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Financial knowledge (FK) is considered one of the major factors influencing performance of farm enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of FK on performance of women farm enterprises. Performance is measured using levels of savings and enterprise margins.

The study uses primary data of 384 farmers from three sub-counties in Kericho County, Kenya. It employs a propensity score matching (PSM) approach to control for possible selection bias and to model the impact of FK on performance of women farm enterprises.

The analysis reveals that high FK has a significant positive impact on performance of women farm enterprises. Specifically, respondents with higher levels of FK were also associated with higher amounts of savings and enterprise margins.

Econometrically, robust strategies were employed using PSM to ensure minimal estimation bias. Although PSM captures selection bias due to observable characteristics, it fails to capture selection bias due to unobservable factors.

The paper contributes to the growing debate on the role played by FK on performance of small and micro enterprises. It provides insights on the state of FK among women farmers and identifies knowledge gaps and policy implications from a developing country perspective.

Inadequate finance is considered a major factor limiting the growth of small-scale women-owned farm enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. Women empowerment programs such as table banking (TB) and women enterprise fund were initiated in an attempt to curb the credit gap affecting women in agribusiness. This paper determines the factors influencing the extent of credit access among women farm-entrepreneurs who are either members or nonmembers of TB groups in Kenya.

The study was conducted in Kericho County using a sample of 384 respondents. Factor analysis was used to generate three indicators of entrepreneurial orientation which were included as explanatory variables in the regressions. Double hurdle econometric model was employed to analyze the factors influencing the decisions on credit uptake and amount of borrowed loan. Separate models were estimated for members and nonmembers of TB groups since they differed in volume and source of loan accessed.

Results reveal that age of the woman and innovativeness negatively influenced credit access, whereas education level, participation in off-farm activities, number of farm enterprises, perception on interest rate, extension contacts and financial knowledge positively influenced the decision to access credit. On the other hand, participation in off-farm activities, risk-taking behavior, total land size, extension access and financial knowledge were statistically significant with positive correlation on the amount of loan borrowed. Significant factors differ between members and nonmembers of TB groups implying divergence in underlying credit access challenges once one has joined such groups.

The study did not consider supply-side factors affecting the amount of loan accessed by women farm-entrepreneurs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the pioneer studies using the double hurdle model to analyze factors influencing the extent of credit access specifically among women farm-entrepreneurs and carrying out the analysis by membership in TB groups.

Land is an emotive issue for women in Kenya, majority of who still suffer the consequences of not having access to land, leading to economic insecurity. This paper aims at examining the effects of women access to land on household nutritional outcomes among smallholder farmers in Kenya.

The study uses primary data collected from a sample of 384 small-scale women farmers selected using multi-stage sampling technique. For data analysis, household nutritional outcomes were measured using Households Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) and Household Hunger Scale Scores (HHS). Stratification multilevel and matching-smoothing approach that controls for pre-treatment heterogeneity bias and treatment effect heterogeneity bias was used in estimating heterogeneous effects of women access to land.

The analysis reveals that women access to land has a significant positive effect on household nutritional outcomes. All households across all propensity scores strata benefited significantly but differently from women access to land in terms of nutritional outcomes.

Econometrically, propensity matching technique used in computing heterogeneity effects captures selection bias due to observable characteristics but it fails to capture selection bias due to unobservable factors. However, robust strategies were employed to ensure minimal estimation bias.

The paper provides insights on the determinants of women access to land and the influence women access to land has on household nutritional outcomes. In addition, by employing one of the conventional impact evaluation techniques, the paper contributes to knowledge by taking into accounts the heterogeneity in the effects of women access to land on household nutritional outcomes.