activities included periodic organization of large seminars with invited guest speakers. Seminar topics were HIV/AIDS, prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), VCT, the role of nutrition in HIV management, drug and substance abuse, relationships, child rights and violence against women, vital registration and documentation, and business management. Evaluations of livelihoods and micro-finance programs for adult women have indicated positive impacts on a host of dimensions including financial, health, and social outcomes (Morduch, et al, 2003). For example, Credit with Education was a multi-year program carried out in Ghana and Bolivia, which compared program participants who had participated for at least one year with non-participants in program communities as well as residents in control communities (MkNelly and Dunford, 1998, 1999). In Bolivia, participants were significantly more likely than 1 While we recognize the terms relate to different age groups, in this report, the terms “youth,” “young people,” and “adolescents” are used interchangeably. [...]... responsibility toward running a profitable business and repaying loans If the first two recipients make weekly loan payments for a month, the second two group members are given their loans And if all four recipients make loan payments for an additional month, the final member of the watano receives her loan Girls use the loans to start businesses or expand existing ventures Activities ranged from the. .. figures on levels of participation, number of girls savings and cumulative amount of savings, number of loans disbursed, repaid, and outstanding, number of dropouts, and repayment rate Records were compiled on a monthly basis and entered, giving program managers an overview of the performance of the project Evaluation framework One of the most common ways that micro-finance institutions assess their... indicators and related questions were included in the questionnaire (Table 1) Analysis Table 1 describes indicators and variables used to assess differences between TRY girls and their controls Data was entered in two separate files, one for TRY participants and their controls interviewed at baseline, and another for those  Table 1: Hypotheses, indicators, and variables Hypothesis Indicator Variable Mean... used at both baseline and endline, though additional questions were added at endline to assess participants’ exposure to the program and perceptions TRY participants and their controls were questioned on basic demographic details, family background, household conditions and assets, education, time use, mobility, and participation in groups, attitudes toward gender issues, paid and unpaid work, savings,...non-participants to discuss family planning with their spouses Participants were also more likely to have spoken at their communities’ general assembly meeting and to have run for or held office with the community sindicato than non-participants or controls In Ghana, there was a significant increase in participants’ decisionmaking in children’s education compared to non-participants, and participants’... place to save their money and who enjoy having the opportunity to meet other girls every week for discussion, support, advice and mentoring  III Research Methods Research design The aim of the study was to assess changes associated with the TRY project among participants This was a longitudinal study of TRY participants and matched controls, interviewed pre- and post-intervention TRY participants were... dimensions, with research hypotheses spanning this range: 1) participation in TRY contributes to increases in individual income and savings; 2) participation in TRY contributes to changes in attitudes regarding gender issues; and 3) participation in TRY increases girls RH and HIV knowledge and sexual negotiation Table 5 shows household assets,8 earnings from paid work and savings among TRY participants and. .. suggests that the TRY program did not effect significant changes in RH knowledge, or, at least, in the dimensions reflected in our survey questions Respondents were asked about negotiation within their current relationship whether husbands and boyfriends – on issues such as drinking, sexual intercourse, and use of condoms and family planning Respondents were asked if they were able to stop their partner... education and parents’ education and occupation, researchers found that a significantly higher proportion of Better Life Options alumnae than comparison girls were able to go to the market, to spend money they had earned as they desired, and to have a say in decisions surrounding when to marry and whether or not to continue their  education However, again, the cross sectional research design makes it... remained fairly constant during 2002 and 2003, which is likely related to the fact that savings was linked to loans and served only as collateral In 2004, when 11 I had already saved with K-Rep about 1000 shillings (US$13) and they were delaying to give me the loan The credit officer kept telling me to wait for those who already have loans to repay, and then I can be given a loan I got annoyed and decided . respondents and their matched controls on economic and financial indicators, gender attitudes, and reproductive health knowledge, behavior and negotiation. While. made based on the strength of members’ business plans and loan applications. Other watano members only receive their loans once current loan recipients