CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION and INTERPRETATION

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION and INTERPRETATION 4.1 Introduction This chapter contains the analysis of the data collected and the presentation and interpretation of findings to answer the research questions for this study. Through the findings, this section will provide information on whether there is an improvement in the quality of life of the OVCs within households benefitting from the cash transfer programs. A total of 127 responses were received from the total number of questionnaires administered to participants. The findings also encompass the reactions from the key informant interviews, which focused on the sub-county children officers, chiefs, and chairpersons of beneficiary welfare committees (BWCs). The chapter includes both descriptive and inferential statistics to address the research objectives. The data analysis was done using the SPSS software. 4.2 Demographic Analysis The study obtained the demographic data of the study participants. The information is crucial in characterizing the respondents by providing the baseline for the study population. Table 4.1 Demographic Analysis Variable Response Frequency Percentage Gender Male 20 15.7   Female 107 84.3 Age 35-44 years 19 15 45-59 years 54 42.5   more than 60 years 54 42.5 Education Background Primary school 77 60.6 Secondary school 28 22.0 Tertiary education (College or University) 3 2.4   None 19 15.0 Monthly Income Below 5000 101 80.2 5000-10000 13 10.3 10000-15000 8 6.3   Over 15000 4 3.2 Employment Status Employed by Government 2 1.6 Self-Employed 96 75.6 Other specify 20 15.7   Not Employed 9 7.1 Marital Status Married 30 23.6 Single 15 11.8 Separated 2 1.6   Widowed 80 63.0 Main Economic Activity Agriculture 77 62.1 Employment 4 3.2 Business 18 14.5   None 25 20.2 Based on the findings, 84.3% of the household caregivers are female, while only 15.7% of the respondents were male. That is an indicator that the majority of the households benefitting from the cash transfer programs are headed by female caregivers. The results reveal that the caregiver's ages are distributed as follows: more than 60 years at 42.5%, 45- 59 years at 42.5%, and 35-44 years at 15%. The findings show that 63% of the respondents are windowed, 23.6% are married, 11.8% are single, and 1.6% are separated. This shows that the bereaved respondents have a high enrolment in the cash transfer programs, and they carry the major responsibility of taking care of orphans and vulnerable children as compared to the respondents with different marital statuses. The findings show that 60.6% of the study respondents reached the primary school level of education, followed by secondary school at 22%, tertiary education at 2.4%, and 15% have never been to school. Looking at the employment status of the participants, the findings show that the majority 75.6%, are self-employed, while only a small percentage of 7.1% are not employed or engaging in specific economic activity. The results reveal that 80.2% of the respondents get a monthly income of below Kes. 5000, 10.3% get a monthly income of 5000-10000, 6.3% get 10000-15000, while only 3.2% get a monthly income of above 15000. The minimum wage for general labourers in Kenya is Kshs. 15,201. The findings reveal that only a small percentage of the respondents are getting an income above the minimum wage, irrespective of whether they are self-employed or employed by entities. The findings that 62.1% of the respondents participate in agriculture as the main economic activity followed by business at 14.5%. There is a significant proportion of landowners among the respondents at 73.2% while 26.8 are landless. 4.3 Dependents Analysis Table 4.2: Dependents Information Variable Response Frequency Percentage Dependents 0 9 7.3 1 29 23.4 2 32 25.8 3 26 21.0 4 15 12.1 5 7 5.6 6 4 3.2 7 1 0.8   9 1 0.8 Dependents type Orphans 114 90.5   Non-Orphans 12 9.5 According to the results, majority of the caregivers are responsible for 2 dependants who are below the age of 18 representing 25.8% followed by 1 dependant at 23.4%, 3 dependants at 21%, 4 dependants at 12.1% and only 7.3% of the total respondents are not caring for any child that is below the age of 18. The findings show that 90.5% of the children under the care of the respondents are orphans and 9.5% are not orphans. Orphans tend to have high dependency as compared to non-orphans. 4.4 Awareness and Information about the Cash Transfer Program Figure 4.1 Analysis of the awareness of the cash transfer program The results show that 98.4% of the participants in the study are aware of the cash transfer program funds in the sub-county, with only 1.6% reporting lack of awareness about the funds. The high level of awareness is a good basis for determining the impact of the funds to the beneficiaries. Figure 4.2 Platform for Accessing Cash Transfer Program Information The findings show that the chief barazas at 58.9 % is the main platform through which the respondents received information about the cash transfer program funds, followed by referrals or through a friend at 16.9%, television/radio at 16.1% and those who got the information from the beneficiary welfare committees (BWCs) are 8.1% of the total. Looking at the platform for enrolment to the program, the chief barazas comes out top at 54.3% as the main approach used by the participants followed by BWC at 17.3% and door-to-door enrolment at 14.2%. The medium for accessing information has a major influence on the platform that the beneficiaries of the program choose to enroll through. The chief barazas which are part of the government initiatives have contributed a key role as an intervening variable in ensuring the people are aware of the program, they get enrolled and benefit from it to impact their lives positively. The findings from the key informants who work as chiefs and BWCs is evidence that they play a key role in creating awareness and facilitating enrollment of the beneficiaries to the program. The following are some of the responses from the chiefs. “Managing and ensuring the process is going on well is my duty as a chief in the community.” Another one reported, “I play a role in mobilizing the community members to register in the cash transfer program.” One of the male BWC shared that, “my level of involvement in the community is passing out information from the office to the beneficiary members and from the members to the offices.” The aspect of owning the program is important toward its success. 4.5 Targeting Procedure and Selection Criteria Table 4.3: Targeting procedures Targeting procedures leave out the most vulnerable OVCs Response Frequency Percentage Strongly Agree 11 8.9 Partially Agree 11 8.9 Agree 15 12.1 Partially Disagree 5 4.0 Strongly Disagree 82 66.1 The findings show that the team in charge of the targeting procedures for the OVCs is doing a good job selecting the persons to benefit from the cash transfer programs. This is evidenced by 70.1% of the respondents strongly disagreeing or partially disagreeing that there are targeting procedures that leave out the most vulnerable OVCs. Only 17.8% of the respondents agree that the procedures adopted tend to leave out the most vulnerable OVCs. In this case, the evaluation criteria adopted are suitable and inclusive in nature by considering those who need the program funds. A participant of the study as a key informant shared on the targeting and selection procedures, “there is categorization of the OVCs based on their needs where some of the most needy are the ones with disabilities.” Such is an indicator that the most vulnerable ones are prioritized in the enrollment process into the program. However, the key informant also recommended that the identification process should not be very strict as it might lead to removing some of the needy and deserving OVCs through the eligibility criteria which is still not very clear to many. On the criteria that has worked when it comes to targeting the OVCs, one BWC male participant shared that, “the main identification and targeting procedures adopted to recruit is by meetings and door-to-door visits to identify the most vulnerable children.” Another BWC shared, “through the provision of burial permits, death certificates, chief Barraza’s and door-to-door campaigns.” A male BWC reported that “my level of involvement in the community and in the cash transfer program is to tighten and coordinate the program.” 4.5.1 Relationship between targeting procedures and overall benefits of the program The targeting procedures are bound to influence the process of identifying the households with the most vulnerable OVCs in Mwea East Sub County. The chi-square test of association was carried out to determine whether there is a relationship between the targeting procedures and orphans/vulnerable children benefiting from the cash transfer program. The chi-square value is 46.978 while the p-value = 0.000 which is significant. In this case, there is a statistically significant association between management of cash transfers and the benefits of the program on the orphans and vulnerable children. 4.5.2 Relationship between targeting procedures and Cash transfer impact on the Education of OVCs Table 4.4 Chi-square test, targeting procedures and impact on education Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided) Point Probability Pearson Chi-Square 24.438a 16 0.080 .b     Likelihood Ratio 21.502 16 0.160 0.058     Fisher's Exact Test 23.837     0.089     Linear-by-Linear Association 1.742c 1 0.187 0.192 0.095 0.007 N of Valid Cases 124           a. 19 cells (76.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .04. b. Cannot be computed because there is insufficient memory. c. The standardized statistic is -1.320. Results of the chi-square test while using Fisher’s exact test reveal that the p-value = 0.089. The results show there is no significant relationship between targeting procedures and the cash transfer program impacting the education of OVCs. Table 4.5 Chi-square test, targeting procedures and nutrition Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided) Point Probability Pearson Chi-Square 32.136a 12 0.001 0.018     Likelihood Ratio 26.255 12 0.010 0.003     Fisher's Exact Test 23.986     0.008     Linear-by-Linear Association .793b 1 0.373 0.378 0.196 0.012 N of Valid Cases 124           a. 14 cells (70.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .04. b. The standardized statistic is -.891. Results of the chi-square test while using Fisher’s exact test revealed that the p-value = 0.008. The results show there is a significant relationship between targeting procedures and nutrition enhancement by the cash transfer program. Table 4.6 Chi-square test, targeting procedures and access to better healthcare services Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided) Point Probability Pearson Chi-Square 46.978a 16 0.000 .b     Likelihood Ratio 33.802 16 0.006 0.000     Fisher’s Exact Test 34.756     0.001     Linear-by-Linear Association .113c 1 0.737 0.747 0.370 0.018 N of Valid Cases 124           a. 20 cells (80.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .04. b. Cannot be computed because there is insufficient memory. c. The standardized statistic is .336. Results of the chi-square test while using Fisher’s exact test revealed that the p-value = 0.001. The results show there is a significant relationship between targeting procedures and the effect of cash transfer programs on access to better healthcare services for the OVCs. 4.6 Management of Cash Transfer Programs Table 4.7 Management of cash transfer program There is lack of good management of the cash transfer program Response Frequency Percentage Strongly Agree 10 8.1 Partially Agree 1 0.8 Partially Disagree 6 4.8 Strongly Disagree 107 86.3 The management of the cash transfer programs is a critical component while looking at the effectiveness of the initiative. The respondents were asked the level to which they agreed or disagreed with the aspect of lack of good management of the cash transfer program. Findings reveal that 91.1% of the respondents either partially disagree or strongly disagree with the question on lack of good management of cash transfer program. Such is an indicator that they are convinced the program is being managed well. 4.6.1 Chi-Square test, Cash Management and Orphans Benefiting from the Program A chi-square test was conducted to determine whether there is a relationship between the management of the cash transfer program and the orphans or vulnerable children benefitting from the program. The p-value is 0.000, which is significant. In this case, there is a statistically significant relationship between the right management strategies of the funds with the orphans and vulnerable children benefitting from the cash transfer program. These results affirm the findings from the literature review which hold that optimal benefits of the cash transfer programs are outcomes of management effectiveness. Table 4.8 Chi-square test, cash transfer and healthcare services Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided) Point Probability Pearson Chi-Square 37.039a 12 0.000 0.031     Likelihood Ratio 23.775 12 0.022 0.001     Fisher's Exact Test 33.357     0.002     Linear-by-Linear Association .422b 1 0.516 0.542 0.287 0.009 N of Valid Cases 124           a. 17 cells (85.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .01. b. The standardized statistic is -.649. Results of the chi-square test while using Fisher’s exact test reveal that the p-value = 0.002. The results show there is a significant relationship between cash management and the effect of cash transfer programs on access to better health care services for the OVCs. Table 4.9 Chi-square test, cash management and nutrition Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided) Point Probability Pearson Chi-Square 21.960a 9 0.009 0.065     Likelihood Ratio 14.814 9 0.096 0.034     Fisher's Exact Test 20.261     0.019     Linear-by-Linear Association .381b 1 0.537 0.548 0.259 0.019 N of Valid Cases 124           a. 12 cells (75.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .01. b. The standardized statistic is .617. Results of the chi-square test while using Fisher’s exact test reveal that the p-value = 0.019. The results show there is a significant relationship between cash management and the effect of cash transfer programs on access to better nutrition for OVCs. Table 5 Chi-square test cash management and education Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided) Point Probability Pearson Chi-Square 22.050a 12 0.037 0.129     Likelihood Ratio 14.985 12 0.242 0.068     Fisher's Exact Test 25.551     0.038     Linear-by-Linear Association .443b 1 0.506 0.509 0.246 0.018 N of Valid Cases 124           a. 16 cells (80.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .01. b. The standardized statistic is .666. Results of the chi-square test while using Fisher’s exact test reveal that the p-value = 0.038 which implies that there significant relationship between cash management and the effect of cash transfer programs on access to better education for OVCs. 4.7 Stakeholders Involvement in Decision Making Table 5.1 Stakeholders involvement in decision making Stakeholders are greatly involved in OVCs decision-making Response Frequency Percent Strongly Disagree 53 42.4 Disagree 4 3.2 Undecided 9 7.2 Agree 14 11.2 Strongly Agree 45 36.0 The results above show that there is low involvement of the stakeholders in the decision-making of OVCs around the cash transfer programs. According to literature review, the involvement of stakeholders is important in enhancing effectiveness of the cash transfer program. However, as per the results, it is clear that majority formed by those who either disagree or strongly disagree at 45.6% confirm that there are minimal efforts to involve the stakeholders. Above is affirmed by the results from the study showing that majority of the respondents at 48% either strongly disagree or disagree that measures to recruit new beneficiaries are jointly discussed. One of the BWC member interviewed explained that, “the stakeholders are not involved in the passing of information.” The lack of involvement is also witnessed in the decision-making process as presented in the above results. Figure 4.3 Stakeholders Involvement in Resources Mobilization The study investigated the involvement of the stakeholders and their influence on resource mobilization. The results revealed that there is little role played by stakeholders in mobilizing for resources as the majority of the respondents 44.8% strongly disagree and 1.6% disagree with the involvement role. In this case, there is a challenge in mobilizing funds that would help to impact the lives of the OVCs through better education, access to health services, and better nutrition. When there are no adequate resources mobilized for the program, this could, in turn, affect the quality of life of the OVCs within households benefitting from the initiative. 4.7.1 Stakeholders Recommendations Table 5.2 Recommendation for Stakeholders Key Stakeholders Recommended for Involvement in the cash transfer program   Frequency Percentage Administration 20 24.4 BWC 3 3.7 Clergy 1 1.2 Enumerators 1 1.2 Health practitioners 6 7.3 Ministry of education 13 15.9 Nyumba Kumi 22 26.8 Relatives 1 1.2 Teachers 15 18.3 Given that there is low involvement of key stakeholders in the various processes of cash transfer program. The findings reveal that 26.8% of the beneficiaries believe that Nyumba Kumi representatives should be the major stakeholders to be involved in the cash transfer programs to enhance its effectiveness, followed by administration e.g. chiefs at 24.4% and teachers at 18.3%. 4.8 Impact of the Cash Transfer Program 4.8.1 Retention of the OVCs in the Basic Education System Table 5.3 Benefits of the program on Education Cash Program has enhanced education of OVCs Response Frequency Percentage Strongly Disagree 24 19.2 Disagree 1 0.8 Undecided 1 0.8 Agree 10 8.0 Strongly Agree 89 71.2 The study investigated the role of the program in enhancing the access and retention of the orphans and vulnerable children in the basic education system. The findings reveal that there has been some positive impact of the program on the education of the OVCs. This is evidenced by 71.2% strongly agreeing to this while only 20% either strongly disagree or disagree to the role of the program towards enhancing education. 4.8.2 Access to Healthcare One of the critical metrics while looking at the benefits of the cash transfer program is the influence it has on the health of the orphans and vulnerable children benefiting from the initiative. Looking at the utilization of funds to access health services, according to findings, 75.2% of the respondents strongly agree that the cash transfer program has enabled the OVCs to access better healthcare services. This implies that there is high utilization of the money received from the program to seek health services, thus making it easier. Findings reveal that 80% of the respondents either agree or strongly agree in total that the cash transfer program has led to health benefits. On the other a small percentage at 20% disagree or strongly disagree that there are no health benefits to orphans as a result of cash transfer programs. 4.8.3 Nutrition The results reveal that purchasing food is one of the major ways in which the beneficiaries are spending the money received from the program. Similarly, 79.2% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that the cash program has enabled OVCs to access better nutrition. On the other hand only 20.8% either disagree or strongly disagree with the effect of the program on access to better nutrition. 4.8.4 Benefits and Impact Table 5.4 Overall impact of cash transfer program The cash transfer program has positively impacted the livelihood of orphans and vulnerable children Responses Frequency Percentage Strongly Disagree 23 18.4 Disagree 1 0.8 Undecided 3 2.4 Agree 9 7.2 Strongly Agree 89 71.2 Findings from the study show evidence that there is significant positive impact of the cash transfer program on the livelihood of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). About 78.4% of the respondents collectively either strongly agree or agree that the program has had some positive impact with only a small percentage at 19.2% either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing to the impact. Such is an indicator of the importance of the program in social economic transformation and protection of the beneficiaries. Table 5.5 Specific benefits of the cash transfer program Benefits of the Cash Transfer Program Responses Frequency Percentage Better Nutrition 1 0.92 Education benefits 33 30.28 Good health 10 9.17 Good living 10 9.17 Good nutrition 52 47.71 Purchasing of livestock 3 2.75 The findings in the table above reveal that 47.71% of the households under the cash transfer program have mainly benefitted through good nutrition where they have utilized the funds to purchase food which is a basic need. There is also high utilization of the funds towards education which has led to the beneficiaries identifying it as the second major benefit at 30.28%. A participant during the study expounded on the aspect of education benefits of the fund by sharing that, “some beneficiary children have completed school and universities.” The impact of the cash transfer program is also affirmed by the findings from an informant interview who shared that, “the success stories reported are; the families affected have gradually changed on the area of nutrition, persons receiving these services are stress free, healthy and able to purchase medicine.” 4.9 Challenges and Recommendations for the Cash Transfer Program 4.9.1 Challenges Table 5.6 Information fragmentation challenge There is much fragmentation of information required to benefit from OVC cash transfer Responses Frequency Percentage Strongly Disagree 44 35.2 Disagree 6 4.8 Undecided 10 8.0 Agree 22 17.6 Strongly Agree 43 34.4 The study investigated some of the challenges experienced by the beneficiaries in the process of benefitting from the OVC program. The findings reveal that there is a high percentage of respondents who strongly agree at 34.4 % and agree at 17.6% that fragmentation of information required to benefit is a major challenge. Such calls for measures to address the problem for the efficiency of the program. Clarity on social economic eligibility criterion is also a major challenge identified by the beneficiaries as the majority about 54.4% hold there is a clarity process issue that limits access to the funds. Majority of the beneficiaries approximately 55% reported that the inadequacy of cash is a major problem that needs to be addressed as the funds provided through the program though beneficial are not enough to cater to all needs. The situation is also worsened by the hard economic times in the country. The findings on the inadequacy of cash is also affirmed by one of the key informants who reported that “The OVCs needs are met but not fully , the cash transfer program cash given is very little and the government should do something better.” Another informant shared that “the cost of living is very high and the cash that the beneficiaries get does not meet even a quarter of their needs.” The issue of low stakeholders involvement in the monitoring and evaluation of the program to ensure it is beneficial and impactful to the OVCs is a problem as evidenced by 55.4% disagreeing with the efforts towards having monitoring and evaluation measures for the program. Such makes it hard to evaluate and assess on the challenges and provide the right recommendations. A key finding from one of the key informants is that there is also the aspect of the households having to manage the funds well as he reported that “there is a challenge of the misuse of cash given to households to care for the OVCs. Such is also occasioned by the households having many children despite having only one who benefits.” 4.9.2 Recommendations Figure 4.4 Recommendations to improve the cash transfer program The beneficiaries shared their recommendations on what can be improved to ensure that the fund yields better results in terms of impacting the livelihoods of the orphans and vulnerable children. The key recommendation as shared by 71.65% of the respondents is increase in cash or funds for utilization given that inadequacy was identified as a challenge. However, about 18% of the beneficiaries feel the program is good and there are no major recommendations to share. The major recommendation shared by the key informants is the need to increase the allocation to the beneficiaries to help in catering more of their needs.