Evaluation of a programme for microentrepreneurs with disabilities in Kenya
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN13693137 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN13693137 |
- Submission date
- 31/03/2023
- Registration date
- 24/04/2023
- Last edited
- 14/12/2023
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Ongoing
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
People with disabilities and their households are significantly more likely to be living in poverty, including in Kenya. Self-employment is a dominant source of livelihood for many people with disabilities and caregivers of people with disabilities in Kenya. However, people with disabilities may face barriers to managing and growing their businesses, due for example to discrimination of disability, inaccessibility of linked services (e.g., transport, supplier offices), poor health and access to rehabilitation services, and inadequate skills due to earlier exclusion from education and training. The inclusion of people with disabilities in livelihood development programmes is therefore an urgent priority. However, evidence for effective programmes is low. This study will undertake an evaluation of the InBusiness programme, which is being delivered in 8 counties of Kenya by Light for the World, Humanity and Inclusion and Sense International. The InBusiness programme will target microentrepreneurs with disabilities and/or caregivers of people with disabilities who have existing microenterprises that have a business income of at least 10,000 Ksh per month. The InBusiness programme looks to improve the social and economic wellbeing of microentrepreneurs with disabilities and their households. The programme provides business, technical, self-advocacy and compliance skills training, and in-kind transfers of assets required to expand the business named “Business Growth Kits” and facilitates procurement opportunities. The evaluation will involve a study of the version of the programme run by Light for the World and a process evaluation of all three components (Sense International is running a scheme targeted at 18 people with deafblindness, and Humanity & Inclusion is a version targeted at 36 refugees with disabilities). The study aims to evaluate the impact of InBusiness on per capita household expenditures, economic empowerment, quality of life and access to key disability-related goods and services.
Who can participate?
Microentrepreneurs with disabilities or microentrepreneur caregivers of a household member with a disability who meet the eligibility criteria for the InBusiness programme
What does the study involve?
This research involves an impact and process evaluation. It will involve a study in which several similar people are randomly assigned to 2 (or more) groups to test a specific intervention called a randomised control trial (RCT) and process evaluation.
RCT
1. 495 microentrepreneurs with disabilities or caregivers eligible for InBusiness will be randomised into an intervention or control group.
2. Baseline survey will be conducted before enrolment and allocation decisions. The endline survey will be conducted 2 years after baseline.
3. Outcome measures will be compared between those receiving and not receiving InBusiness at baseline and endline.
Process evaluation
1. Approximately 25-40 interviews will be conducted with microentrepreneurs with disabilities and/or their caregivers between project end and endline. Questions will focus on their experience with and opinions of the InBusiness programme and their experience more generally of managing a microenterprise. 15-20 key implementers of InBusiness will also be interviewed about their experience designing or delivering different components of the programme, and/or their opinions about the programme.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants benefit from remuneration for their time participating in the study. The information gathered from the study can help improve programmes in the future for this population. Please note, as this is an observational intervention, LSHTM does not have oversight or liability for the running of the intervention. The programme implementers will have their separate monitoring, response and insurance systems for any harm resulting from participation in the InBusiness programme.
The risk of discomfort, distress and any other hazards as a result of participating in this research is considered low. Participants will be asked questions, most of which are not on sensitive topics. Still, some participants may experience discomfort as a result of discussing potentially distressing experiences.
Where is the study run from?
The study is run by the International Centre for Evidence in Disability at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in collaboration with the Kenya Medical Research Institute.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2023 to September 2025
Who is funding the study?
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Morgon Banks, morgon.banks@lshtm.ac.uk
Contact information
Principal Investigator
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel St
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-4585-1103 |
|---|---|
| Phone | None provided |
| morgon.banks@lshtm.ac.uk |
Public
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel St
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom
| Phone | None provided |
|---|---|
| morgon.banks@lshtm.ac.uk |
Scientific
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel St
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom
| Phone | None provided |
|---|---|
| morgon.banks@lshtm.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Observational individually randomized controlled study with complimentary qualitative research |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Observational |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Community, Workplace |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | 43419_PIS.pdf |
| Scientific title | Impact evaluation of the InBusiness programme to improve the economic empowerment of microentrepreneurs with disabilities in Kenya: a randomised controlled trial and process evaluation |
| Study objectives | The overall aim of the research is to assess the impact of the InBusiness programme, run by Light for the World and its partners, on improving the social and economic wellbeing of people with disabilities. The objectives are: 1. Assess the impact of InBusiness on household per capita savings and expenditures and economic empowerment 2. Evaluate the impact of InBusiness on quality of life and access to key disability-related goods and services 3. Explore what aspects of InBusiness were perceived to be most important for affecting desired impacts among young people with disabilities 4. Examine challenges and enablers to the implementation and delivery of InBusiness from the perspective of participants and implementers |
| Ethics approval(s) | 1. Approved 31/01/2023, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Research Ethics Committee (Keppel St, London, WC1E 7HT, UK; +44 (0)20 7927 2221; Ethics@lshtm.ac.uk), ref: 28235 2. Approved 24/02/2023, Amref Ethics and Scientific Review Committee (Langata Rd, Nairobi; +254 (0)20 6000 4000; esrc.kenya@amref.org), ref: ESRC P1372/2023 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Economic empowerment among microentrepreneurs with disabilities in Kenya |
| Intervention | The InBusiness programme looks to improve the social and economic wellbeing of microentrepreneurs (MEs) with disabilities and their households. The programme primarily targets people with disabilities who are the primary owner of a microenterprise, but in a minority of cases will offer the programme to businesses run jointly by people with disabilities and a caregiver or businesses run only by a caregiver of an adult/child with a disability. The programme provides business, technical, self-advocacy and compliance skills training, and in-kind transfers of assets required to expand the business named “Business Growth Kits” and facilitates procurement opportunities with PPIs. The InBusiness programme will be delivered over 10 months. The core components include: 1. Classroom-based training: Microentrepreneurs will receive classroom training on skills to improve their business practices. Content covered in the training includes record keeping, compliance with national and local regulations and self-advocacy. 2. Capacity building: One-to-one follow-up with microentrepreneurs to monitor their progress and the implementation of the training, and to offer tailored advice to support their businesses. 3. Business Growth Kits: Microentrepreneurs will be provided with an in-kind asset to grow or improve the profitability of their business and/or support their participation in the business (e.g. assistive products). The asset will be tailored based on the needs of each microentrepreneur’s business and/or accessibility needs. 4. PPI Disability Inclusion Training: PPIs will be trained on disability-inclusion and encouraged to offer procurement opportunities to people with disabilities (e.g. through the Access to Public Procurement Opportunities Programme) 5. Linking to Procurement Opportunities: microentrepreneurs will be made aware of and supported to apply for procurement opportunities with local PPIs. The evaluation research involves an impact and process evaluation. It will involve a randomised control trial (cRCT) and complementary process evaluation. The conduct of the study will follow the following stages: RCT 1. 720 participants will be recruited to the InBusiness programme through self-selection with verification. In 8 counties, Light with the World will advertise the programme through an open application call. Interested individuals can apply for the programme, and Light for the World will verify that they meet their eligibility criteria. 495 eligible people will then be randomised to either cohort 1 (enrolment March 2023), cohort 2 (enrolment March 2024) or a control group. The RCT will focus on cohort 1 and the control group. 2. A baseline survey will be conducted before enrolment and allocation decisions. An endline survey will be conducted 2 years after baseline. 3. Data will be analysed as the intention to treat. Primary outcomes are economic empowerment score and per capita household expenditures. For binary outcomes, the team will model the risk ratio with a modified Poisson regression. For continuous outcomes, linear regression will be used. The primary outcome measures are household per capita expenditures and economic empowerment. Expenditures will include similar domains and modes of analysis as used in the 2015/16 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey. For example, non-food sub-groups will include education, health, household goods & services (including clothing, personal care, water/electricity/other bills), and recreation. The Financial Self-Efficacy tool asks questions about whether an individual’s financial situation over the past 3 months allows them to do different things, such as afford the kind and amount of food they like to eat, get the health services they need, pay for items without borrowing from others and save. Secondary outcome measures include quality of life, food security, microenterprise profits and access to key disability-related goods and services. An author created tool will focus on if a person has heard of, needs and uses different goods and services related to their disability (e.g., assistive devices, rehabilitation, healthcare, personal assistance, transport). Process evaluation 1. Approximately 25-40 interviews will be conducted with microentrepreneurs with disabilities and/or their caregivers between project end and endline. Questions will focus on their experience with and opinions of the InBusiness programme and their experience more generally of managing a microenterprise. 15-20 key implementers of InBusiness will also be interviewed about their experience designing or delivering different components of the programme, and/or their opinions about the programme. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | The following primary outcome measures are assessed at baseline and endline (24 months): 1. Per capita expenditures, including food, non-food expenditures and savings, measured using an adapted version of the tool used in the TRANSFER Project; Kenya OVC CCT Evaluation Household Survey 2. Economic empowerment measured using an adapted version of the Financial Self-Efficacy Scale |
| Secondary outcome measures | The following secondary outcome measures are assessed at baseline and endline (24 months): 1. Participant’s subjective wellbeing measured using an 8-item tool used in the Wellbeing of Older People Study in Uganda and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index 2. Access to key disability-related goods and services will be measured using an author created tool |
| Overall study start date | 02/01/2023 |
| Completion date | 30/09/2025 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 495 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Eligibility for the InBusiness programme for participants in both the control and intervention arms is based on the following: 1. Has a disability or is the primary caregiver of a person with a disability. Disability is defined as having a disability identification card issued by the national government (i.e. registered with the National Council for Persons with Disabilities) 2. Lives and operates a microenterprise in one of the 8 counties covered by the InBusiness programme 3. Has a business license/permit or is in the process of applying for a permit 4. Has a microenterprise that has been in existence for at least 6 months 5. Microenterprise has a monthly income of at least KES 10,000 |
| Key exclusion criteria | Under the age of 18 years old |
| Date of first enrolment | 06/03/2023 |
| Date of final enrolment | 31/03/2023 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- Kenya
- United Kingdom
Study participating centres
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom
Nairobi
-
Kenya
Sponsor information
University/education
Keppel St
London
WC1E 7HT
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)20 7636 8636 |
|---|---|
| disabilitycentre@lshtm.ac.uk | |
| Website | https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/00a0jsq62 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, UK Government, FCDO
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 30/09/2025 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not expected to be made available |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available because the researchers do not think that these data can be adequately anonymised. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participant information sheet | 05/04/2023 | No | Yes | ||
| Protocol article | 11/12/2023 | 14/12/2023 | Yes | No |
Additional files
Editorial Notes
14/12/2023: Publication reference added.
05/04/2023: Trial's existence confirmed by Amref Ethics and Scientific Review Committee (Kenya).
