This document presents findings from a study of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Iganga District, Uganda. The study aimed to understand the objectives and activities of CBOs and whether they constitute social entrepreneurship. Key findings include: 1) The objectives of most CBOs studied were to access government and donor funding rather than primarily social goals. 2) CBO activities mirrored those normally performed by the government like providing education, healthcare, and agriculture support. 3) CBOs appeared unable to sustain themselves and mobilize own resources, with many not re-registering annually. The conclusion is that while CBOs aim to serve vulnerable groups, their primary intentions are to exploit social

1. Limits to Social Entrepreneurship:
A Case of CBOs in Iganga District
Presented at the 3rd
International
Conference Nitte- India 2013
Prof. Waswa Balunywa, PhD
Makerere University Business School

2. International Organizations

3. Paper Structure
O Introduction
O The problem
O Objectives of the Study
O Theoretical Framework
O Literature
O Methods and Sample
O Findings and Discussion
O Conclusions
O Recommendations

4. Introduction
O An increasing rise in social entrepreneurship
worldwide.
O Social entrepreneurship is complimenting
government effort to spearhead
development.
O Social problems are world wide but more in
the developing countries.
O Social problems go beyond social needs to
employment needs.

5. Introduction con’t
O Social entrepreneurship practiced by
international and local organizations
O International include , Oxfam, CARE etc
commonly referred to as non –governmental
organizations(NGOs)
O National level NGOs in Uganda include, TASO,
Aids Information Centre
O Registered as companies limited by guarantee

6. Introduction con’t
O Local Non-Government Organizations known as
Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in
Uganda
O Registered at the district level
O Registration renewed annually
O May be started by an individual or group of
individuals

7. The Problem
O In the developing countries, vulnerable people
continue to be marginalized/ exploited
O Government has responsibility and programmes
to support them
O The programmes are not sufficient to address
problems of vulnerable communities.
O Social enterprises are coming up to address
social problems.

8. Objectives of the study
O Do the founders of CBOs aim at social goals?
O Do the activities undertaken lead to value
creation other than appropriation ?
O Are the activities of the CBOs, those that would
have been performed by government
O Do social entrepreneurs operate with a target
beneficiary in mind?

9. Theoretical Framework
Theory of Positive Social Entrepreneurship
OSantos (2010) proposes a positive theory of social
entrepreneurship to explain the emergence and activities of
social entrepreneurs
OBased on modern economic theory of perfect market
conditions and pursuit of profits, that leads to efficient
allocation of resources as dictated by economic forces
OBut economic units may develop anticompetitive practices
or abuse their dominant positions creating need for
regulation.

10. Theoretical Framework
O Government will regulate and address
consequences positive or negative that arise
from dysfunctional economic systems
O Governments may not be able to do all, hence
charitable institutions
O Charitable institutions are motivated by social
aims
O All organizations have similar intentions

11. Literature
O Social entrepreneurship is entrepreneurial
activity with an embedded social purpose (Austin
et.,al 2006)
O Entrepreneurship with a social mission (Dees,
2001)
O Social entrepreneurship is emerging from the
need to address social problems that
government fails to address (Santos 2010)
O Social entrepreneurship is replacing
philanthropy
O Social entrepreneurship may be in profit seeking
or non-profit seeking activities
Zahra et., al , Mayir and Marti 2006,

12. literature cont’d
O For the profit seeking activities, the profit will be used
for social aims rather than for the individual
O Philanthropy is donations by those who have to
those who do not have.
O It is corporate social responsibility in
organizations
O Non Government Organizations have emerged to
solve social problems.
O These include international and local NGOs

13. Methods
O An exploratory study
O Qualitative methods
O Data collected using In-depth interviews
O Data collected using focus groups
O List of registered CBOs obtained from District
Community Development Officer
O Selected 6 CBOs from each of the 6 sub-counties in
Iganga District.

14. Study Population
O Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in
Iganga district
O Obtained lists from district community officer
O Selected randomly 6 CBOs in each of the 6 sub
counties in the district
O Conducted in-depth interviews with the
executives of the CBOs and some members

15. Findings
O District has over 400 registered CBOs
O Number of registered CBOs varies from year to
year depending on who has registered
O Some continue to operate even if they are not
registered in a particular year

16. Findings Contd…
O A total of 28 CBOs were interviewed
O 87 people were interviewed in CBOs
O On average 3 members per group.
O Focus Group interviews were conducted
O Average life of CBOs 3 years

17. Findings cont’d
Do the founders of CBOs aim at social goals?
O The following were identified as the objectives of
setting up the CBOs
O To occupy oneself
O To tap into financial resources of government
and donors
O To provide education
O To educate people about HIV/AIDS

18. Findings cont’d
Do the activities undertaken lead to value creation
other than appropriation ?
O The CBOs render advice to people they
demonstrate activities like agricultural farming
O They distribute seedlings, mosquitoes nets, they
conduct training

19. Findings cont’d
Are the activities of the CBOs, those that would
have been performed by government
O The CBOs render advice to people they
demonstrate activities like agricultural farming
O They distribute seedlings, mosquitoes nets, they
conduct training
O These are activities ordinarily performed by
government

20. Findings cont’d
Do social entrepreneurs operate with a target
beneficiary in mind?
O The targeted groups include poor people,
women, low income communities, youth

21. Discussion
O The objectives of set up appear to be primarily
to serve interests of founders who wanted to get
into employment or were seeking finances form
donors and government
O The activities of the CBOs are those that fall in
the realm of government activities
O CBOs appear unable to mobilize own resources
O CBOs appear to be short lived and as many do
not register annually.

22. Conclusions
O CBOs aim to perform those activities that
are ordinarily performed by government
O CBOs intend to serve vulnerable people who
ordinarily would be served by government
O CBO founders exploit social needs in society
but have intentions of serving social aims

23. Recommendations
O Need for more regulation especially at start up
and registration
O Registered CBOs should demonstrate abilities to
perform activities planned