Nairobi, May 11 -- Grace Nyokabi gave birth to her child in March this year. She needed to feed herself well to ensure she produced enough milk to breastfeed her baby. But with no savings, that proved difficult as she single-handedly cared for her child.

She needed to find a way to earn an income, and her choice was a chapati-making business. Yet without savings to start, even that was out of reach. She had previously worked as a casual laundry worker, earning Sh100 a day. With no fallback plan, she had only one option: turn to people who knew her for help.

"I just went to a shop where the owner knew me, and I requested wheat flour, sugar, and oil on credit. He lent me and allowed me to pay in instalments," she says. "I also went to a v...