| dc.description.abstract | This study was to determine the access and utilization of the Emyooga program in Lwengo District. The data was collected from the five sub counties of Lwengo district namely; Kyazanga, Malongo, Kisekka, Ndagwe and Lwengo. The specific objectives were to investigate the perceptions of community members about the access of the Emyooga funds in Lwengo district, to establish the levels of utilization of Emyooga program in Lwengo district and to examine the perceived influence of the Emyooga funds on the incomes of the beneficiaries in Lwengo district. A cross sectional research design was employed. Semi structured interviews were used on the thirty respondents. Furthermore an observation checklist was used discuss utilization of the program. The analysis was carried out using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) computer software where frequencies and percentages were established. The results indicate about 80% of the respondents greatly benefitted from this program as their incomes were improved. Most of them used the Emyooga funds for investment while others used the Emyooga funds to enhance savings among others. Concerning the Emyooga program, they reported that the project greatly enabled them to invest in their existing businesses, start new businesses, and increase on their savings. In general, majority of the respondents in the study area agreed on the positive impact of the Emyooga program. Furthermore, they agreed on the challenge of the limited funds compared to the number of people in the SACCOs, they also faced challenges of bureaucracy and poor implementation as there were no clear guidelines to follow when joining the program. The respondents suggested that the funds should be invested in an already existing business or project, the funds should be used for day to day basic needs, the funds should be used to create a side business so as to double income, the government should teach communities to engage in income generating activities, the funds should be used as applied for at the beginning, the money should have been used and returned. Following the findings, it is recommended that the government should ensure that any project pertaining job creation should empower the beneficiaries through certain training on how best they could manage the project. Further, the mobilization project benefit should be done to ensure participation of the program stakeholders. This could enable to capture the common understanding perceptions among stake holders and it enables the project to be sustainable and making it easy to implement. | en_US |
