Abstract:
The study sought to assess the role of saving and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs) in provision of
financial services in rural areas. It covered members involved in income generating activities in Arumeru
district. Specific objectives included: to investigate whether or not members who joined SACCOs have
developed savings behaviour; to analyse SACCOs' contribution to members in terms of economic
empowerment; and to evaluate whether or not there was an increase in capital investment after joining
SACCOs rather than before. 80 respondents from 4 surveyed SACCOs were involved in the study. Both
qualitative and quantitative methods were used in data collection and analysis. Quantitative data were
analyzed through the SPSS and Microsoft excel computer packages. The Findings show that SACCOs played
a very fundamental role in providing financial services to members. Data analysis and hypotheses testing have
led to the following conclusions: first, there was a significant relationship between members joining SACCOS
and increase in their savings behaviour, Secondly, there was a significant increase in household members
spending after joining SACCOs rather than before in that it led to improvement in members' living standards
due to increase in their purchasing power. Lastly, there was a significant increase in investment activities after
joining SACCOs rather than before due to increase in loans and micro credits provisions by SACCOs in
Arumeru distri
