Women's Group Enterprises: A Study of the Structure of Opportunity on the Kenya Coast (paper)

8/14/2019 Women's Group Enterprises: A Study of the Structure of Opportunity on the Kenya Coast (paper)

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VOMEN'S ROUP NTERPRISES:A STUDYOF THE STRUCTURE F OPPORTI'NITYON THE KENYACOAST

Jeanne McCormackMar t in Va lshCandace NelsonW o r l d E d u c a t i o n , I nc .Presented at the Assoc ia t ion for l . I omenn Deveropmentcon fe renceV a s h i n g t o n , D . C .

A p r i I L 6 , 1 9 8 7

Purpose of the StudyAn ear ly concern o f deve lopment p lanners , in the pos t -War e f fo r t toimprove econon ic cond i t lons in the Th i rd Vor ld , vas the reduc t ion o f thera te o f popura t ion grov th . Dur lng the las t 25 years , knovredge,l i t e ra tu re , and hypotheses have accumula ted in un ivers i t y l ib ia r ies andf ie ld o f f i ces o f deveLopmentworkers vh ich ind ica te a nurnbero f po l icy andp r og r am a p p r o a c h e s i k e l y t o s u c c e e d ( P o p u l a t i o n C r i s i s C o m m i t t e e1981 ) .One of these gathered suppor t in the L970 's and proposed tha t such ind i rec tin te rven t ions as inc reas ing vomen 's educat ion and ra is ing income leve lsamong the poores t s t ra ta o f deve lop ing count r ies vere essent ia l fo rs u s t a i n e d f e r t i l i t y d e c l i n e .In te res t in th is approach co inc ided v i th the emergenceof a vor ld -v idemovement o promote the economic and soc ia l equa l i t y o f vomen. Proponentsof these tvo causes-- the one vieved as an economic issue and the oiher asa po l i t i ca l concern- - jo ined fo rces a t the po in t vhere both urged tha tspec ia l a t ten t ion be devo ted , to poor , ru ra l vomen n the i r p roduc t ive andreproduc t ive ro les . They advocated tha t ass is tance to vomen be g iven in anin tegra ted fash ion tha t re f lec ted the vay the t vo ro les are p lay -d out inr ea l I i f e .The resu l t has been a burgeon ing in the las t decade of gender -spec i f i c

p rograms for vomen tha t p romote income genera t ion ac t iv i t ies andi n c o r p o r a t e e l e m e n t s o f _ a m i r y p l a n n i n g , nu t r i t i on , ch i r d - r ea r ing ,l i t e racy , and vocat iona l educat ion . These in tegra ted p rograns , i " they areca l led , depend fo r the i r success ,on mul t i -purpo ie groups of vomen vho arein te res ted in learn ing the sk i l l s and in fo rmat ion o f fe red and vho have the. r esou r ces ( c r ed i t , con t r acep t i ves , c h i l d c a r e ) t o a p p l y v h a t t h e y l e a r n .@ here was rnade 5:ossible by Contract OTR-oo-78-C-oo-2313-oofrcrn the Agency for International Developnent, Bureau of Program and PoIiryCoordination.


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f n Kenya par t icu la r ly ,_mul t i -purpose vomen 's g roups have pro l i f e ra ted andare v ieved as po_ten t ia l l y e f fec t ive veh ic les to fbs te r ing loca l deve lopmentand communi t y se l f - re l iance .In tegra ted p rograms for vomenare sponsored by both the s ta te andnongovernmenta l o rgan iza t ions (NGO's ) . Eva lua t ion i o f these programs haveon the vho le been pos i t i ve (see , fo r exampre , N. c ra rk rggr and-c randon1 9 8 4 ) , v h i l e r esea r ch s t u d i e s have b e e n n o . e ' n e g a t i ve ( B u v i n i c r 9g4 ,Fe ldman 1983) about the i r ab i l i t y to deve lop v i lb le econon ic en te rp r isesa n d t o a f f ec t v o m e n ' s r ep r oduc t i ve r o r e . T i r e t r u t h i s t ha t ve r y l i t t l e i sac tua l ly knovn about these mul t i -purpose groups , par t icu la r ly in Af r icavhere they are o f ten confused v i th t rad i t iona i soc ia l fo rmat ions . Veryr e c e n t l y , a f ev quan t i t a t i ve s t u d i e s have appea r ed ( e . g . , N j o n j o e t a r .1 9 8 5 ) v h i c h d e m o n s t r a t e t he f r ag i r i t y o f v o m i n , s g r o u p en t e r p r i ses .Unfor tuna te ly , these do no t p rov ide any deeper in ie rp re ta t ion or c lue as toy l y - s r ouns f a i l . e c o n o m i c ? l l y . T h e r e a r e o t he r q u a l i i a t i v e s t u d i e s ( M v a g i r u1985, fo r example) tha t do no t p rov ide re l iab le f igures and there fo re t f ,eda t a a r e o f q u e s t i o n a b l e v a l i d i t y . I n s h o r t , v i r t i a l l y n o i n t e r p r e t a b l e

in fo rmat ion ex is t s about vomen 's programs in Af r ica on-vh ich can be basedpo l icy and p lann ing concerned v i th inc reas ing the incomes of the poor anddecreas ing fe r t i l i t y . rn 1983, vor ld Educat lon , an Amer ican NGg, began as tudy o f a vomen 's in tegra ted p rogram to examine income genera t ion as avorkab le deve lopment s t ra tegy fo r vomenand i ts spec i f i c e f fec ts onp a r t i c i p a n t s ' f e r t i l i t y . T h i s p a p e r p r esen t s v o r i d E d u c a t i o n , s i n i t i a lf i n d i n g s c o n c e r n i n g t he d e v e l o p m e n t , v i a b i l l t y , a nd cons t r a in t s o f v o m e n , sgroup enterpr ises in a par t icu la r a rea of Kenya.

Contex t o f the Study

_The s tudy focused on the program of To to to Home ndus t r ies and asample o f the vomen 's g roups i t has vorked v i th s lnce L977. To to to is areg iona l agency deep ly roo ted in the coas t p rov ince . opera t ing f romM o m b a s a , t v as e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1 9 6 3 b y t h e N a t i o n a l C h r i s t i a n d o u n c i l o fKenya as .a non-pro f i t , vo lun ta ry agency seek ing to he lp lov - income coas ta lwomen a ise the i r s tandard o f l i v ing . To to to c rea tes Lmploymentandincome-genera t ion oppor tun i t ies th rough a ta i lo r ing "ou .s " io r femaleschool leavers and vorking women, a t ie-dye and tai lor ing workshop thatemploys vomen, a handicraf t market ing agency, and a rurai developmentp r og r am. The l a t t e r i s T o t o t o ' s m o s t r ecen t a d d i t i o n t o i t s s t r a t eg ies t oovercome vomen,s pover t y .In 1977, To to to and Vor ld Educat ion s ta r ted vhat has becomea lo -yearcoLrabora t ion reach ing 46 women 's g roups and approx imate ly 1 ,500 women.The tvo organ iza t ions des igned a t ia in ing prog i im for s ix o f the women,sgroups v i th vhom Toto to a l ready vorked in hand ic ra f t p roduc t ion . For tvoyears r To to to s ta f f ve re t ra ined to tra in g roup leade is in group dynamics ,psycho-soc ia l t ra in ing exerc ises , and prob lem io lv ing us ing the non fo rma leducat ion methods . . The program vas in iended to enab le "o rEn to go beyondhand ic r a f t p r o d u c t i o n an d t o e s t a b l i s h s r n a l l - s c a l e en t e r p r i ses . 0 f t h e s i xg r oups i n t h r e e d i s t r i c t s t h a t i n i t i a l l y r ece i ved t r a i n i n g , f i v e a r e s t i l l


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o p e r a t i n g . I n e o m e - g e n e r a t i n ga c t i v i t i e s i n c l u d e d pou l t r y p r oduc t i on ,cons t ruc t ion o f ren ta l p roper t y , day care centers , f i rewood and charcoa ls e l l i n g , a bake r y , and f a r m i n g . T o t o t o a s s i s t e d s o m egr oups i n i d e n t i f y i n gI o c a l r esou r ces f o r t e c h n i c a l a s s i s t a n c e , and t he M i n i s t r i e s o f S o c i a lServ ices , Vater Resources , Agr icu l tu re , and HeaI th have con t inued toprov ide such he lp to Toto to groups . In L982, Vor ld Educat ion and Toto tobegan a nev phase of the pro jec t under vh ich the program vas ex tendede v e n t u a l l y t o 4 0 n ev g r oups i n f i v e d i s t r i c t s - - M o m b a s a , v a l e ' K i I i f i 'Ta i ta /Tave ta , and Tana River .

I n 1 9 7 7 , n e i t h e r T o t o t o n o r i t s t e c h n i c a l ass i s t ance pa r t ne r , l . l o r l dEducat ion , vere exper ts in smal l bus iness . The progran began v i th ana lmos t exc lus ive focus on nonforma l educa t lon ; n ine years la te r , t hee m p h a s i shas sh i f t ed t o t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f b u s i n e s s s k i l l s a n d f i n a n c i a lass i s t ance t o v o n e n ' s g r o u p s . T o t o t o n o v h a s 1 5 g r oups t h a t cons i s t en t l ys h o v a p r o f i t , t ha t pa y r e g u l a r , i f s m a l l , d i v i d e n d s t o t he i r m e m b e r s ,a ndtha t have group management ys tems. The remain ing groups are in var iouss tages o f accumula t ing cap i ta l to f inance the i r p ro jec ts or have opera t ingbus inesses tha t may pay fo r thense lves but do not in genera l p rov ideregu la r income to the i r members .

These smal I successes have been ach ieved a t cons iderab le cos t anddur ing a s lov and pa in fu l learn ing process on the par t of the t vor e s p o n s i b l e a g e n c i e s . A l t h o u g h no t v i t hou t i t s sha r e o f p r o b l e m s ' T o t o t oi s arguab ly the bes t g rass roo ts deve lopment agency in Kenya. The major i t yo f Kenya,s vomen 's groups do not rece ive regu la r ex tens ion serv ices , do nothave access to loans , and do not have f requent superv is ion o f account ingand management ys tems. The demand or he lp to groups e lear ly ou ts t r ipst h e s u p p l y a v a i l a b l e f r om t he g o v e r n m e n ta nd N G O ' s . I t i s n o t s u r pr i s i n g ,then , tha t p rev ious researchers have reached ra ther pess imis t ic conc lus ionsa b o u t t he v i a b i l i t y o f c o l l e c t i v e i n c o m eg e n e r a t i o n p r o j e c t s . The r easonsunder ly ing group fa i lu re are not those convent iona l ly tou ted but ra therind ica te a subs t ra tum of soc io -econon ic complex i t y o f vh ich deve lopmentp lanners are genera l ly ignoran t .

The Vomen's Group Movement n KenyaBy ear ly 1987, there vere repu ted to be 40,000 women 's groups inKenya, a count ry o f e igh teen mi l l ion peop le . fn o rder to unders tand thes t reng th o f th is movement , t i s essent ia l to unders tand the genes is o f thevomen,s group as i t ex is t s today . Thomasand others main ta in tha t inKenya, vhere ' r t rad i t iona l ly vomenhave vorked together in smal l g roups oft vo , t h r ee o r f ou r , sha r ing t a s k s a c c o r d i n g t o ag r i cu l t u r a l season . . . t hebas is fo r mutua l coopera t ion and nutua l en te rp r ises of vomen 's groups can

be f o u n d i n a s o c i a l t r ad i t i on r ' ( T h o m a s 9 8 5 ' 6 ) . I n f ac t , t h i s i s no tt rue , fo r such group ings o f ten represent sporad ic co l lec t ive labor be tveenkin and ne ighbors and noth ing more . 0n the coas t , Mi j i kenda and rura lSvah i l i vomenrs groups have not emerged rom any t rad i t iona l an tecedent .Rather , t hey are the d i rec t resu l t o f Kenya government po l ic ies vh ich haveemphas ized communi t y se l f -he lp and have promoted the fo rmat ion o f vomen 'sgroups to prov ide the labor and f inanc ing fo r mos t o f tha t se l f -he lp .


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A d i s t i n g u i s h i n g f e a t u r e o f p o s t - c o l o n i a l K e n y a s i t s a c t i v e a n d b ymany s tandards success fu l se l f -he lp movement . I ndeed, among the f i r s tcohor t o f A f r ican nat ions tha t ga ined independence n the ear ly 1960 's ,Kenya is un ique in hav ing mob i l i zed the peasant ry fo r sus ta ined p lann ing ,bu i ld ing , and f inanc ing of soc ia l se rv ice and pub l ic vorks pro jec ts inru ra l a reas . Much research has been conduc ted on th is mos t in te res t ingphenomenon hich in Kenya is knovn as harambee (Barkan 1982, Barkan et al- .1979, Ho lmqu is t 1979, Ho lmqu is t 1982, 86 f , ;m ' t 1984, Gachuk i L982, Mb i th iand Rasmusson 977, Ng 'e the 1979, Thomas1981, and l , la l l i s 1982) . The bas isfo r se l f -he lp vas or ig ina l ly po l i t i ca l and not economic , a r is ing f romP r e s i d e n t K e n y a t t a ' s ea r l y e f f o r t s t o f o r ge a s t r uc t u r e o f r u le i n t h e f aceo f r e g i o n a l , i d e o l o g i c a l , a n d p e r s o n a l i t y con f l i c t s t ha t t h r ea t ened t oi m m o b i l i z e K e n y a a f t e r i n d e p e n d e n c e H o l m q u i s t 1 9 8 4 , N g ' e th e 1 9 7 9 ) .Because vomen 's groups take f rom the se l f -he lp movement he i r mode l fo rs t r uc t u r i ng and f i n a n c i n g i n c o m e - g e n e r a t i o na e t i v i t i e s , i t i s w o r t h v h i l e t os u m m a r i z e h e c h i e f c h a r a c t e r i st i c s o f s e l f - h e l p d e v e l o p m e n tp r o j e c t s .Such pro jec ts are usua l ly bu i l t by communi t ymembers ,e i ther on the i r ovno r v i t h ass i s t ance f r om t he s t a t e o r o t he r ou t s ide r esou r ces . Based o nl o c a l l n l t i a t i v e , p r o jec t s u t i l l z e m o n e ya n d / o r l a b o r f r o m a1 l r e s i d e n t s i na p r o j e c t a r e a , v i r t u a l l y a l l o f vhom v i l l bene f i t f r om t he c o m p l e t e ds e r v i c e . P r o j e c t s i n c l u d e s c h o o l s , h e a l t h cen t e r s , va t e r s u p p l i e s , r o a d sand ca t t le d ips . Peop le in the ca tchment a rea con t r ibu te t ime and labor tot h e s e p r o jec t s , v h i c h p r i m a r i l y r equ i r e t he cons t r uc t i on o f f a c i l i t i e s .The peop le themse lves bear about 90 t o f t he in i t ia l cos ts , and the s ta te ,N G O ' s , a nd o t he r ou t s ide r s con t r i bu t e t he r es t . The s t a t e assumessubsequent recur ren t cos ts and may prov ide a id in the fo rm of gran ts .Pro jec ts do no t genera l ly dev ia te f rom the nar rov range o f soc ia l se rv icesment ioned above and emphas ize the i r p rov is ion to ru ra l communi t ies ra thert han t he p r o d u c t i o n o f g o o d s a n d s e r v i c e s ( Ba r kan e t a l . 1 9 7 9 ) . T h i s t henis se l f -he lp , the mode l p romoted amongand taken up by coas ta l vomen 'sg r o u p s in t he i r e f f o r t s t o be t t e r t he i r l o t .

Co inc id ing v i th the harambeemovement n Kenya and re f lec t ing i t ssp i r i . t vas ear ly in te res t -Tn a t /omen 's se l f -he lp program. The Kenyangovernment expressed i ts suppor t as ear ly as 1956, ve l l be fo re the s ta r t o fthe Un i ted Nat ions Women 'sDecade (1975-85) . A l lomen 's Group Programmebegan in 1971 fo l loved by the es tab l ishment o f a l {omen 's Bureau in 1975,In te rna t iona l Vomen 's Year . These innova t ions occur red in par t as acarry-over of colonial community development and home economics programsfor vomen but equa l ly f rom the vor ldv ide a t ten t ion nev ly focused on vomen 'sro les in deve lopment . l lomen 's groups must reg is te r v i t h the Depar tment o fSoc ia l Deve lopment to be e l ig ib le fo r the gran ts the Women 'sBureaud i s p e n s e s , b u t t hey r ece i ve I i t t I e t echn ica l ass i s t ance i n i m p l e m e n t i n g t h epro jec ts the gran ts are in tended to fund . The government does no t have thecapac i t y to prov ide ass is tance in smal l bus iness deve lopment .

Groups a re genera l ly mu l t i -purpose and eharge a smal l en t rance fee tonev membersas ve I I as regu la r dues or subscr ip t ions vh ich are pa id veek lyo r m o n t h l y . W h i l e t h e i r i n i t i a l a c t i v i t y m a y , f o r e x a m p l e , b e a r e v o l v i n gc r e d i t a s s o c i a t i o n , s u b s e q u e n ta c t i v i t i e s c a n i n c l u d e b o t h t h e u s u a l r a n g e


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o f h a r a m b e ep r o jec t s - - c o n s t m c t i o n o f n u r s e r y s c h o o l s , c l i n i c s , va t e rsupF lT6Fand ac t iv l t ies spec i f l ca l l y des igned to genera te income. Tocap i ta l i ze group pro jec ts , the vomen seek funds not on ly f ro rn the s ta te bu ta l s o f r o m N G O ' sa n d i n d i v i d u a l c o n t r i b u t o r s. T h e la t t e r a r e m o s t o f t e nreached th rough communi t y fund- ra is ing events .Much has been vr i t t en about Kenyan vomen, fo r the count ry o f fe rs ani d e a l i n t e l l e e t u a l s e t t i n g f o r r esea r ch on g e n d e r : e t h n i c an dtopograph ica l d ivers i t y , a co lon ia l h is to ry , an economybased onagr icu l tu re , a t rad i t ion o f ma le migran t labor , and a grass roo tsdeve lopment movemento f women. In the las t fev years , a number o f scho la rshave s tud ied the phenomenon f ru ra l vomen 's groups in Kenya. Th isr esea r ch has v a r i e d b o t h i n q u a l i t y an d i n a v a i l a b i l i t y .Mos t no tevor thy is the 1983-1984s tudy by ApoIIo N jon jo (1985) and h isco l leagues vho car r ied ou t a fu l l census o f l t omen 's groups in f i ved i s t r i c t s : K i t u i , B u n g o m a , i s i i , K i a m b u , a nd N a i r o b i . T h e i r pu r pose va sto s tudy the s t ruc tu re and func t ion ing o f these groups and the l r ro le incommuni t y deve lopment . From th is census , they se lec ted 25 groups fo r

i n t e n s i v e s t u d y , a c h i e v i n g a c a r e f u l b a l a n c e o f a c t i v e a n d l n a c t i v e g r o u p s ,a s s i s t e d a n d non - ass i s t ed , r u r a l and u r ban . T h e i r d a t a c o n s i s t e d o fW o m e n ' sBu r eau r eco r ds , t he f i l e s o f t he r e s p e c t i v e D i s t r i c t S o c i a lDeve lopment 0 f f i ce r , and in te rv ievs v i th 473 respondents : 252 membersrandomly se lec ted f rom the 25 groups , l l0 of the i r husbands , 72 groupIeaders , and 39 non-members . The p ic tu re the researchers d rev o f g roupsresembles in many respec ts the one la te r revea led by the research repor tedin th is paper . Groups at t rac ted memberspr imar i l y f rom among hemidd le -aged (a mean age o f 40) , midd le peasant ry , Ia rge ly exc lud ing theyoung and very poor . In th is sense , the ou t reach o f the vomen 's groupmovement as found l im i ted . The groups , averag ing 30 memberseach, car r iedou t a m u l t i p l i c i t y o f a c t i v i t i e s , r a n g i n g f r o m s i m p l e m u t u a l a i dassoc ia t ions to the management f complex enterp r ises . Groups encounteredno ma jo r o rgan iza t iona l p rob lems; ma in ta ined the i r cohes ion th rough s tab ler e c r u i t m e n t pa t t e r ns , f ace - t o - f ace i n t e r a c t i o n , an d g r o u p p r essu r e ; an dre l ied on consensus fo r dec is ion-mak ing . S ix t y -e igh t percen t o f the groupsopera ted revo lv ing cred i t assoc ia t ions vh ich were judged success fu l inprov id ing d i rec t and tang ib le benef i t s to members . Less success fu l verethe smal l en te rp r ises , vh ich vere v i r tua l ly a l l bad ly managedand opera t inga t a loss . Lack o f educa t ion , sk i l l s , and knov ledge, and unsu i tab lecap i ta l i za t ion vere found to be pr inc ipa l causes of bus iness fa i lu re . Theresearchers , hovever , no ted the impress ive capac i t y o f g roups to genera tebo th f inanc ia l and labor resources f rom among he i r members : 95%off inanc ia l resources vere cont r ibu ted by group members hemse lves . Groupsspent be tveen s ix and ten percen t of the i r t o ta l funds on communi t yp r o j e c t s , e s p e c i a l l y o n s c h o o l s . F o r t h i s r e a s o n , t h e i r a c t i v i t i e sa t t rac ted s t rong communi t y suppor t . The researchers sugges ted tha t on lyone percen t o f the adu l t female popuJ-a t ionrece ived any k ind o f ass is tancei n t h e s e a c t i v i t i e s . T he t eam r e c o m m e n d e dha t t he m o v e m e n t , i a t hemechanism of the Vomen's Bureau, be videned to include 25-302 of Kenyanvomen and tha t income genera t ion as a deve lopment s t ra tegy be dropped,


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u n l e s s p r o j e c t s ve r e p r eceded by c a r e f n l f e a s i b i l i t y s t u d i e s a nd t h erequ i red sk i l l s vere c lear ly iden t i f ied and secured ' . The s t r -ng th o f thegroup movement as seen to l ie in the revo lv ing cred i t assoc ia t fons , vh ichp r o v i d e d i r e c t s u p p o r t t o h o u s e h o l d s ; i n t h e d i s s e m i n a t i o n o f k n o v l e d g eand sk i l l s ; and in the suppor t g iven by groups to communi t y deve lopr " i tp r o j e c s .Barbara Thomas 1985) combined L978-79 data on 44 vomen,s groups inM u r a n g ' a , E m b u ,and Ke r i cho D i s t r l c t s v i t h da t a f r om i n t e r v i e v s v i t h 25 0female respondents in a la rger s tudy o f se l f -he lp . She iden i i i iea th reesomet i rnesover lapp ing ca tegor ies o f vomen,s groups : (a ) income genera t iong r o u p s , v h i c h ve r e s m a l l a nd c o h e s i v e , c o n s i - t i n g o f 2 5 ' t o 3 0 m e m b e r s ;these groups earned money vhich vas then divided among membersor used fora c o m m o n u r p o s e ; . ( b ) - r e v o l v i n g c r e d i t a s s o c i a t i o n s , n u m b e r i n g f r om 24 t o240 members ,vh ich cor lec ted funds month ly f rom the mernbersh ip"anddes igna ted one or more membersas rec ip ien ts ; and (c) soc ia l secur i t yg roups ' vh ich p rov ided a suppor t s t ruc tu re to women, par t icu la r ly v id tvs ,the e lder ly , o r v ives o f mig ran t laborers vho otherwise lackeJ one. vomenin al l t h ree ca tegor ies vere l i t e ra te (L7-4oZ) a t ha l f t he ra te o f the

generar_ femare popura t ion in the same oca t ions , and 25 to 302 verehouseho ld heads . Thomas dent i f ied four operan i r " "n " o f genera t ing groupfu l9 : : regurar g roup subscr ip t ions o f t vo to tven ty sh i l l lngs a mont f i ;se r l ing communa l abor , vh ich vas done by har f the i roups ; i roceeos r romsa les f rom communa l a rms; and hand ic ra i t sa les . i t e ias t " . s mos t ly doneon a n i n d i v i d u a l b a s i s , w i t h o n l y t vo o r g a n i z e d a t t emp t s a t c o l l e c t i v epurchas ing and marke t ing . Thomas, ike l l5on jo e t a r . l no ted the groups 's t a r t l i n g c a p a c i t y t o r a i s e a nd d is t r i bu t e f unds : $ g i , 1 6 9 i n a s e v e n o re i g h t - y e a r p e r i o d , i n o n e i n s t a n c e . I n a n o t h e r l o c a t i o n i n L 9 7 7 , 26 g r o u p sr ep r esen t i ng 1 , 0 I 3 w o m e n a i s e d a nd d i s t r i b u t e d $13 , 577 . r n y e t a n o t h e rl o c a t i o n , on e g r o u p r a i s e d S 7 , 6 0 0 t o b uy a m a i z e m i l l . r n con t r as t t oo ther s tud ies , Thomas ound that f rom tvo to L47"o f the adu l t femalepopu la t ion be longed to vomen,s g roups , and in one loca t ion , 34y . -veremembers . she sugges ted tha t vomenvere more r ikery to be long i f (a )vomen 's respons ib i l i t ies vere inc reased due to men is p ro long6d absences ,and (b) the group res ided in a loca t ion more t igh t ly i inked- to a casheconomy. She iden t i f ied four ex te rna l cond i t ions tha t foster loca ld e v e l o p m e n t h r ough v o m e n ' s g r o u p s : ( I ) a p o s i t i v e a t t i t ude o f g o v e r n m e n ttovard g roups , (2 ) economic oppor tun i t y ar ra i lab le to groups , (3) communi t ys u p p o r t f o r g r o u p s , an d ( 4 ) a suppo r t i ve in f r as t r uc t u ie ( m a r k e t i , f o rexample) . rn te rna l cond i t ions necessary fo r success inc iuded groupleadersh ip and such sys temat ic procedures as keep ing a bank ae loun t . Shehypothesized that groups enabred vomen to gain cont iol over a nevtechno logy , in the case of group-ownedand opera ted g ra in mi r ls , andfac i l i t a ted a chang lng re la t ionsh ip o f ru ra r vomen to the means ofproduc t ion i f resources vere adequare .Mi r r icen t odera (1980) repor t s a 1980 survey o f j . 0 K ikuyu vomen,sg r o u p s c o m p r i s i n g 4 3 4 v o m e n n N y e r i D i s t r i c t , cen t r a r p r o v i n c e .N ine ty - f i ve percen t of the memberso f n ine of these groups verein te rv ieved , us ing we l l -p lanned survey procedures . i t re groups vere fo rmedas learn ing groups fo r homeeconomics and agr ieu l tu re .nI to 'es tab l ish


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i n c o m e g e n e r a t i o n p r o jec t s . They wer e ass i s t ed i n d o i n g so by t h e M i n i s t r yo f Agr icu l tu re and the Fami ly P lann ing Assoc ia t ion o f Kenya. S ix ty p" r " " r , io f the members ere o f ch i ld -bear ing years , and 672 vere mar r ied . - Tve lvep e r c e n t h a d n e v e r b e e n m a r r i e d , pa r t l y a f u n c t i o n o f t h e a g e d i s t r i b u t i o no f one group vhere t7 ' / ve re less than 25 years o f age . uo l t e5z) o f thevomen vere fa rmers , and on ly 20 t o f the i r husbands had of f - fa rm employment .Month ly subscr ip t ions ranged f rom 10 to 20 sh i l l ings , and f i ve groups hadr e v o l v i n g _c r ed i t a s s o c i a t i o n s . O d e r a f ound t vo i n t e r es t i ng t h i i g s . - F i r s t ,882 of al l membersberonged to more than one vomen,s groupl andi}zbe longed to th ree o r four . Second, she found tha t g roup funds ranged f ro rnK s h . 7 00 t o K s h . 5 , 000 , a v e r a g i n g K s h . 2 , 0 2 9 ( 926g ) . D e c i s i o n s i n m o s tgroups vere madenot by group consensus but by management ommi t tee . Herda ta do no t permi t concrus ions to be dravn regard ing the economicpe r f o r mance o f p r o j e c t s .

i ' f an j iku Mvag i ru (1985) s tud ied 46 groups of K ikuyu vomen n Cent ra lProv ince . Because her sampre of respondents vas smal i and no ts y s t e m a t i c a l l y s e l e c t e d , i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o knov h o v v a l i d t he da t a a r e f o rthe popu la t ion under cons idera t ion . she found tha t g roups , goars anda c t i v i t i e s w e r e p r i m a r i l y e c o n o m i ca n d t h a t t h e s e v a r i e d a c c o r d i n g t o t hea g r o - c l i m a t i c z o n e i n v h i c h a g r o u p va s l o c a t e d . R e g u l a r subsc r i f , t i onsc o n s t i t u t e d t h e m a j o r sou r ce o f f unds , a nd g r o u p s s p e n t t h e i r f u n d sp r i m a r i l y o n i t e m s o f d i r ec t b e n e f i t t o t he member s nd t h e i r f a m i l i e s .

D a t a f o r R a y a h F e l d m a n ' s s t u d y ( 1983 ) ve r e e v e n m o r e i m p r e s s i o n i s t i c ,c o n s i s t i n g o f v i s i t s t o 15 g r oups i n i . 0 d i s t r i c t s , i n t e r v ievs v i t ho f f i c i a l s a n d p r i v a t e i n d i v i d u a l s , an d p u b l i s h e d m a t e r i a l s on w o m e n , sgroups . She found tha t vomen n Cent ra l and Eas te rn Prov inces vere f ivet imes as l i ke ly to rece ive government ass is tance as womene lsevhere . Shefound tha t g roups were composed ispropor t iona te ly o f be t te r -o f f vomen andtha t the young vere exc luded. The agr icu l tu ra l p ro jec ts inc luded in thes tudy su f fe red f rom marke t ing p robrems. Add i t ionar ly , they vere notin tegra ted in to overa l l agr icu l tu ra l deve lopment p lans ; they vere o f tenseen as anc i l la ry en te rp r ises vhose members ' on ly ob l iga t ion vas to f inancethe ac t iv i t y ; they vere no t seen as an end in themse lves but were used fo rcap i ta l i z ing o ther bus inesses and they r isked be ing taken over by men. Ofthe non-agr icu l tu ra l f ro jec ts she observed , none appeared to tu rn a pro f i t .None had account ing sys tems, and a I I had pervas ive prob lems of un favbrab lemarke t cond l t ions , lack o f sk i l led personne l , and lack o f a t ten t ion toworkers ' w lge ! and cond i t ions . Ferdman udged vomen,s g roup pro jec ts to bedoomed o fa i ru re so long as they fa i led to char lenge e i is t ing poverr e la t i ons .There seems to be l i t t 1e agreement among he researchers on the va lueo f vomen 's g roups . N jon jo e t a I . and Fe ldman f ind tha t the poor and youngare exc luded f rom groups , vh i le the midd le -aged, s l igh t ly be t te r -o f f are -r1 !g lv to par t ic ipa te . Thomasd isagrees , g iv ing ev idence of h igheri l l i t e r a c y , a g r ea t e r p r opo r t i on o f f ema le h o u s e h o l d heads , an d a g r ea r e rmarg ina l iza t ion amongmembers ;and Odera shovs par t ic ipa t ion o f youngvomen. Odera , Thomas, and N jon jo agree tha t readersh ip i s a c r i i i ca lfac to r in group success but do no t e labora te on hov leadersh ip operares orl inks groups to the outs ide . N jon jo f inds tha t g roups make d ic is ions


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t h r ough e o n s e n s u s ,v h i l e 0 d e r a ' s g r o t t ps m a l t ed e c i s i o n s b y c o m m i t t e e .N jon jo , and tac i t l y Thomas, c i te v idespread communi t y suppor t for andbenef i t s f rom the ac t iv i t ies o f g roups . Thomasand Njon jo bo th remark onthe capac i t y o f the groups to ra ise }oca l funds . Fe ldman and Njon jo po in tt o ou t r i gh t f a i l u r e o f g r o u p en t e r p r i ses , v h i l e T h o m a s i t e s s u b s t a n t i a l

ga ins th rough sa les o f cornmuna labor . N jon jo , Fe ldman, and Mvag i ruind ica te tha t one percen t or less o f the adu l t female popu la t ion rece ivesgovernment ass is tance fo r the i r g roup ef for ts ; Thomaspo in ts to ev idencefor w idespread par t ic ipa t ion in groups , as h igh as 34Z.o f vomen in as p e c i f i c l o c a t i o n . N j o n j o et a l . f i nd t he r e v o l v i n g c r e d l t a s s o c i a t i o n t h emos t success f u l f ea t u r e ; T h o m a s u g g e s t s v o m e n ' s a p p r o p r i a t i o n o ftechno logy most promis ing ; 0dera sugges ts the poten t ia l o f g roups fo rfami ly p lann ing acceptance ; and Fe ldman f inds noth ing good to say at aI I .

I n fac t , a l l o f these researchers can be presumedcor rec t in the i rconc lus ions , hovever con t rad ic to ry the i r da ta may appear . Th is is so tf i r s t , because the groups they s tud ied are probab ly not comparab le buto p e r a t e v i t h i n e c o n o m i e s n d i f f e r e n t s t ages o f t r a n s i t i o n ; a n d s e c o n d ,because the reasons fo r the con t rad ic t ions cou ld no t be revea led th roughthe rne thodsused in the research . L rh i le these s tud ies have shed muchneededl igh t on the vomen 's group movement n Kenya, the veakness they a1 I sharei s i n s u f f i c i e n t a t t e n t i o n p a i d t o t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h e v o m e n ' s g r oups t othe v i ta l sub-s t ra tum of the loca l o r ind igenous economy. Th isre la t ionsh ip exp la ins more about the per fo rmance of vomen 's groupen t e r p r i ses t han s t a t i s t i c a l c o m p a r i s o n so f da t a o n a g e ' l i t e r a c y , f u n d sr a i s e d , o r n u m b e ro f p r o j e c t s unde r t aken .

Me hodologyThe s tudy repor ted here a t tenp ted to ach ieve a ba lance betveenquant i t a t ive and qua l i t a t ive research methods in the be l ie f tha tobserva t iona l da ta vou ld supp ly in te rp re ta t ion and there fo re mean ing tof ind ings obta ined us ing quant i t a t ive methods . Three un i t s o f ana lys is vereemployed: a sample survey focused on ind iv idua l membersof vomen 's groups 'vh i le an th ropo log ica l case s tud ies and con ten t ana lys is o f p rogram recordslooked a t members 'househo lds and a t each vomen 's group as a who le . Abase l ine sample survey vas conduc ted in 1983 o f 406 vomen f rom 13 loca t ionsserved by Toto to 's Rura l Deve lopmentProgramme nd inc luded non-membersasve l l as memberso f women 's groups . Th is vas fo l loved by anthropo log ica l

f i e l d r esea r ch v h i c h y i e l d e d f ou r case s t u d i e s o f s p e c i f i c w o m e n ' sg r oupsand the i r sma l l en te rp r ises . Group income da ta vere gathered f rom thecashbooks kept by the groups ; supp lementary data re la t ing to pro jec ts andg r oups ve r e c o l l e c t e d b y To t o t o s t a f f .


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Prof i le o f MembersThe survey data produced a pro f i le o f g roup menbers s imi la r to resu l - t sob ta ined by t l jon jo , Thomas, and odera . rncome genera t ion groups inc ludev o m e no f a l l a g e s r m o s t o f vhomar e mar r i ed a n d h a v e f i ve o r s i x c h i l d r e n .They are res iden t ia l l y s tab le and vork p r imar i l y as fa rmers . Members , meanage is 37 years , and the i r age d is t r ibu t ion shovs a preponderance of vomenover 40 . N ine percen t a re v idoved and near ly seven percen t d ivorced .Tventy -n ine percen t a re members f po lygynous househo ld , many of thesem e m b e r s e i n g c h r i s t i a n a s w e l l as M u s l i m a nd t r a d i t i o n a l i s t s .Chr is t ians make up 45 ! / o f the membersh ipand Mus l ims about 41Z, anunde r r ep r esen t a t i on g i v e n t he v idesp r ead p r ac t i ce o f I s l a m on t he coas t .T he r e m a i n i n g w o m e n o l l o v t r a d i t i o n a l p r a c t i c e . T he s i g n i f i c a n c e o f

r e l i g i o n v i t h r espec t t o w o m e n ' sp a r t i c i p a t i o n i n i n c o n e gene r a t i onpro jec ts is less than migh t be expec ted , because Is lam on the coas t doesnot res t r ic t vomenas severe ly as i t does e lsevhere in the vor ld . Purdah,fo r example , is no t en fo rced , vh ich leaves the ent l re range of economica c t i v i t y o p e n t o v o m e n ' s p a r t i c i p a t i o n an d m e a n s h a t C h r i s t i a n g r oups donot necessar i l y have an advantage over Mus l im groups . Someobserverscontend tha t Mus l im vomendo no t exper ience the same degree of mob i l i t y andc o n t a c t v i t h s t r ange r s as ch r i s t i ans , vh i ch i n t u r n may i n h i b i t t h e i ra b i l i t i e s t o ca r r y ou t t h e n e g o t i a t i n g a n d m a r k e t i n g r equ i r ed b y g r o u pen t e r p r i ses . 0 n t h e con t r a r y l ou r da t a s u g g e s t a r e l a t i v e l y p r i v i l e g e dp o s i t i o n o f M u s l i m w o m e n i s - a - v i s C h r i s t i a n s . P e r h a p s m o s t i m p o r t a n t i sthe fac t tha t Mus1 imvomen can ovn and inher i t p roper t y vh ich is no t a lvayst r ue o f C h r i s t i a n v o m e n . A m o n gM u s l i m s , b r i d e v e a l t h p a y m e n t sa r e l ove r , a sis the pressure to repay br idewea l - th in the case of d ivorce . Th is makesd i v o r c e a m o r e r e a l i s t i c o p t i o n and , i n f ac t , i t i s p r a c t i c e d v i t h m u c hgrea te r f requency by Mus l im vomen. In add i t ion , there is a s t rong tendencyamongSvah i l i Mus l ims to v iev br idevea l th as money ntended to se t up ahouseho ld for the nev coup le ra ther than as a cont rac tua l payment to thev i fe 's fami ly . There fo re , Mus l im vomen on the coas t f requent ry seem toen joy a grea te r degree of independence rom the i r husbands than doch r i s t i ans . Bu t t hese d i f f e r e n c e s , v h i l e t hey m a y a f f ec t vomen , s u s e o fp ro jec t d iv idends , do not in themserves have a s ign i f i can t impac t onpro jec t per fo rmance.A f i n a l p o i n t a b o u t r e l i g i o n i s t h a t f s l a m , a s v e l l a s f u n d a m e n t a l i s tChr is t ian i t y , serves as an escape rou te f rom the heavy f inanc ia l burdensimposed by some commensua l rad i t iona l p rac t ices . p rev ious research

(Park in L972) has shovn tha t conver t s to I s lam avo id pay ing t rad i t iona lceremon ia l cos ts assoc ia ted v i th vedd ings and funera ls , thus pav ing the vayfo r a process o f accumula t ion no t norma l ly accomodatedby thered is t r ibu t iona l e thos o f the peasant economy. Membersh ip nfundamenta l is t Chr is t ian sec ts appears inc reas ing ly to p lay the same ro le .


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The vomen s tud ied are la rge ly fa rmers v i th access to land th rough ma ler e l a t i v e s , p r i m a r i l y h u s b a n d s . T he e c o n o m i c m p o r t a n c e t o t h e i r h o u s e h o l d so f the i r cu l t i va t ion depends on the loca le and on the resources andoppor tun i t ies ava i lab le to the vomenvhere they l i ve . Vh i le vomen aregenera l ly subs is tence fa rmers , the na tu re o f the sexua l d iv is ion o f laborv a r i e s a c r o s s l o c a t i o n s .Very fev vomen nterv ieved had outs ide employment , and of those tha tdo , two- th i rds vork as casua l fa rm laborers . The remain ing th i rd se l lvood , f i sh ' and charcoa l . The smal l number o f vomenho ld ing jobs outs idet he househo ld p o i n t s t o t h e l ack o f e m p l o y n e n to p p o r t u n i t i e s, t h e i n a b i l i t yo f v o m e n o g a i n a c c e s s t o t h o s e t h a t d o e x i s t , a n d p e r h a p s mor e impo r t an t ,t o t h e d e m a n d n v o m e n ' s t i m e o f t he i r o w n a g r i c u l t u r al , h o u s e h o l d , an dr ep r oduc t i ve r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s .A f t e r a g r i c u l t u r e , v o m e n ' s m a j o r sou r ce o f i n c o m e s r e m i t t a n c e s sen tby r e l a t i v e s ' p r i m a r i l y a d u l t e m p l o y e ds o n s . W h i l e o n l y a qua r t e r o f g r o u p

members n te rv iewed repor t tha t the i r husbands are away dur ing mos t o f theyear ' near ly 60Z repor t receiv i ng remi t tances . Coas t Prov lnce is no t anarea charac te r ized by male out -migra t ion vhere vomen are le f t to ma in ta ins u b s i s t e n c e f a r m s . M a n ym en f i n d l o c a l e m p l o y m e n t n t he t ou r i s t i ndus t r yand e i ther vork in tovn o r on the coas ta l s t r ip dur ing the veek and re tu rnhome on veekends or res ide a t homevh i le vork ing nearby .Memberso f vomen 's groups d i f fe r f rom non-members n ly in age, fo rnon-members end to be younger than members . A l though non-membersare a lsoIess l i ke ly to cu l t i va te and ovn land than a re members , the apparen teconomic d isadvantage of the fo rmer can be exp la ined by the i r younger agea n d c o r r e s p o n d i ng p o s i t i o n i n t h e I i f e t i r n e p r ocess o f a c c u m u l a t i o n o fasse t s a nd v e a l t h .Gr oups f o r m i n a v a r i e t y o f v a y s , o f t en t h r ough adu l t e d u c a t i o nc lasses . 0nce fo rmed, new members re reeru l ted f ron among r iends andre la t ives in a natura l , i f haphazard t va .yvh ich produces a membersh ip tha tvar ies v ide ly in economic s tand ing and educat ion . Groups do at t rac t thepoores t o f the poor , but not exc lus ive ly . Vomen o in groups fo r a var ie tyo f reasons , the most impor tan t be ing economic ga in . Membersare moredeve lopment -o r ien ted or commi t ted to a no t ion o f p rogress than non-members ,and th is is ev idenced by the invo lvement o f members n other o rgan iza t ionsand by the support of fered by their husbands. Near ly 607, of. groups membersa lso be long to o ther o rgan iza t ions , the most common f vh ich are churchesand po l i t i ca l o rgan iza t ions . Husbands n genera l suppor t t he i r v ives 'invo lvement in vomens ' g roups and demons t ra te the i r suppor t bycont r ibu t ions o f labor and money .T h e l e a d e r s o f g r o u p s , t h a t i s , t h e e l e c t e d o f f i ce r s , a r e s i m i l a r i nage to the genera l membersh ip , though cha i r vomen are l i ke ly to be d rawnf rom the subse t o f vomenover 40 . The propor t ion o f leaders vho ared i v o r c e d i s n e a r l y d o u b l e t h a t o f o t h e r m e m b e r s . S i r n i l a r l y t h e p r opo r t i on


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o f l e a d e r s ' h u s b a n d s vh o l i v e e l . sevhe r e s m o r e t han t v i e e t ha t o f o t h e rmembers . That 417" f leaders are vomenv i thou t husbands sugges ts tha tleaders are vomenvho have e i ther more t ime to devo te to gr6 ip ac t iv i t iesor are f reer o f cons t ra in ts imposed by the husbands . Leaders probab ly ares l igh t ly be t te r of f - economica l ly than the genera l membersh ipoi g roups ase v i d e n c e d by t h e i r h ighe r p r opens i t y t o r e c e i v e r e m i t t a n c e s f r o m - r e l i t i v e sand the i r h igher leveLs of educat ion . Leaders do no t appear to domina tegroups dec is ion-mak ing processes , and the f ind ings o f t i ' t i s s tudy suppor tt hose o f N j o n j o e t a l . t ha t g r o u p d e c i s i o n s a r e m a d eby " o n s " n " u " .

Pro f i le o f Groups Income Genera t ion pro jec tsNev ly organ ized groups accumula te opera t ing cap i ta l in a var ie ty o fvays . Mos t eommons the regu la r member ubscr ip t ion wh ich is be tveen tvoand f ive sh i r r ings a veek . Groups arso save s 'eed money by se l r ing thec o l l e c t i v e l a b o r o f , g r o u p m e m b e r s nd by p l a i t i n g p a l m r o b f i n g r n a t e r i a l sfo r sa le . Hand ic ra f t s are a lso a source o f income, a l though i t tends to go

to the ind iv idua l p roducers ra ther than to the group. to to to f requent lya s s i s t s g r o u p s i n h o l d i n g c o m m u n i t y u n d - r a i s i n g e v l n t s , f r o m v h i c h asubs tan t ia l amount o f money can be rea l ized . The moneymade f rom theseeven t s , hoveve r , i s r i k e l y t o b e con t r i bu t ed t o s o m eo i h " t g r o u p o rcommuni t y pro jec t a t the nex t fund- ra is ing event and so is no t i re l iab lesou r ce o f c a p i t a l f o r e s t a b l i s h i n g a n e v b u s i n e s s . M a n yg r oups a t t e m p t t oob ta in gran ts f rom the Depar tment o f Soc ia l Deve lopmento i a ioan f ro rnTo t o t o ' a n d i f t hey succeed , t h e i r e n t e r p r i s e s u s u a l l y r e c e i v e t h e i n i t i a li n j e c t i o n o f c a p i t a l r equ i r ed t o b e c o m e s t a b l i s h e d .The most common ro jec ts amonggroup income genera t ion e f fo r t si n c l u d e d i n t h i s s t udy . a r e s h o p s ( 9 g r oups ) , b a k e i i e s ( g g r oups ) , pou r t r yr a i s i n g ( 7 g r oups ) , a nd v a t e r ( 4 g r oups ) . S m a I I s h o p s s t ock ing b a i i c g o b a "such as ma ize mea l , sugar , tea , o i1 , soap, and kerosene prov id - a serv iceto the i r i so la ted communi t ies and genera te smal l amounts o f lncome. Thes h o p w i t h t h e h i g h e s t v o l u m e o f b u s i n e s s a v e r a g e dKsh . L 4 , g 7 o ( 5919 ) i nmonth ly sa les dur ing 1985 but spent Ksh. L4 ,476 (5895) on month lyexpenses . For 10 months o f 1985, th is shop shoved a to ta l p ro f i t o f Ksh .3 ,947 ($244) . Shops have the i r h ighes t , ro lumeof sa les dur ing the p lan t ingseason, vhen the prev ious year 's harves t is dep le ted and food is scarce .O f t e n m e e t i n g a v i t a l n e e d , v a t e r p r o j e c t s q u a l i f y bo t h as s o c i a rve l fa re and deve lopment pro jec ts . The prov is ion of po tab le va te r to acent ra l spo t in a sub- loca t ion saves t ime and labor o f vomen and g i r lsv h i c h c an t h e n b e i n v e s t e d i n o t h e r p r oduc t i ve a c t i v i t i e s . S a f e va t e r i sa l s o i m p o r t a n t f o r i m p r o v e d h e a l t h an d s a n i t a t i o n . H o w e v e r , w a t e r p r o jec t sa r e n o t h i g h t y p r o f i t a b l e . O n c e t he p i p e s c a r r y i n g t he va t e r f r om i h e - m a i nsou r ce a r e l a i d ' g r o u p m e m b e r s e l l i t b y t he b u c k e t f o r f i ve t o r e n cen t s .One va te r p ro jec t s tud ied had average month ly sa les fo r 1985 of Ksh , 696( $ 4 r 1 , b u t o f t h e K s h . 8 , 3 5 6 ( $ 5 t o ) i n t o t a l a n n u a l s a l e s , K s h , 7 , ! 4 r($44r ) ven t to roan payments . A second vater k iosk in the same yeary ie lded KLsh. 487 ($30) per month . The group opera t ing th is pr -o jec t hadr e c e i v e d _ a g r a n t f o r t h e i n s t a l l m e n t o f t h e e q u i p m e n t , i n d v i t l n o l o a n t orepay , they made an annuar pro f i t o f Ksh . 4 ,644 (s297>. An advanrage roopera t ing a va te r k iosk i s the lov main tenance and v i r tua l lack o f reou i red


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l n p u t s o r e x p e n s e sa p a r t f r om t he l r a t e r b i L l . Th e p r o b l e m , hoveve r , i s t heh i g h cos t o f i ns t a l l a t i on v h i c h i n c r e a s e s v i t h t h e d is t ance o f t h es e t t l e m e n t f r om t h e sou r ce o f va t e r . The r e f o r e , t h o s e m o s t i n needgenera l ly cannot a f fo rd to b r ing va te r c loser to home, and those vho do sov i th loans do no t b rea lc even on the venture because the labor they inves tin d igg ing t renches , lay ing p ipes , and se l l ing va te r is no t remunera ted .The h igh vorume of sares , no t surpr is ingry , "6 res dur ing the dry season., Pou l - t r y r a i s i n g i s - a p o p u r a r c h o i c e f o r a p r o j e c t o n t he coas t , a s i ti s fo r women 's g roups th roughout Kenya. r t i s i t so one of the mostd i f f i c u r t t o ca r r y ou t success f u r r y . F i r s t , i t r equ i r es s i g n i f i c a n ts t a r t - up c a p i t a l t o b u i l d t h e c h i c k e n coop a nd pu r chase t h e f i r s t r ound o fbaby ch icks p lus feed fo r the tvo months o f matura t ion before the ch icksare ready for sa le . Second, th is produc t ion cyc le c rea tes managementprob lems as vonen have to , budget cash accura te iy f rom the prev ious sa le o fb i rds in order to cover the cos ts incur red dur ing the tvo rnon ths the ch icksneed _ t og r o v . I n 1 9 8 5 , g r o u p s p a i d K s h . 13 . 13 p e r c h i c k v h i c h c o u l d t henbe so ld fo r l ( sh . 35 a f te r t vo months . In one case, 300 ch icks purchasedf o r K s h . 4 , 0 0 0 ( 5 2 4 7 ) g r o s s e d K s h . 9 , 4 5 5 ( S 5 2 3 ) . B u t 4 7 b i r d s ' d i e d a l o n g

t he vay , a n d t h e g r o u p v as u n a b l e t o c o v e r i t s cos t s . Th e t h i r d i s s u e i smarke t ing ; though the many tour is t ho te ls a long the coas t cons t i t u te ahea l thy marke t , ru ra l vomenare inexper ienced i i cu l t i va t ing these eontac tso n t h e i r ovn . I n a d d i t i o n , t hey have t o s o l v e t h e p r o b l " r 6 t t r anspo r t i ngthe i r b i rds to marke t . In these tvo areas , severa l g roups have re l ied onToto to . One group, hovever , has found a buyer vho n6t on ly gu . ran tees toppurchase pr ice fo r the b i rds , bu t b r ings ch icks and feed tL i t re group andt r anspo r t s t h e m a t u r e b r o i l e r s b a c k t o t ovn . f n con t r as t t o t he o t h i rpou l t r y p r o j e c t m e n t i o n e d , t h i s g r o u p m a d ea K s h . I , 300 ( S g O ) p r o f i t o nt h e i r l a s t b a t c h o f b r o i l e r s s o l d i n 1 9 8 5 .s t a t e - con t r o r l ed p r i ces on w h e a t f r ou r a nd b r ead r i m i t t h ep r o f i t a b i l i t y o f s m a r r b a k e r i e s . A l t h o u g h t h e r a r g e s t o f t h eToto to -ass is ted baker ies has been pro f i t t b le , reco ids fo r seven months f roma much smal le r opera t ion shov tha t a t p roduc t ion leve ls o f 25 loaves perday , - the-group jus t b reaks even. Hovever , g roup membersare a l loved to usethe fac i l i t ies to bake bread vh ich they can se l i f o r ind iv idua l p ro f i t and ,in th is vay , earn a smal l income.

. Group f inanc ia l records revea l tha t p ro jec t p ro f i t s are depos i ted inthe-groups ' sav ings accounts more o f ten than- they are d iv ided amongmembers . rn rate 1985, group barances ranged f rbm Ksh 7oo (943) to KshL5,243 ($9+21. Div is ion o f g roup incone amongmembers s r i re iy recorded.Th is is a cur ious phenomenon iven vomen 's ev iden t need for cas i r and onecommon-o groups e lsevhere in Kenya (Mbugua 9B5) . rn some cases , g roupshave chosen to save money to f inance la rger pro jec ts ; in o thers , t [ey i ravenot known hov to ca lcu la te d iv idends based on ina iv idua l inves tments o fcash and 1abor .G r o u p s s t r ugg le f i r s t t o f i n a n c e t h e i r p r o j e c t s an d s e c o n d t o gene r a t ea p r o f i t o n c e t h e b u s i n e s s i s i n o p e r a t i o n . r n t hese e f f o r t s , t hey a r ebo t h c o n s t r a i n e d and suppo r t ed by i h e l o c a l s o c i o - e c o n o m i ccon t ex t . Le f tto the i r ovn dev ices , g roups have l imi ted access to cash . A l though they dobenef i t f rom the suppor t o f comnun i t y members nd other vomen,s groups ,th is suppor t is accompan iedby rec ip roca l expec ta t ions and demands . l . J i t h


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T o t o t o ' s a s s i s t a n c e , t he g r oups i n t h i s s t u d y h a v e g a i n e d access t oex te rna l ne tvorks o f suppor t in the government and deve lopment a idcommunl t y tha t have fac i l i t a ted the es tab l ishment o f income-genera t ingpro jee ts . Bu t hamperedby prob lems of sca le , marke t ing , and lack o ftechn ica l knov ledger fev groups have success fu l ly made the t rans i t ion f roms m a l l p r o j e c t t o s t ab le en t e r p r i se . T h e p r o jec t s ' I i m i t e d capac i t y t ogenera te pro f i t means tha t they mus t be seen as on ly one of severa lp roduc t ive ac t iv i t ies tha t vornendepend upon for income.

l lomen 's Groups as Smal l En te rp r isesWomen 'sgroups do not opera te in a soc ia l vacuum. Any ana lys is o fthe i r ro le and impac t mus t be s i tua ted in an adequate descr ip t ion o f thev ider soc ia l and economic env i ronment . Bo th p lanners and researchers havef a i l ed t o t ake su f f i c i en t accoun t o f l o c a 1 c o n d i ti o n s a n d t h e c o n s t r a i n tsthey impose upon the opera t ion o f vomen 's groups .The key to unders tand ing the opera t ion o f vomen 's groups and successo r o t h e r v i s e o f t h e i r i n c o m e - g e n e r a t i n gp r o jec t s i s t o b e f o u n d i n t here la t ion betveen ind igenous soc ia l fo rmat ions and the ex te rna l econorn icf o r ces v h i c h a r e v o r k i n g t o t r ans f o r m t hem. Th e e s s e n t i a l p o i n t i s t ha tth is t rans fo rmat ion is fa r f rom comple te . Vh i Ie ind igenous fo rmat ions haveb e e n m o d i f i e d b y fo r c e s o f c h a n g e , t hey r e m a i n s t r ong ly r es i s t an t t o t hem,par t icu la r ly a long the Kenya coas t , vhere peop le have long been branded"backvard i l fo r the i r apparen t re luc tance e i ther to engage in migran t vagelabor on any sca le o r to adopt modern methods o f fa rming and produce fort h e mar ke t . I . I h i l e f o r e i g n e c o n o m i c n t e r es t s , t he s t a t e , N G O ' s , a n d l o c a len t r ep r eneu r s p u l l i n o n e d i r e c t i o n , t he s t r uc t u r es o f t he p e a s a n t e c o n o m yprov ide v iab le a l te rna t ives fo r the inves tment o f labor and cash andcon t i nue t o pu I I i n a n o t h e r .Ind igenous soc ia l fo rmat ions vary cons iderab ly f rom one loca t ion toanother . They share in common he fac t tha t p roduc t ion is predominant lyorgan ized a t the leve l o f ind iv idua l househo lds , and these househo ldsre ta in a la rge degree o f con t ro l over the pr inc ipa l means o f p roduc t ion :land and the labor o f the i r members . Women,whether group membersor no t ,are f i r s t and fo remost members f househo lds and as such a re sub jec t to thedec is ions taken v i th in them. I , lomen 's roups the i r income-genera t ingp r o j e c t s i d e a l l y f u n c t i o n i n g I i ke s m a l l cap i t a l i s t en t e r p r i ses , s t a n d a tt he c r i t l ca l j unc t u r e o f t hese s o m e t i n e s o p p o s i n g f o r c e s - - c a p i t a l i s t a n dpeasant economies- - and may be severe ly cons t ra ined by one o r the o ther .T h e o p e r a t i o n o f t hese cons t r a in t s va r ies a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s t a g e o f ag r o u p ' s o r p r o j e c t ' s d e v e l o p m e n t . T h r e e m a i n s t ages can b e i d e n t i f i e d .

The f i r s t s t age , expe r ienced i n a I I cases , i s cha r ac t e r i zed b y t h e l a c k o fm a j o r f u n d s a n d i s d o m i n a t e dby t he f und - r a i s ing e f f o r t s desc r ibed a b o v e .I t i s a l s o a t i m e f o r g r oups t o c o n s o l i d a t e , d e v e l o p r e l a t i o n s h i p s v i t hIoca l leaders , and seek a l l ies ex te rna l to the communi t y . The second,p ivo ta l s tage , vh ich manygroups have yet to reach , sees the ach ievement o ft h e i r i n i t i a l p r o j e c t g o a l s t h r ough t h e i n j e c t i o n o f c a p i t a l f r o m t h eouts ide , a l lov ing fo r the es tab l ishment o f a cornmun i t ydeve lopment (va te r ,s c h o o l cons t r uc t i on , dayca r e c e n t e r , m a t e r n a l - c h i l d h e a l t h c l i n i c ) o r


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i n c o m e g e n e r a t i n g a c t i v i t y . T h e m a j o r so r l r ces o f such f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r ta re the s ta te and NGO's , bo th Kenyan and in te rna t iona l . Depend ing upon thena t u r e o f t he p r o jec t , a g r o u p ma y t hen e i t he r r eve r t t o t he i n i t i a l s t age( t h i s i s p a r t i c u l a r l y t he case v i t h c o m m u n i t yd e v e l o p m e n tp r o j e c t s ) o r , i ndeve lop ing an income-genera t ing p ro jec t , move on to the th i rd , v i t h a l li t s a t t e n d a n t d i f f i c u l t i e s . I t i s o f t e n a t t h i s s t a g e , i n t h e o p e r a t i o n o fa pro jec t f inanced through loans or gran ts , tha t the compet ing economici n f l u e n c e s t ake t he i r t o l l on v o m e n , sg r oup en t e r p r i ses .Conmun i t y deve lopment pro jec ts are re la t ive ly easy to de f ine , i f no ta lvays to manage. The forma l sec to r and vo lun ta ry agenc ies concerned wi ththe i r execu t ion have access to the meansand a de te rmina te idea of thes t ra teg ies requ i red fo r the i r a t ta inment . I ncome genera t ion i s a veryd i f f e r e n t ke t t l e o f f i sh . l . l ha t s n o t r e a l i z e d i s t h a t t h ei n c o m e - g e n e r a ti n g p r o j e c t s e s t a b l i s h e d by v o m e n ' s g r o u p s v i t h ex t e r na la s s i s t a n c e s h o u l d f u n c t i o n , i f t hey a r e t o be p r o f i t ab r e , a s s m a l lc a p i t a l i s t en t e r p r i ses . Th e g o v e r n m e n ta g e n c i e s c h a r g e d v i t h a s s i s t i n gv o m e n ' s g r o u p s a r e i l l - e q u i p p e d t o dea l v i t h t h i s s i t u a t l o n , a n d t h e N G O , s ,vh i le more f lex ib le and perhaps bet te r p laced to take appropr ia te ac t ion ,

h a v e been s l o v t o r e a l i z e a } l o f i t s i m p l i c a t i o n s .O n c e i n c o m e - g e n e ra t i n g p r o j e c t s a r e s e e n i n t h i s l i g h t , i t i s no td i f f i c u l t t o i den t i f y t h e cons t r a in t s v h i c h ope r a t e upon t h e m . A sembryon ic en te rp r ises they a re f i r s t and fo remost cons t ra ined by theloca l ized s t ruc tu res o f the peasant economy n vh ich they are embedded.Vhat wonen put in to the i r en te rp r ises , hov they o rgan ize them, and vhatt h e y m i g h t e x p e c t t o g e t ou t o f t h e m a r e c o n d i t i o n e d b y t h e i r r o l e s ,o b l i g a t i o n s , a n d expec t a t i ons a s m e m b e r s f h o u s e h o l d s . R e s o u r c e s n v e s t e din a group are f requent ly v i t hdravn f rom a househo ld . Par t icu la r ly vheresurp lus labor and cash are not read i ly ava i lab le and the ga ins f rom groupi .nves tment are not immed ia te ly apparen t , f ami ly ob l iga t ions are invar iab lyg i v e n p r i o r i t y a n d c o l l e c t i v e e n t e r p r i s e s su f f e r a c c o r d i n g l y . G r o u p s ,t h e i r m e m b e r s h i p ec r u i t ed o n a v o l u n t a r y b a s i s , t y p i c a l l y l a c k t he meansof en fo rc ing the i r dec is ions and are unab le to e f fec t the necessary degreeo f sepa r a t i on o f t he i r member s r o m t h e f a m i l y u n i t s t o v h i c h t h e y b e l o n g .H o u s e h o l d s , f u n c t i o n i n g a s s e m i - a u t o n o m o u s n i t s o f p r o d u c t i o n , c o n t i n u e t oprov ide ind iv idua l members i t h the i r p r inc ipa l meansof I i ve l ihood andthere fo re members emain sub jec t to the dec is ions taken v i th in them.To the ex ten t tha t g roups are ab le to vork f ree o f th is cons t ra in t ,t hey are l i ke ly to f ind themse lves res t r ic ted by s ta te con t ro ls or inc o m p e t i t l o n v i t h o t he r , mo r e e f f i c i e n t l y r u n p r i va t e - sec t o r en t e r p r i ses .The ser iousness o f th is prob lem depends upon the t ype o f g roup enterpr isea n d t h e f r e q u e n c y v i t h w h i c h i t i s r e p l i c a t e d i n t he p r i v a t e sec t o r . Thet h i r d s o u r c e o f c o n s t r a i n t s on t he d e v e l o p m e n to f v o m e n ' s g r o u p e n t e r p r i s e si s f o u n d i n t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p v i t h t he s t a t e , o r m o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y , i t sl o c a l a g e n t s . l l o m e n ' sg r oups a r e m o b i l i z e d a t eve r y p o s s i b l e oppo r t un i r : yto con t r ibu te labor and scarce funds to o ther communi t y deve lopmentp r o j e c t s .


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The s ta te p lays an ambiva len t ro le in th is process : on the one hand,i t places a number of dernandsupon groups and the househol-ds to which theirmembers belong; on the other, i t of fers them a chance to escape thesedemands by distr ibut ing funds to groups and by providing contacts withNGO|s and thus access to the l -a rger resources a t these agenc ies r d isposa l .Womenr groups thenselves harre access to the labor of their menbersand to the cash prwided by nenbers or their households. The anount ofincome which these households (and wonen as household nenbers) are preparedto imrest in groups is condit ioned by the sum of dernandsupon then, theirabi l i ty to meet these, and the return they can expect f rom this as opposedto other irnrestments. fnvestment in a group typical ly promises no Inorethan a long-term return, especial ly when subscr ipt ions are spent on fundraising events and on entertaining visitors. As a result , grouPsubscr ipt ions are usual ly snal1 - smaller than the sums imrested indif ferent k inds of individual saving organized by grouPs - and of tendif f icult for members to sustain. Labor investments are subject to asini lar set of constraints, as is the t irne that nembers are prepared to

devote to group meet ings. Groups do not Possess the po,rer to seParatemembers ron their households or enforce part ic ipat ion. Under thesec i r cumstances , i t i s no t easy fo r g roups work ing a lone to es tab l ish v iab leen te rp r ises .Nonetheless, encouraged by the government to help themselves beforesol- ic i t ing help f rom outside, young groups do exper iment with a wide rangeof enterpr ises. The comnonest of these is col lect ive cult ivat ion. Thisform of enterpr ise receives expl ic i t state support in the forn of adviceand, in the case of some favored cash crops, f ree seed, both dispensed bygovernment agr iculturaL extension off icers. Gollect ive cult ivat ionpro jec ts p rw ide an exampl -e f how the s ta te appropr ia tes womenrs groups as

i ts agents, in this ca6e creat ing the condit ions whereby grouPs disseninateagr icultural techniques and polic ie6 in parts of the conmunity where otheragents, except the pr inary schools, rarely reach. However, the supportgiven is general ly insuf f ic ient for these enterpr ise6 to become ucrat ive.l" l ,any roups cannot af ford the purchased inputs which they are advised touse, and cult ivat ion resains a r isky business. Labor inputs are restr ictedbecause members are faced with the conPet ing demands of their ownhouseho lds ; cu l t i va t ion o f co l lec t ive f ie lds thus su f fe rs f rom comPet i t ionwith nenbersr household agr icultural enterpr ises being undertaken at thesame t ime. Perhaps rnore imPortant , the acreages under col lect ivecult ivat ion are typical ly sma11, of ten less than the areas worked byindividual households. The government does not as a rule intervene to makeplots avai lable, and groups have to borrow or rent f ields. Such land isnot always easy to obtain or hold on to. The net ef fect of thesecons t ra in ts is tha t g roup6 reap 1 i t t le reward f ron the i r co l lec t ive f ie lds .

The NGO| have much more to of fer than the capital which trueenterpr ises require. In the ease of lrGOr operat ing within Kenya, theyplay an act ive role in planning and advising or assist ing womenr groups inthe operat ion of their enterpr ises. Such intenrent ions are necessarybecause the development of these enterpr ises frequent ly rePresents aradical departure f rom the prerrai l ing condit ions of the peasant economy,a1 hough the intervent ions that l , lGOrsmake are not always appropr iate tothese condit ions. Colleet ive womenr enterpr ises have no foundat ion in the


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histor ical economy of the Kenya coast, and woment groups themselves havebeen forned in response to expl iei t state pol icy and organized on the rnodelprwided by the governmentrs ! , lomenrsGroup Programme. Womenrspr inaryexper ience is in running or prwiding the labor for enterpr ises undertakenby or for the household. Even where these enterpr ises are their orn, theygeneral-Ly have 1it t1e control over what happens to the products of theirlabor. I f the product is not taken fron them, then aLmost certainly theywil l be obl iged to imrest i t in the householC. This exper ience togetherwith i ts corol1-ary, the general ly 1ow leve1 of womenr educat ion, Leavesthe naj or i ty of womenr group members 1L-prepared to run what are inef feet small-scale capital ist enterpr ises. The nanager ial and technicalrequ i renents o f these enterpr ises present repeated d i f f i cu l t ies . As aconsequence, groups often come under the control of memberswho are bet terequipped for the task. This is a posit ive outcome in terms of the logic ofenterpr ise developnent, but one which sits uneasi ly with the col lect ive andpart ic ipatory ideology that of ten character izes l,GOr . Even so,circumscr ibed by the peasant economy and threatened by other externaleconomic interests, enterpr ises run the cont inual r isk of fai lure' esituat ion f ron which they can only hope to be rescued by NGO| .

A pr inciple f inding of the research reported here is that theindigenous, non-capital ist economy plays an act ive role in the householdswe studied and forms an endur ing sub-stratutr upon which rrdevelopmentrrprojects and programs are set. A related f inding is that indigenouseconomic processes denonstrate great var iat ion within an area, and thatwomenr group enterpr ises are more l ikely to be successful i f they arechosen w i th respec t to 1oca1 economic cond i t ions . In shor t , en te rp r iseswhich reproduce exist ing processes of indigenous capital accunulat ionpron ise bet te r resu l t s . Hand ic ra f t p roduc t ion , w ide ly pronoted as anappropr iate undertaking for womenr groups, does not faLl into thiscategory. l t lo of the groups studied have produced handcraf ts for Tototor sshop in Mombasa. In both ca6es, this provided wonen with an importantshort- term source of income, somet imes more than they der ived f ron otherenterpr ises but nuch less over t ime than a l iv ing Bonthly vtage. Producersin one group pocketed and spent on their households most of the incomewhich this brought then. In the other, a port ion of the income wastransferred to the group and const i tuted an important input towardsconstruct ion of a bakery bui lding. In both grouPs, the handicraf tsproduced were based upon er ist ing forms of handicraf t product ion undertakenby individuals. Neither was a najor local- industry. Thus, when theirorders were curtai led by Tototo, both ran into problens. One reason Tototostopped these orders was because the womenwere producing much more thanTototo could se11: six years later necklaces from one group are st i11stockpiLed in Tototor s store, wait ing for a buyer. In the absence ofalternat ive markets that could absorb the vol-r :ne of product ion, then, i twas inevitable that these enterpr ises should gr ind to a ha1t. Neither wasorganized as a col lect ive enterpr ise, in which' for example, the groupwould purchase basic nater ials. They funct ioned instead as extensions ofhone product ion, put t ing producers at the mercy of an unrel iable market.

Handicraf t product ion did not get of f the ground at al l in a thirdgroup because the forn of product ion which Tototo t r ied to introduce had nobasis in local economy. Enterpr ises which are new to a community 'part icular ly those which are capital intensive, are dif f icult for groups to


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opera te success fu l ly . F i r s t , such en te rp r ises 1 ie fa r ou ts ide theexper ience of group nembers, who thus reguire cont inued inputs of advicefrom external agencies. This probten is nagnif ied in the case ofenterpr ises ernploying conplex technieal processes or machinery which can bed i f f i cu l t f o r g roups to na in ta in o r expand wi thou t fu r ther in jec t ions o fcapital f ron the outside. third, such enterpr ises are eharacter ist ical lybounded by of f ic ial controls, including state-regulated pr ic ing of rawnater ials and products, and, especial ly where groups enploy col, lect ivelabor, i t rnay be dif f icuLt for then to compete with r ivals in the pr ivatesector. As a result , i t is not easy for then to renain econonical lyviable. Given the var ious constraints which operate upon col lect iveenterpr ises, to undertake a project that requires minimal imrolvement ini ts day-to-day running presents a solut ion to many of their problerns. Ihereplacement of unpaid col lect ive labor by fornal wage labor is anothermeana by which greater ef f ieiency night be achieved, as one groupdiscwered when they tenporar i ly enployed a schoolboy in their tea shop.

The sinplest way to avoid some of these constraints is to choose ther igh t en te rp r ise in the f i r s t p lace . the eas ies t en te rp r ises fo r g roups torun and maintain are arguably those which reproduce exist ing processes ofcapital accrrmulat ion in the loca1 conmunity. As such their v iabi l i ty ispro\ren, the knowledge needed to run then is readi ly avai lable, and theyrequire less support f rom external agencies. the condit ions of capitalaccumulat ion vary f ron place to place' but by establ ishing suchenterpr ises, womenrs groups are much nore l ikely than othemise to fu1f i l1their pronise as corporate entrePreneurs.

Economic Effects of Group Enterpr isesIn so far as they are able to escape the constraints of the Peasanteconomy, groups and their enterpr ises become subject to the logic ofcapital ist developaent and act , in ef fect , as agents of economicdif ferent iat ion. They do this in a number of ways. First , grouPs shed orexclude womenwhose donest ic circumstances are so dif f icult that they areunable to sustain group nenbership and the denands upon cash and labor thati t entai ls. Ttr is is part icular ly t rue of divorcees with young chi ldren.In the nainland conmunit ies where vir i local marr iage is the ru1e, theresident ial nobi l i ty of wonen upon divorce or remarr iage adds a fur therconstraint upon their abi l i ty to sustain menbership. Init ia l recruitmenttends to cover a broad spectrum, to the exclusion of young unmarr ied wonen'the very old and inf irm, those who are skept ical of group success or whose

husbands forbid then to join, and foreigners to the conmunity. As aresult , many rromen n the least for tunate categor ies renain outside ofg rouPs .Secondly, groups which are working free of the peasant economy tend tocome increasingly under the control of menbers whose background anddomest ic circumstances make then better equipped to run their enterPr ises.In other words, their derrel-opnent avors womenwho already occupy arelat ively for tunate.posit ion in their households and/or the community.This includes womenwho are educated and thus able to keep group records.I t also incl-udes womenwho in one sray or another harre succeeded in escaping


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sone of the res t r ic t i ve cond i t ions normal ly a f fec t ing the i r gender , such ashose wi th grorn ch i ld ren to suppor t then or those ,ho a.e d ivorced andhere f o re f ree f ron t t re co i i ro r 'o r i r r " r . - r " imer t rusbands . Grrwides suchwonen ith an opportuni tvto exerciseand ,r . i f r iooi rT| ] ; "ntoheir entrepreneur ialanapoi i i i " " i i " i " ; ;" :"and they are 1ikely to benef i tron thei r pos i t ior ;" ; ; ; ; ; " than thei . "o i r . "g. , " " . rn soneay do so i11ic i t1y, by , i ; ; ;propr iat ing ru" ! " ; and whi le oj r : ; r " : ; , . jh"y-o::ii ';:' il::H":,:l :l:, :'U;::i*, jfi"' #" rience,;;-;;.ua1 yhave

The d iscorery - tha t g roup enterpr ises , i f success fu l , becomenstr .mentsof_di i r " r " i . i " l ;5T ." . 'p". i i "ur lr ty painful one or somenternat ional 1p9r" r i te-woi ia rau"" ; i ; ; - ; ; -exposes the contradict ion::i::::lrrt'.i3l"T:::l.j: ,Tl:'" generation.on the onehand, *o,s,to assist hevervpooro ,"t'i: :f::1"fl"::"::'"r;"lr:i;l;;1,*:::i, seekco l lec t ive approaches and p" .a i " ip .aory , "a iJa" a" . i . red f ron Westernrac t ice ' on the o ther h . ; ; , t he '1og i l " i ' " "p r ta1 is t deve loF 'enr , even on very sma11 scale and e'tenr n non-t lestern sett ir rgs, appears to deEand ar ruc tu r ing o f oppor tun i t y tha t exc ludes thos i ,o "a in need and tha tenef i t s those wi lh naore r , "ou . " " " . r cors have avo ided- fac ing th is rea l i t yy s t ress ing par t ic ipa t io i an j "o r fec t ive " " i ion , by us ing te rms l ikelncone genera t ionr f ra ther than , rcap i ta l i s i j l " lopr "n t , t r_andby notnc lud ing such cons t ruc ts i t s c lass "na-a i i i " r - ]n t ia t ion in eva lua t ing the i rillS;"|i, :":";* .;"'iil": ave-p1ann" .nJ-"" rJriea out i nap ropria eidentirv.i" ti"a"or-iniJ;.ff:::':;:i:r:l' "oil1nli;r: rr"i;l edoi den t i f y thm because i t i s no t i n the i r i i i " . " " t to recogn ize theont rad ic t ion between par t , i c i f a to ry and cap i ta l i s t dore l0pment .where enterp r ises arr success fu l , t hey wi l l inev i tab ly pLay a par t ,:ff il::,',"13t1;r:lrn*:;Uii, .n" ".'u"iu'.""oern" p".""i.'l"ono,oyhi hProcess'e noi_quallyrelt, '.','il;. #tl3::: :ff.t:::::ff $;:lllr-""": : : i l : i t" i"o;:: topment ao noi necessari 'v result in a worsenin! of wonen,seconomy" a".lo|::";n:l?#fl,|",iT::::;:.r::;il.:iiri:::'if #:;;; "reserye o f cheap labor . Meamhi le , d ; - . " i " - " t womenrs groups as agents o fcononic deveLopnent gives sone luonen a chance to part ic ipate in thisrocess on favorable terms' a chanc" r ir " ir -ai ly , igrr t othenr ise not have.rn general, - though, groups and their enterpr ises renain severelyonstrained by the peasani ""o' ,oty. Fen succeed in generat ing substant ialro f i t s , and fen prwide the i i -menbers wi th inc ,when hev do, the anounta re usually "o "r"ii-ll '. j""lr;:i::T"f":".f ract ion of a l iv ing wage, i i t iougt i t i" " io,r rd not be taken as a measuref their value to the rJr"r "oi""r r , "a. croup enterp. i"e6 are only one of aange of medium and 1.ng-term irnrestnents that lromenmake, and thehort-term nconesuppl&entsoften realized rr#t::"ll*l:.111-lake consideraureiere;;;;"-to ,"rr"rs and :r:';::":;: i;:.: i"i"il lr".oy womenrs cont inued par t ic ip .a i " r . on ly those who are more fo r runa te than'os t a re ab le to t rans la te t i : e i r par t i c ipa t ion in the group in to more


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subs tan t ia l benef i t s . fn o ther respec ts , the income which t r i ck les downthrough womenr groups helps to insul-ate the peasant econony frorq thepressures ac t ing upon i t f ron the ou ts ide .

lJomenr Group Enterpr ises and GenderThe s ta te c rea tes womenr6groups th rough i t s woments group po1_ icy ; i tce r t i f ies then th rough i t s reg is t ra t ion procedures ; and i t appropr ia testhen, when i t can, to carry out i ts work. Often coastal groups required tocontr ibute 1abor, cash, food, and t ine for government event6 and in supportof 1oca1 off ic ials. The relat ionship is not monoli thic, by any means, andgroups receive from the 6tate grants for their own act iv i t ies.Nevertheless, the problem of state-group relat ions is prevalent throughoutKenya, and some wonenrs group6, in an ef for t to avoid urmelcome denands,seek to de-register themselves ( l , tbugua1985). While self -he1p in Kenya hasbeen cr i t ic i-zed by sone for i ts less-tharrvoluntary nature and by othersfor the way it taxes the poor, self -help has also created many ser:v ices andfaci l i t ies that would not othemise he\re existed. The role of womentgrouPs in the real izat ion of these benef i ts is pivotal, for they providemuch of the labor and cash for local projects. But i t is women, not men,who are the target of state pol icy with respect to social welfare and whoare organized into groups for the purpo6e of carrying out this work.Insofar as they conply, they reproduce and reinforce exist ing genderrel-at ions fron which onLy a very felc of their members, by vir tue ofpersonal- circumstances, manage to escape.fn fact , the tern r\ isoments grouptr is of ten a nisnomer. Ttrree of thefour groups included in this study were init iated by nen. The fourth was

started by a nale government worker in consultat ion with another maleoff ic ial and a woman. Men play key roles in the market ing of womenrproducts, and men benef i t direct ly f rom wonenrs labor and enterpr ise whenthey get employment in the enterpr ise. Men step in when things go awrlrand they may control the asset of nenbership in womenr groups, as in onegroup when a widower decided who would inher it his dead wifer s nembership,and in another where the groupf s founder paid for one female relat iver ssubscr ipt ions and when she dropped out, put his young wife in her place.VJhether the role nen play in groups is doninant and control l- ing, or whetherthey support their wivesr ef for ts while benef i t ing f ron then as members ofthe same households, depends on loca1 relat ions of product ion and gender.l ' lho controls the products of womenrs labor and therefore the income

earned from womenr group enterpr ises depends on the 1oca1 economy.lJoment income is usual ly t reated as income for the household, whether ornot i t is appropr iated by the household head or whether, indeed, the womanheads her orsn household. As such i ts value is not negl igible but rather i tforms an important supplenent to other sources of income arraiJ-abLe ovromen. fn sone cases, i t nay displace the incone prorr ided by a husband byal leviat ing the need for hin to contr ibute to the household f rom his cnrnpocket, thus leaving hin with more income at his disposal. l , lhen income ishanded over or otherwise f inds i ts way back to husbands, there is noguarantee that womenwiLl play a role in deternining how it is invested orwhether i t w i l l be imres ted in the househo ld a t a l l .


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The naive assumpt ions under ly ing income-generat ion theory, i f i t canbe ca l led tha t , thus prwe nean ing less . Womentspossess ion o f income doesnot automat ical ly improve their status or bargaining power within thehousehold. This is more l ikely to occur, i f at a1"L, where orreral lhousehold income is already high and suf f ic ient to cover basic needs. fnone grouP included in this study, for exanple, where the group enterpr isehas thr ived at t imes, prwiding womenwith the equivalent of a regular, i fsmall , wage, group membersharre no r ights orrer this income, just as theyhave no r ights wer the products of their l"abor in the f ields. Here, wherewomen harre nade the most money, they have the least control orrer that moneyand hsrre acquired 1it t1e prest ige or decisiorrnaking porrer as a result oftheir earning pcnrer. Menbers in another group, who harre r ights orrerproperty and inher itance, who divorce and remarry easi ly, who pool theirincome with that of their husbands yet can retain i t i f they wish, havefaiLed to manage a viable enterpr ise. Our data and those of otherssubstant iate that women n patr iarchal societ ies cannot cornrert theirincome into power, part icular ly where men hErre poor ly-paid, narginaloccupat ions. If husbands have a stable and suff ic ient economic base, thenr\roments economic contr ibut ion becomes a vaLuable and powerful. resourcethat wins them more decision-naking porrer [and] nore equali ty in thed iv is ion of labor r ' (Sa f iL ios -Rothsch i ld 1983, L23) . The grea t var iab i l i t ydocuoented in this study points to a complex of factors that af fect theinternal distr ibut ion of household incone and underscores the absence of al inear rel-at ionship between womenr income and woment statu6.

l lomenr groups and their enterpr ises cannot be expected to effectsocial and eeonomic change orrernight . This should not, however, be theon1-y cr i ter ion upon which they are evaluated. For women henselves theyprcnr ide a range of opportunit ies which they are customari ly denied. Noti-east of these is an opportunity to part ic ipate in connunity af fairs andderrelopment. Women ake considerable pr ide in their groups and therecognit ion this gr ings then. As long a6 they cont inue to receive supportf ron the go\rernment and other agencies, womenr6 groups wil l cont inue toserve aa an inportant tool in Kerryanwomenr struggle forse1 -determinat ion


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Women's Group Enterprises: A Study of the Structure of Opportunity on the Kenya Coast (paper)

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