Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Jeanne McCormack
Martin Valsh
Candace Nelson
World Education, Inc.
P r e s e n t e d a t t h e A s s o c i a t i o n f o r l . I o m e ni n D e v e r o p m e n tc o n f e r e n c e
Vashington, D.C.
ApriI L6, 1987
I n t e r e s t i n t h i s a p p r o a c h c o i n c i d e d v i t h t h e e m e r g e n c eo f a v o r l d - v i d e
m o v e m e n tt o p r o m o t e t h e e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l e q u a l i t y o f v o m e n . P r o p o n e n t s
of these tvo causes-- the one vieved as an economic issue and the oiher as
a political concern-- joined forces at the point vhere both urged that
special attention be devoted,to poor, rural vomen in their productive and
reproductive roles. They advocated that assistance to vomen be given in an
integrated fashion that reflected the vay the tvo roles are play-d out in
real Iife.
-2-
,
_ T h e s t u d y f o c u s e d o n t h e p r o g r a m o f T o t o t o H o m eI n d u s t r i e s a n d a
sample of the vomen's groups it has vorked vith slnce L977. Tototo is a
regional agency deeply rooted in the coast province. operating from
M o m b a s a ,i t v a s 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 f
Kenya as.a non-profit, voluntary agency seeking to help lov-income coastal
w o m e nr a i s e t h e i r s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g . Tototo creates Lmploymentand
income-generation opportunities through a tailoring "ou.s" ior female
school leavers and vorking women, a tie-dye and tailoring workshop that
employs vomen, a handicraft marketing agency, and a rurai development
program. The latter is Tototo's most recent addition to its strategies
to
overcome vomen,s poverty.
I n 1 9 7 7 , T o t o t o a n d V o r l d E d u c a t i o n s t a r t e d v h a t h a s b e c o m ea l o - y e a r
coLraboration reaching 46 women'sgroups and approximately 1,500 women.
The tvo organizations designed a tiaining progiim for six of the women,s
groups vith vhom Tototo already vorked in handicraft production. For tvo
yearsr Tototo staff vere trained to train group leadeis in group dynamics,
psycho-social training exercises, and problem iolving using the nonformal
education methods.. The program vas iniended to enable "orEn to go beyond
handicraft production and to establish srnall-scale enterprises. 0f the six
groups in three districts that initially received training, five are still
-3-
operating. 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 p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n ,
construction of rental property, day care centers, firewood and charcoal
s e l l i n g , a b a k e r y , a n d f a r m i n g . T o t o t o a s s i s t e d s o m eg r o u p s i n i d e n t i f y i n g
Iocal resources for technical assistance, and the Ministries of Social
Services, Vater Resources, Agriculture, and HeaIth have continued to
provide such help to Tototo groups. In L982, Vorld Education and Tototo
began a nev phase of the project under vhich the program vas extended
eventually to 40 nev groups in five districts-- MombasaK , vale' KiIifi'
Taita/Taveta, and Tana River.
C o i n c i d i n g v i t h t h e h a r a m b e e m o v e m e n ti n K e n y a a n d r e f l e c t i n g its
spiri.t vas early interest-Tn a t/omen's self-help program. The Kenyan
government expressed its support as early as 1956, vell before the start of
t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s W o m e n ' sD e c a d e ( 1 9 7 5 - 8 5 ) . A l l o m e n ' s G r o u p P r o g r a m m e
began in 1971 folloved by the establishment of a l{omen's Bureau in 1975,
International Vomen's Year. These innovations occurred in part as a
carry-over of colonial community development and home economics programs
for vomen but equally from the vorldvide attention nevly focused on vomen's
roles in development. llomen's groups must register vith the Department of
S o c i a l D e v e l o p m e n t t o b e e l i g i b l e f o r t h e g r a n t s t h e W o m e n ' sB u r e a u
dispenses, but they receive IittIe technical assistance in implementing the
projects the grants are intended to fund. The government does not have the
capacity to provide assistance in small business development.
o f h a r a m b e ep r o j e c 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 , v a t e r
supFlT6Fand activlties speciflcally designed to generate income. To
capitalize group projects, the vomenseek funds not only frorn the state but
a 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 . The latter are most often
reached through community fund-raising events.
Much has been vritten about Kenyan vomen, for the country offers an
ideal intelleetual setting for research on gender: ethnic and
topographical diversity, a c o l o n i a l h i s t o r y , a n e c o n o m yb a s e d o n
agriculture, a tradition of male migrant labor, and a grass roots
d e v e l o p m e n t m o v e m e n to f w o m e n . I n t h e l a s t f e v y e a r s , a n u m b e r o f s c h o l a r s
h a v e s t u d i e d t h e p h e n o m e n o no f r u r a l v o m e n ' s g r o u p s i n K e n y a . T h i s
research has varied both in quality and in availability.
Most notevorthy is the 1983-1984 study by ApoIIo Njonjo (1985) and his
colleagues vho carried out a full census of ltomen's groups in five
districts: K i t u i , B u n g o m a ,K i s i i , K i a m b u , a n d N a i r o b i . Their purpose vas
to study the structure and functioning of these groups and thelr role in
community development. From this census, they selected 25 groups for
intensive study, achieving a careful balance of active and lnactive groups,
assisted and non-assisted, rural and urban. Their data consisted of
W o m e n ' sB u r e a u r e c o r d s , t h e f i l e s o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e D i s t r i c t S o c i a l
Development 0fficer, and intervievs vith 473 respondents: 252 members
randomly selected from the 25 groups, ll0 of their husbands, 72 group
Ieaders, and 39 non-members. The picture the researchers drev of groups
resembles in many respects the one later revealed by the research reported
i n t h i s p a p e r . G r o u p s a t t r a c t e d m e m b e r sp r i m a r i l y f r o m a m o n g t h e
middle-aged (a mean age of 40), middle peasantry, Iargely excluding the
young and very poor. In this sense, the outreach of the vomen's group
m o v e m e n tv a s f o u n d l i m i t e d . T h e g r o u p s , a v e r a g i n g 3 0 m e m b e r se a c h , c a r r i e d
out a multiplicity of activities, ranging from simple mutual aid
a s s o c i a t i o n s t o t h e m a n a g e m e n ot f c o m p l e x e n t e r p r i s e s . Groups encountered
no major organizational problems; maintained their cohesion through stable
recruitment patterns, face-to-face interaction, and group pressure; and
relied on consensus for decision-making. Sixty-eight percent of the groups
operated revolving credit associations vhich were judged successful in
providing direct and tangible benefits to members. Less successful vere
the small enterprises, vhich vere virtually a l l b a d l y m a n a g e da n d o p e r a t i n g
at a loss. Lack of education, skills, and knovledge, and unsuitable
capitalization vere found to be principal causes of business failure. The
researchers, hovever, noted the impressive capacity of groups to generate
both financial and labor resources from amongtheir members: 95%of
f i n a n c i a l r e s o u r c e s v e r e c o n t r i b u t e d b y g r o u p m e m b e r st h e m s e l v e s . G r o u p s
spent betveen six and ten percent of their total funds on community
projects, especially on schools. For this reason, their activities
attracted strong community support. The researchers suggested that only
one percent of the adult female popuJ-ationreceived any kind of assistance
in these activities. T h e t e a m r e c o m m e n d e tdh a t t h e m o v e m e n t ,v i a t h e
mechanism of the Vomen's Bureau, be videned to include 25-302 of Kenyan
vomen and that income generation as a development strategy be dropped,
-6-
t h r o u g h 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 p s m a l t ed e c i s i o n s b y c o m m i t t e e .
Njonjo, and tacitly Thomas, cite videspread community support for and
benefits from the activities o f g r o u p s . T h o m a sa n d N j o n j o b o t h r e m a r k o n
the capacity of the groups to raise }ocal funds. Feldman and Njonjo point
t o o u t r i g h t f a i l u r e o f g r o u p e n t e r p r i s e s , v h i l e T h o m a sc i t e s s u b s t a n t i a l
Methodology
Profile of Members
C h r i s t i a n s m a k e u p 4 5 ! / o f t h e m e m b e r s h i pa n d M u s l i m s a b o u t 4 1 Z , a n
underrepresentation given the videspread practice of Islam on the coast.
T h e r e m a i n i n g w o m e nf o l l o v t r a d i t i o n a l p r a c t i c e . The significance of
r e l i g i o n v i t h r e s p e c 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 g e n e r a t i o n
projects is less than might be expected, because Islam on the coast does
not restrict vomenas severely as it does elsevhere in the vorld. Purdah,
for example, is not enforced, vhich leaves the entlre range of economic
activity open to vomen's participation and meansthat Christian groups do
n o t n e c e s s a r i l y h a v e a n a d v a n t a g e o v e r M u s l i m g r o u p s . S o m eo b s e r v e r s
contend that Muslim vomendo not experience the same degree of mobility and
contact vith strangers as christians, vhich in turn may inhibit their
abilities to carry out the negotiating and marketing required by group
enterprises. 0n the contraryl our data suggest a relatively privileged
p o s i t i o n o f M u s l i m w o m e nv i s - a - v i s C h r i s t i a n s . Perhaps most important is
t h e f a c t t h a t M u s 1 i mv o m e n c a n o v n a n d i n h e r i t p r o p e r t y v h i c h i s n o t a l v a y s
t r u e 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 s a r e l o v e r , a s
is the pressure to repay brideweal-th in the case of divorce. This makes
divorce a more realistic option and, in fact, it is practiced vith much
greater frequency by Muslim vomen. In addition, there is a strong tendency
amongSvahili Muslims to viev bridevealth as money intended to set up a
household for the nev couple rather than as a contractual payment to the
vife's family. Therefore, Muslim vomenon the coast frequentry seem to
enjoy a greater degree of independencefrom their husbands than do
christians. But these differences, vhile they may affect vomen,s use of
project dividends, do not in themserves have a significant impact on
project performance.
The vomen studied are largely farmers vith access to land through male
relatives, primarily husbands. The economicimportance to their households
of their cultivation depends on the locale and on the resources and
opportunities available to the vomenvhere they live. Vhile vomen are
generally subsistence farmers, the nature of the sexual division of labor
varies across locations.
Very fev vomen intervieved had outside employment, and of those that
do, two-thirds vork as casual farm laborers. The remaining third sell
vood, fish' and charcoal. The small number of vomenholding jobs outside
t h e h o u s e h o l d p o i n t s t o t h e l a c k 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 y
of vomento gain access to those that do exist, and perhaps more important,
t o t h e d e m a n do n v o m e n ' s t i m e o f t h e i r o w n a g r i c u l t u r a l , household, and
reproductive responsibilities.
M e m b e r so f v o m e n ' s g r o u p s d i f f e r f r o m n o n - m e m b e r so n l y i n a g e , f o r
n o n - m e m b e r st e n d t o b e y o u n g e r t h a n m e m b e r s . A l t h o u g h n o n - m e m b e r sa r e a l s o
Iess likely to cultivate and ovn land than are members, the apparent
economic disadvantage of the former can be explained by their younger age
and corresponding position in the Iifetirne process of accumulation of
assets and vealth.
The leaders of groups, that is, the elected officers, are similar in
age to the general membership, though chairvomen are likely to be drawn
from the subset of vomenover 40. The proportion of leaders vho are
divorced is nearly double that of other members. Sirnilarly the proportion
-lt-
T h e m o s t c o m m o np r o j e c t s a m o n gg r o u p i n c o m e g e n e r a t i o n e f f o r t s
included in this study.are shops (9 groups), bakeiies (g groups), pourtry
raising (7 groups), and vater (4 groups). SmaII shops stocking baiic goba"
such as maize meal, sugar, tea, oi1, soap, and kerosene provid- a service
to their isolated communities and generate small amounts of lncome. The
shop with the highest volume of business averagedKsh. L4,g7o (5919) in
monthly sales during 1985 but spent Ksh. L4,476 (5895) on monthly
expenses. For 10 months of 1985, this shop shoved a total profit of Ksh.
3,947 ($244). Shops have their highest ,rolumeof sales during the planting
season, vhen the previous year's harvest is depleted and food is scarce.
lnputs or expensesapart from the lrater biLl. The problem, hovever, is the
high cost of installation vhich increases vith the distance of the
settlement from the source of vater. Therefore, those most in need
generally cannot afford to bring vater closer to home, and those vho
do so
vith loans do not brealc even on the venture because the labor they invest
in digging trenches, laying pipes, and selling vater is not remunerated.
The high vorume of sares, not surprisingry, "6res during the dry season.
W o m e n ' sg r o u p s d o n o t o p e r a t e i n a s o c i a l v a c u u m . A n y a n a l y s i s o f
their role and impact must be situated in an adequate description of the
vider social and economic environment. Both planners and researchers have
failed to take sufficient account of loca1 conditions and the constraints
they impose upon the operation of vomen's groups.
To the extent that groups are able to vork free of this constraint,
they are likely to find themselves restricted by state controls or in
competitlon vith other, more efficiently run private-sector enterprises.
The seriousness of this problem depends upon the type of group enterprise
and the frequency vith which it is replicated in the private sector. The
t h i r d s o u r c e o f c o n s t r a i n t s o n t h e 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 s
is found in their relationship vith the state, or more specifically, its
local agents. llomen'sgroups are mobilized at every possible opportunir:y
to contribute labor and scarce funds to other community development
projects.
-15-
The state plays an ambivalent role in this process: on the one hand,
it places a number of dernandsupon groups and the househol-ds to which their
members belong; on the other, it offers them a chance to escape these
demands by distributing funds to groups and by providing contacts with
NGO|s and thus access to the l-arger resources at these agenciesr disposal.
The NGO|s have much more to offer than the capital which true
enterprises require. In the ease of lrGOrs operating within Kenya, they
play an active role in planning and advising or assisting womenrs groups in
the operation of their enterprises. Such intenrentions are necessary
because the development of these enterprises frequently rePresents a
radical departure from the prerrailing conditions of the peasant economy,
a1though the interventions that l,lGOrsmake are not always appropriate to
these conditions. Colleetive womenrs enterprises have no foundation in the
-16-
historical economy of the Kenya coast, and woments groups themselves have
been forned in response to explieit state policy and organized on the rnodel
prwided by the governmentrs !,lomenrsGroup Programme. Womenrs prinary
experience is in running or prwiding the labor for enterprises undertaken
by or for the household. Even where these enterprises are their orn, they
general-Ly have 1itt1e control over what happens to the products of their
labor. If the product is not taken fron them, then aLmost certainly they
will be obliged to imrest it in the householC. This experience together
with its corol1-ary, the generally 1ow leve1 of womenrs education, Leaves
the naj ority of womenrs group members i1L-prepared to run what are in
effeet small-scale capitalist enterprises. The nanagerial and technical
requirenents of these enterprises present repeated difficulties. As a
consequence, groups often come under the control of memberswho are better
equipped for the task. This is a positive outcome in terms of the logic of
enterprise developnent, but one which sits uneasily with the collective and
participatory ideology that of ten characterizes l,GOrs. Even so,
circumscribed by the peasant economy and threatened by other external
economic interests, enterprises run the continual risk of failure' e
situation fron which they can only hope to be rescued by NGO|s.
Handicraft production did not get off the ground at all in a third
group because the forn of production which Tototo tried to introduce had no
basis in local economy. Enterprises which are new to a community'
particularly those which are capital intensive, are difficult for groups to
-r7-
Secondly, groups which are working free of the peasant economy tend to
come increasingly under the control of menbers whose background and
domestic circumstances make then better equipped to run their enterPrises.
In other words, their derrel-opnent favors womenwho already occupy a
relatively fortunate.position in their households and/or the community.
This includes womenwho are educated and thus able to keep group records.
It also incl-udes women who in one sray or another harre succeeded in escaping
-18-
The state creates womenr6 groups through its woments group po1_icy; it
certifies then through its registration procedures; and it appropriates
then, when it can, to carry out its work. Often coastal groups required to
contribute 1abor, cash, food, and tine for government event6 and in support
of 1oca1 officials. The relationship is not monolithic, by any means, and
groups receive from the 6tate grants for their own activities.
Nevertheless, the problem of state-group relations is prevalent throughout
Kenya, and some wonenrs group6, in an effort to avoid urmelcome denands,
seek to de-register themselves (l,tbugua1985). While self-he1p in Kenya has
been critici-zed by sone for its less-tharrvoluntary nature and by others
for the way it taxes the poor, self-help has also created many ser:vices and
facilities that would not othemise he\re existed. The role of woments
grouPs in the realization of these benefits is pivotal, for they provide
much of the labor and cash for local projects. But it is women, not men,
who are the target of state policy with respect to social welfare and who
are organized into groups for the purpo6e of carrying out this work.
Insofar as they conply, they reproduce and reinforce existing gender
rel-ations fron which onLy a very felc of their members, by virtue of
personal- circumstances, manage to escape.
l'lho controls the products of womenrs labor and therefore the income
earned from womenrs group enterprises depends on the 1oca1 economy.
lJoments income is usually treated as income for the household, whether or
not it is appropriated by the household head or whether, indeed, the woman
heads her orsn household. As such its value is not negligible but rather it
forms an important supplenent to other sources of income arraiJ-abLeto
vromen. fn sone cases, it nay displace the incone prorrided by a husband by
alleviating the need for hin to contribute to the household from his cnrn
pocket, thus leaving hin with more income at his disposal. l,lhen income is
handed over or otherwise finds its way back to husbands, there is no
guarantee that womenwiLl play a role in deternining how it is invested or
whether it will be imrested in the household at all.
-20-
r r P r o j e c t s f o r V o m e ni n t h e T h i r d l , l o r I d : Explaining
Buvinic, Mayra. Igg4.
Their Misbehavior." Vashington: ICRV. Photocopy.
Buvinic, M . ; L y c e t t e M . ; M c G r e e v e y ,V . ( e d s ) . 1 9 8 3 . V o m e na n d P o v e r t y
in the Third Vorld. Baltimore: Johns llopkins University Press.
Caldvell, John C. 1982. Theory of Fertility DecIine. Nev York: Academic
Press.
Chhabra, Rami. 1984. "Fertility and the Family: Changing Conditions and
Pereeptions.r' Nev York: United Nations.
Clark, M a r i H . 1 9 8 5 . r r H o u s e h o l dE c o n o m i c S t r a t e g i e s a n d S u p p o r t N e t v o r k s
of the Poor in Kenya: A Literature Reviev.rr Vashington, D.C.: Vorld
B a n k , W a t e r S u p p l y a n d U r b a n D e v e l o p m e n tD e p a r t m e n t , 0 p e r a t i o n s P o I i c y
Staff.
Crandon, Libbet. 1 9 8 4 . r r V o m e nE
, nterprise, and Development.rr Chestnut
HilI, HA: The Pathfinder Fund.
G u- y e r , J a n e . 1 9 8 0 . r r H o u s e h o l dB u d g e t s a n d V o m e n ' s I n c o m e s . r r B o s t o n , MA:
African Studies Center, l,lorking Paper *28, Boston University.
. 1 9 8 1 . ' r H o u s e h o l d a n d C o m m u n i t yi n A f r i c a n S t u d i e s . " A f r i c a n S t u d i e s
R e v i e v , 2 4 ( J u n e - S e p t .) : 8 7- I 3 7 ,
G u- y e r , J a n e I . , a n d P e t e r s , P a u l i n e E . ( e d s . ) . 1984. Cgnceptgalizing in
the Household: Issues of Theory' Method and A . Proceedings
2-4.
Mkangi, George C. 1983. Tle locial gost gf lmall F?miligs ald Land
Reform: e Case Study of tne Wa . 0xtord: Pergamon
mss.-
Molnos, Angela. I972. Innovations and Communication. Nairobi : E a st
African Publishing House.
N j o n j o , A p o 1 l o L . ; K a i r u , A n n e ; M b u g u a ,V a r i a r a ; K i m e n y a ' D a v i d ; and
Chege, Fred. 1 9 8 5 . S t u d y o n t h e O r g a n i z a t i o n o f W o m e n ' sG r o u p s i n
Kenia, Main Report. VoI
Co. Ltd.
gdera, Millicent. 1 9 8 0 . " N y e r i V o m e n ' sD e v e l o p m e n t P r o j e c t : Baseline
Survey Report.rr Nairobi: Family Planning Association of Kenya.
Photocopy.
Parkin, David J. I979 , rrAlong the line of Road: Expanding Rural Centres
i n K e n y a ts C o a s t P r o v i n c e . ' f A f r i c a , 4 9 t 2 7 2 - 2 8 2 .
S h e' p h e r d , G i 1 1 . 1 9 8 4 . r r R e s p o n d i n gt o t h e - C o n t r a c e p t i o n N e e d s o f R u r a l
People: A Report to oxfam on Kenya in 1984.rr London. Photocopy'
1978' Peasants in Africa.
Smith, Alan K. r and Welch, Claude E', Jr'
Valtham, Mass.: CrossroadsPress'
"The KAP in Kenya: A Critical Look at
Srnith, S.E., and Radel, D. t976.
u (eds. ).
3uru"y Methodology. In Marshall, J.F. , and Polgar, _ S.
culture, Nataliti, and F a m i l y P l a n n i n g . C a r o l i n a P o p u l a t i o n center
Carolina PoPulation Center'
S - -e a r , T h o m a s T .
-'p 1978. The Kaya Complex! A llis,tgry o=! the =Yi
i"oples of the Kenya ure
Bureau.
r r T o v a r da T h e o r y o f D e m o g r a p h i c D e v e l o p m e n t . ' r
Tabbarah, Riad B. , Lg7I.
E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n ta n d c u l t u r a l c h a n g e , 1 9 : 2 5 7 - 2 7 6 .
M. tg82. r r B u r e a u c r a t s ,P o l i t i c i a n s , a n d R u r a I C o m m u n i t i e s i n
WaIIis,
Kenya. I ' Manchester Papers on D e v e l o p m e n ,t N o . 6. M a n c h e st e r :
Departmentof Administrltive studies, university of M a n c h e ster.