This thesis aims at developing a conceptual model for supply networks optimization in the floriculture industry in Kenya. In the literature review a detailed account of the evolution of supply chain management, the concept and the factors influencing simultaneous optimization of supply networks in the floriculture industry is given. The area of complex adaptive systems is explored and the link with the floriculture industry in Kenya is shown. A review of current studies is done on the subject of supply chain management and particularly the various conceptual frameworks/models developed by a number of researchers around the world. The supply chain performance measurement and the requirements for model building are also given. The research methodology provides the research paradigm and research design and discusses the justification of the approach taken for the study. The target population consisted of all active cut flower exporting firms by 31st December 2009 as per the information provided by Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA). This target population comprising of 412 active exporters was stratified in terms of: large, International, local, embedded, unimpeded, small and medium scale enterprises. Sampling was done through census sampling technique, in which case the entire population was considered. Data analysis is also discussed including the various tests to be carried out in relation to validity and reliability of data. There is a detailed presentation of principal factor analysis results. Finally there is a detailed discussion on the ethical considerations in the conduct of my data collection and research process. Chapter four outlined the factors that are indeed useful to be considered when designing a conceptual model for managing supply networks for simultaneous optimization. Such factors included: country development; quality of inputs; financing; customer responsiveness; research and development. Also discussed are the factors that contribute to overall organizational performance which in this case included: return on trading investment, overall operational costs, overall productivity growth rates and outsourcing activities and decisions. The triple bottom line benefits encompassing environmental vi audit, financial audit and social audit have also been discussed in relation to country specific benefits in relation to the floriculture industry in Kenya. The revised conceptual model for simultaneous optimisation of supply networks in the floriculture industry is presented consisting of: key success factors; financing; information integration; country specific benefits; transport; research and development. These are the factors which contribute to enhancing performance of the floriculture industry in Kenya. The conclusion and recommendations of the study are made on the basis of these factors. / Business Management / D.B.L. (Business Leadership)

Thesis (DTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The introduction of water service programmes has significantly improved the delivery of Water and Sanitation Services to marginalised communities in Kenya. Since the implementation of the Kenya Water Act of 2002, enacted policies have resulted in communal ablution blocks and water kiosks in some of the more densely populated settlements. In the development of service provision programmes to improve access to water and sanitation, the social and cultural implications have yet to be addressed. To better understand the partnerships between the marginalised community and the political agencies that ensure improved allocation of resources, community participation should be addressed in the emerging water governance. The right to water is a key clause in the new constitution of Kenya and although this is a laudable recognition of citizens’ rights to basic services, this constitutional clause is yet to be fully implemented. The exclusion of social practices followed by marginalised communities results in limits in the promotion and implemention water and sanitation projects. The resulting lack of water and sanitation services decreases the internal capacities of community members and inhibits development. A natural and finite resource such as water, often taken for granted by most, is the foundation to improved places in a community. These places reflect social relations within the given society and provide a platform for interaction. When this engagement occurs, meaning in both physical and social boundaries between different communities that emerge, can help assert agency to marginalised groups. While a programme is used to define a space by regulating through building codes and standards, a community’s role is validated by the inclusiveness of the design process. Therefore the resultant project allows for a sense of agency to be built, while boosting interaction through learning programmes, to improve civic duties in the society. These aspects are crucial for development and can be achieved using allocation of basic services like water and sanitation. Grounded Theory is used to analyse the interviews from the respondents and it concerns itself with the meanings attributed to steps within processes. This approach is applicable when meanings attributed to macro-level explanations and micro-level activities need to be uncovered. The interviews conducted for this study are analysed line-by-line coding and memo writing. The data is used as a narrative of distinct processes in both marginalised communities and political agencies. Using the model of an agent the study illustrates the process of agency that highlights the role of marginalised communities in participatory approches toward equitable access to water and sanitaion services. The cases approached in this study further articulate the processes used by political agencies to engage in community participatory approaches. Though these participatory approaches were seen to be more inclusive than previous service delivery approaches, gaps emerged in the study that are addressed in the relationship matrix. This model distinguishes the differences in the production of space through Water and Sanitation Service programs, and the creation of place in implemented projects. By aligning these two aspects of the production of space when applied to marginalised settings helps in understanding the context prior to the implementation of WSS development programmes. This recognition of the role that marginalised communities play in socioeconomic development can improve programmes and projects aimed at providing water and sanitation services. This access is important to marginalised groups which are disadvantaged, because of a difference in their practices. By understanding the social practices around the use, management and safeguarding of water and sanitation projects, community members can begin to attach cultural value to their water resources. This has implications for the sustainability of the projects and their replicability. Therefore social practices, and by extension culture, influence the concept and design of programmes to enable access to water and sanitation resources, especially to marginalised groups in society.

This study investigates the causes of poverty among the residents of Thika District in Kenya over the period 1953-2000. Using the articulation of modes of production perspective, the study traces the dynamics of poverty to the geography, history and politics of Thika District. The thrust of the argument is that livelihoods in the district changed during the period under investigation, but not necessarily for the better. Landlessness, collapse of the coffee industry, intergenerational poverty, and the ravages of diseases (particularly of HIV/AIDS) are analysed. This leads to the conclusion that causes of poverty in Thika District during the period under examination were complex as one form of deprivation led to another. The study established that poverty in Thika District during the period under review was a product of a process of exclusion from the centre of political power and appropriation. While race was the basis for allocation of public resources in colonial Kenya, ethnicity has dominated the independence period. Consequently, one would have expected the residents of Thika District, the home of Kenya’s first president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, to have benefited inordinately from public resources during his rule. Kenyatta’s administration, however, mainly benefited the Kikuyu elite. The study therefore demonstrates that during the period under examination, the Kikuyu, like any other Kenyan community, were a heterogeneous group whose differences were accentuated by class relations. Subaltern groups in Thika District therefore benefited minimally from state patronage, just like similar groups elsewhere in rural Kenya. By the late 1970s, the level of deprivation in rural Kenya had been contained as a result of favourable prices for the country’s agricultural exports. But in the subsequent period, poverty increased under the pressures of world economic recession and slowdowns in trade. The situation was worse for Kikuyu peasants as the Second Republic of President Daniel Moi deliberately attempted undermine the Kikuyu economically. For the majority of Thika residents, this translated into further marginalisation as the Moi regime lumped them together with the Kikuyu elite who had benefitted inordinately from public resources during the Kenyatta era. This study demonstrates that no single factor can explain the prevalence of poverty in Thika District during the period under consideration. However, the poor in the district devised survival mechanisms that could be replicated elsewhere. Indeed, the dynamics of poverty in Thika District represent a microcosm not just for the broader Kenyan situation but also of rural livelihoods elsewhere in the world. The study recommends land reform and horticulture as possible ways of reducing poverty among rural communities. Further, for a successful global war on poverty there is an urgent need to have the West go beyond rhetoric and deliver on its promises to make poverty history.

Financial reforms were a major component of structural adjustment programs deemed necessary for developing countries in the mid 1980s. These were not only meant to improve the sector, but would ultimately enhance economic growth and help in poverty alleviation. At the top of these reforms was financial liberalisation. Kenya, like many other sub-Saharan African countries, undertook financial liberalisation in 1991, one of the measures was decontrolling interest rates. With market driven interest rates in place it was assumed that there would be increased efficiency in bank lending, as well as growth in credit availability as deposits increased. A key indicator of this improved intermediation process would be a narrowing interest rates spread, that is, the margin between the deposit and lending rate. Paradoxically, however, the expected benefits of these reforms did not accrue to Kenya's banking sector. This study focuses on financial reforms and the spread of interest rates in Kenya's banking sector. Using a trend analysis, spanning the period before and after liberalisation, interest rates spread are shown to have escalated dramatically upwards after liberalisation. An analysis of three macroeconomic variables, namely, the exchange rate, inflation rate and economic growth offer little, or inconclusive evidence, that they were the main causes of the wide interest rate spread. In fact, the spread is closely linked to institutional/structural factors such as non-competitiveness in the banking sector, imprudent lending practices and poor and/or inadequate banking supervision. Policies for improving the institutional infrastructure and thus moderating the spreads are highlighted.

This thesis aims at developing a conceptual model for supply networks optimization in the floriculture industry in Kenya. In the literature review a detailed account of the evolution of supply chain management, the concept and the factors influencing simultaneous optimization of supply networks in the floriculture industry is given. The area of complex adaptive systems is explored and the link with the floriculture industry in Kenya is shown. A review of current studies is done on the subject of supply chain management and particularly the various conceptual frameworks/models developed by a number of researchers around the world. The supply chain performance measurement and the requirements for model building are also given. The research methodology provides the research paradigm and research design and discusses the justification of the approach taken for the study. The target population consisted of all active cut flower exporting firms by 31st December 2009 as per the information provided by Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA). This target population comprising of 412 active exporters was stratified in terms of: large, International, local, embedded, unimpeded, small and medium scale enterprises. Sampling was done through census sampling technique, in which case the entire population was considered. Data analysis is also discussed including the various tests to be carried out in relation to validity and reliability of data. There is a detailed presentation of principal factor analysis results. Finally there is a detailed discussion on the ethical considerations in the conduct of my data collection and research process. Chapter four outlined the factors that are indeed useful to be considered when designing a conceptual model for managing supply networks for simultaneous optimization. Such factors included: country development; quality of inputs; financing; customer responsiveness; research and development. Also discussed are the factors that contribute to overall organizational performance which in this case included: return on trading investment, overall operational costs, overall productivity growth rates and outsourcing activities and decisions. The triple bottom line benefits encompassing environmental vi audit, financial audit and social audit have also been discussed in relation to country specific benefits in relation to the floriculture industry in Kenya. The revised conceptual model for simultaneous optimisation of supply networks in the floriculture industry is presented consisting of: key success factors; financing; information integration; country specific benefits; transport; research and development. These are the factors which contribute to enhancing performance of the floriculture industry in Kenya. The conclusion and recommendations of the study are made on the basis of these factors. / Business Management / D.B.L. (Business Leadership)

The rapid growth of secondary cities in Kenya is explored through an analysis of various factors related to development. Through a shift-share analysis of employment figures it is shown that, while employment expansion and diversification has occurred in some of the secondary cities, this does not fully explain the population growth which has taken place. Road improvements facilitated rural out-migration while perceived employment opportunities encouraged in-migration to smaller urban centers. While these factors do not fully correspond to the growth which has taken place, it is suggested that they do reveal certain growth patterns which are occurring. Finally, it is suggested that the growth of Kenyan secondary cities is a positive step towards a more equitable and efficient spatial distribution of the population and that, through their development, secondary cities can play an important role in diminishing rural-urban differences and unifying Kenya's space economy. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, presented to the School of Law, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand. / Over the last few decades, the debate on the topic of business and human rights has dominated the international scene. Initially, the debate focused on the question whether corporations have obligations beyond making profits. This is no longer contested, and the issue now at hand is the need to define what these obligations are and to determine how they can be enforced. In the history of the development of human rights, the duty to uphold human rights and secure their protection was considered a preserve of the state. However, with changing economic dynamics and increased globalization, it is undeniable that states are no longer the only or major threat to human rights; the modern corporation, much bigger in structure and complex in operations than before, has taken its place beside the state, having as much potential as the state to negatively impact human rights. Kenya adopted a new Constitution in 2010, at the same time that John Ruggie, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Business and Human Rights was finalizing his mandate and putting together his findings based on research he had conducted over a number of years. The business and human rights deliberations Ruggie steered at the international level were expected to culminate in the negotiation of an internationally binding instrument. This did not happen. This study shows that the failure to propose the negotiation of a treaty was not fatal to the Business and Human Rights agenda, but rather that the alternative approach taken presents a more ideal opportunity to prepare the ground for the future negotiation of a treaty. Ruggie developed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and proposed them as a common global platform for action, an authoritative focal point to direct efforts geared at understanding the corporate obligation for human rights. Although both the Constitution of Kenya and Ruggie’s findings underscore the role of the corporation in upholding human rights, the corporate obligation with regards to human rights is not clear. The main objective of the research was therefore to give human rights obligations of corporations in Kenya greater specificity so that both corporations and the State may more effectively implement them. The study undertook to investigate what the corporate obligation for human rights entails, building on the foundation established by the 2010 Constitution, which provides for horizontal application of the Bill of Rights to juristic persons, and the guidance offered for states and corporations and other business entities through the UN Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework and the UN Guiding Principles. The study established what the obligations under the three pillars recommended in the UN Framework would mean for Kenya. The mistaken belief commonly held by corporations that corporate social responsibility is the same as human rights obligation was explored. The findings also show that the State Duty to Protect will mainly be exercised through the enactment of laws that offer guidance to corporations on what constitutes their duty and how it can be executed in practice. The study therefore recommends that amendments and additions be made to particular laws, the main one being the Companies Act of Kenya, to guide corporations in executing their human rights obligation. Furthermore, a recommendation is made that the Commission charged with implementing the Constitution include a specific section on Business and Human Rights in the National Policy and Action Plan drawn up to implement the 2010 Constitution. This will ensure that due attention is given to the subject, and a clear and comprehensive approach adopted to make corporate accountability for human rights violations a practical and realistic goal. The proposals made for the Action Plan include factors that will improve access to remedy for victims of human rights violations. / MT2017

Research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management with specialisation in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, March, 2017 / This paper explores how the provision and access to financial and human capitals creates a conducive environment and enhances entry into entrepreneurship by individuals earmarked as potential beneficiaries of the Uwezo Enterprise Development Fund in North Horr Constituency in Kenya. Financial capital is discussed from the point of how improved accessibility influences entrepreneurial inclinations and motivation. The study also explores whether boosting human capitals resources through training (skill development), market linkage (improve networking), and mentorship (improve self–efficacy) among the Uwezo Enterprise Development recipients encouraged them towards considering entrepreneurship as a career option. The purpose of the study was to assess whether provision of financial resources and enhancement of human capabilities through Uwezo Enterprise Development has influenced the individuals to consider entrepreneurship as an alternative form of employment. The study employed a quantitative design, where a survey questionnaire was used to gather the data and the data collected analysed using the Statistical Package for Statistical Analysis System (SAS) / MT2017

No description available.

In Africa, the new electoral freedoms of the 1990s often ushered in not less but more violence and corruption. Somewhat paradoxically, democratization appeared to lead to greater despotism. Current theories of democratic transitions fail to adequately explain this negative "fall out". On the one hand, by focusing on formal institutional change, most transitions theory marginalizes the "informal" politics of patronage and violence. On the other hand, theorists of "informal" politics tend to assume that formal institutional change does not impinge on patrimonial dynamics. This thesis explains how the advent of electoral freedom challenges patrimonialism and, in the process, deepens local despotism. By a careful look at the Kenyan case, this thesis argues that the re-introduction of multiple political parties posed a genuine challenge to highest level patronage networks. This challenge consisted of "patronage inflation": competitive elections escalated demands for and promises of patronage just as international conditionalities and economic difficulties led to a decline in traditional supplies of patronage. Further, with multiple political parties, voters gained bargaining power to demand both resources and accountability. A critique of patrimonialism emerged into the public realm, particularly from those who had lost out in the spoils system, the growing numbers of poor and landless. These challenges were met by counter-strategies on the part of those most set to lose by a turnover in elections. With the introduction of alternative political parties, President Moi and key patronage bosses instigated localized but electorally beneficial violence in the form of "ethnic clashes". In their struggle to maintain patrimonial dominance, they also increasingly turned to less internationally scrutinized public lands as a patronage resource, leading to increasing and increasingly violent "land grabbing". This triggered counter mobilizations which aimed at reasserting local co