Examining the Effectiveness of Empowerment Schemes: A Case Study of Women in Poultry Business in Chilanga

Despite the implementation of various empowerment schemes designed to uplift women in the poultry business, there is limited empirical evidence on their effectiveness in Chilanga. Women in this region continue to face significant challenges, including low income, inadequate business skills, and socio-cultural barriers that impede their full participation in the industry (FAO, 2013). These persistent issues highlight the need for a thorough evaluation of the empowerment schemes to determine their actual impact and effectiveness. Without such an evaluation, it remains unclear whether these initiatives are achieving their intended goals or if there are areas where they fall short. The lack of comprehensive evaluation of these schemes hinders the understanding of their impact and the identification of areas needing improvement (Narayan, 2005). This study aims to fill this gap by assessing the effectiveness of these empowerment schemes in improving the income levels, business skills, and socio-cultural status of women in Chilanga’s poultry industry. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of empowerment schemes in enhancing the socio-economic status of women engaged in the poultry business in Chilanga. A mixed-methods approach was employed to gather comprehensive data. Quantitative data were collected through structured surveys administered to 200 women, focusing on changes in income, business skills, and socio-cultural impacts. Qualitative insights were obtained through 18 semi-structured interviews, providing in-depth perspectives on the participants' experiences and the broader implications of empowerment schemes. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, thematic analysis, and triangulation to ensure validity and reliability. The Chi-square test results indicate a statistically significant association between access to empowerment and poultry knowledge improvement. The Pearson Chi-Square value is 46.402 with a p-value of 0.000, which is highly significant (p < 0.05). This indicates that the observed association between poultry knowledge improvement and access to empowerment is not due to chance. The cross tabulation further supports this finding, showing that poultry knowledge improvement is predominantly observed among those who received empowerment schemes. The regression model explains a substantial portion of the variance in the outcome, with a regression sum of squares of 284.575 and a residual sum of squares of 41.957 out of a total of 326. 532.Women who participated in the empowerment scheme tend to report higher levels of respect from the community after empowerment. Holding other factors constant, participation is associated with an increase of 0.280 units in the respect score Based on the findings, the following recommendations are proposed to further enhance the effectiveness of empowerment schemes for women in the poultry industry in Chilanga. While the schemes have been successful in building business skills, further emphasis should be placed on continuous learning. Training programs should be expanded to cover areas such as advanced marketing techniques, digital literacy, and more specialized aspects of poultry management. This will help participants remain competitive and adapt to market changes. The ability to access wider markets and consistent financial resources is crucial for sustained growth. Stakeholders should focus on facilitating better access to local and regional markets for women’s poultry products. Additionally, financial institutions and government bodies should create more favorable lending conditions for women entrepreneurs, ensuring they have sufficient capital to expand their businesses.