ASSESSING THE ROLE OF MICRO AND SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES ON POVERTY REDUCTION: THE CASE OF SODO WEREDA GURAGE ZONE, SNNPRS

Abstract

Poverty is a condition in which people lack satisfactory material resources, are unable to access basic services, and are constrained in their ability to exercise rights, share power and lend their voices to the institutions and processes which affect the social, economic and political environments in which they live and work (Siyum, 2015) Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in the cross-sectional survey using questionnaires and interviews. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of micro and small enterprises in poverty reduction. The researcher used descriptive research design due to the nature of the problem. The researcher distributed 170 questionnaires to the respondents, 167 questionnaires were returned. Out of the returned questionnaires, 3 were incomplete. After excluding all the questionnaires with incomplete and missing data, a total of 164 (96.5%) of the questionnaires were retained and analyzed using SPSS version-23.Descriptive statistics was used and reviewed. The issue urges the commitment of all stakeholders such as local government, entrepreneurs, financing institutions, educational institutions, researchers and NGO. Provision of regular awareness raising workshops and counseling are necessary to develop a culture that support and reward entrepreneurship. Therefore, the proper implementation of the forwarded areas of intervention in the study area requires the real commitment of different stakeholders is highly indispensable.