Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
INgEBIil NEFONf
Hartin l{aLsh
-CONT$ITS
ovERvlE1t............................. . . . . . . . o .. . . . . . 1
Preface
pbases of th,e reEeacch proglatme are aLso taken into account: lts
anrd researching this interim report the author ba.s enjoyed. the firll
tiorld. Bluca,tibno- So then arid tb.e viJ.lagers who received' liim so weLL1
leartin ttalsh
Mombasa
June 1!86
o'lriRwll
lfomenrs groupE do. not operate in a soci.l v&ollllno Any analysis of iheir
1 sdcial a,ad ecoaonio envLronment. Soth pl'anners and researchers have failecl to
take srrffioient acaount of political economy a,t the looal level and, the
In i-bs initial d.esi€rr. tlre study ran into sirdlar diffi@lties by. focusing
upon the. inpast of trogenrs gloup nembership arxclinoome generation upon fertility
fra,meworkwhichthecompIetecLstudy9ana1ysingind.e.bai1theoperaiionof
the conclnd.ing section of the reporto This provicles a sor:nder basis than has
'trith
hithe:rto been avallable for the forrnuLation of pol.icy recornnendati.ons
penetration r*rich are r.lorking to,tra,nsform therno lhe essential point is tirat
this transfornatj.on is far-fl:* conplete. Indigenous for"mations have been
rnod.ifiecl tnrt rarely oaptruecl outrigbt btrr capital. In marqr respects they
farmiag a.rrtl procluce for the narket. l{hile capita} prel-Is in one clirection,
frrncti6ning l.!ke small capitalist'enterprises; ' stancl ai; the critical- ju:roture
A d-evelornontal schena.
. wUicU maqr g?oups have yet to reachl .sees the acbpevenent of tbis goal tbrouSlr
najor project. Depend.ing upon the nature of the pro'ject a group rna4rthen
eitb,er revert io tne initial stage (tfris is particurlarl-y the case r,iith r'relfare
( Stage one. Fron their inoeptidn'groups a,re strongly irrfluenced ir\ their
tierl. to these W regiqtering with the I'Iinistry of 6\rLture and. Social Services.
doubLe aspect. First ln its emphasis upgn a basj.c needs approach a.nd-the
.serrrices shioh arE not only conceivecl as being of general benefit but. are also
groups, although e:actly hon-thi-s rill tatce pl-acd and. uith nhat effects is
( rarely spelt outo ,Itre major prcjects r'rhich ttornellrs.groups p?opose and. for
vhiih they receive offioial support and recognition invariabLy fall into one or
tbe other, sornetlnes bothl of thcse categories'(a water project inayl for
( insta.nce, provicte incone for a group theough the sale of uater to villagers)-.
4
,/
projects. llomenrs.greoups are ilus utilised. io the fuLI in rrhat may be vier;ed
as a:r r:nofficial- fo"T of taxation, its goal being to provid." urra maintain social
pervioes in the nra-1 areas. As the first of the case studies presented bel-olr
'th-is
illustrates, may constitute a significant drain upon group resources e^nd
banper tireir further d.evelopment. It is, hor.rever, a'situation r.rhich groups are
state and are prourl of the recognition uhich follows fron their contribution to
the comrnunity. Second, because ihey arel competing r,dth other g?oups for funds
dispensed W the state and- its personnel. And accessj to capital- fron these e.nci
\
other sources is the only nears, short of clissol-utione by vhich groups ca:r
typicalLy enga.ge in a r,licle range of aciivitids over and above those direcied
'tor.rardp the major projects. But no:re of these is capable
achievement of thelf
of provid.ing the large inputs of capital l'rhioh both major r,relfare and inoome
or shares from gFoup memberg prove d.ifficuLt to s.ustain and. are generally Li'i;tle
.of labour. Contributions of cash aria laboui to groups are conditioned. icy the
more pressing clernand.sof the housdhold.s. to ubich'their mernbers belong ancl tend
oontributions a.re often made togards aciivities\ rilr!ch promise a nore tan6'ibLe
benefit to metrbersr household.s ancl only incid.entally (in cases lrhere a cess is
Stpge trro. The only uay a group can escape (and. even so only partially) from
by Securi[g access to capitalr material and other forms of support from outdide.
The main sources of such support are 'bhe statel 1'IGOs, gtate and liGO personneL
surprisingly groups inve.st considerable resources and enerfJ in the firq'b stage
in rnaking alLies of theseo In margr cases necessary alliance r'riti:. the state and
its agents acts as. a springboard. to obta.ining the support of I{GOs, r';hose
t1t the 1argest fortion of the capital and. befck-up serrices. trhich Stoups obtain.
Asid.e from aLl the gork-lrhich gnes in'bo securing.such aicl1 the mos'b iuiportant
Oncc a.pioject has been established a group may readily find, itseLf back ai
sgua:.e one. 1'lis is particularly the case trith r'relfare-oriented- projects with
. a minimaL potential for,generating inoome. Their maintenance costs and
Stage. three. I.Ielfare pro jec'b's are relatively easy to d.efinel if not ah.rays
easy to maxrage. Their go?Is are unequivocal andr trhile the oonstraints
.. sector and voLrarta.ry agencies conce.rrred uith their execution have access to. the
means .and. a d.eterminate iclea of the strategies reqt:-ired. for their attainnent.
r
Income generation is a very diff"""\"t kettle of fish. Its.goals.- in this
'contert
the creation of income-generating opportunlties for l{omen.as a means of
purr,recl to attaln tlrese, the oons'bralnts r*hich opera,te upon tbernl ' a.ncl-uhat
enterprises...
;esr The
1he 6ovenl
tovernment agenoies cha,rgecl.trith assisting l'.'omenls grolrps a]'c
7
( -
\
i1-I equipped- to d-ed,I rrittr this situe.tion a^nclthe IIGos, uhile more fLexible
better praced. to take appropria.te actione '
have been slo'to
,
. realise all of its implicationso
once incone-genera.tinS projecis are seen in this lig-ht i-t is not clifficr{-t
to id-entify the constra.ints uirich operate upon 'ohem. As embryonic capi,.;e,Iist
enternrises they are first a,nd.foremost constrained by the localised. s-bruo-bgres
qlLLes wJ uM
' -in
of household. econoegr uirich they a:.e embect-cled. l,Iha.t r.;omen pu.b in-to their
.enterprises,horrtheyorgan.ise,uhen,and-tdratthuyni-1.hte:qlect.[o6et.ou.tof
measure6 cl-irectecl tonards. this end.: for e:<arnBleby irrrposing fines fo3 non--
rf sepa.:.ation of -i;heir
ilith iireir princinal means of livelihood. a^nd.ihe La-bter reraa.in sirbject to the
'decisions (
takcn ,rrithin themo .
aocouritsl 1irile iIGOs, iirere availe,bler n?;l assis'b 'tiien -';i'bh irr-r'oher ac1-'rice
'bi:!s is srtfficien'b
e,::d -bra,in!ng1 for e::r,;:r';ie r,r lrool:-1:eepiir3" liorever, rarel-;r
-i;o co;rpensa;'r;e 'ior ";1:.eine:12oiiei:ce of gro.up iicnbers r;ho a,re iL1 prepa,racl 'bo
me,nagetheir en-'cercrises. The poor sta'be of r,rost Sroup accot':t'bs ancl the
management and corrrrpiion vhich -i;iris fos'bers is one of 'bJre irlore obvj-ous effccts
of thiso this does not ,nean ihai aIL qroups arrcl tireil en'be::lriscs are 'bo'i;e,1-1-1r
ai; sea. A nun'i:er n',rrlc[e their ua.y tlrrougir arr.clone of the most in'beres-bing
capiia,list lines.
restricted by state in
con'tro1s .a.ncl- oonpeti'bion
s-bronger capitalisro'in'Lerests,
state regula*ed prioing of thair ma.jor in2uts a.nd the proclucts r'rhi'ch they
requisite e:perienceo From this poin't 6f vj-etr a'nd' in the Long;-term tlr'e
members to n:n i;ithout exte:rral supportr a4cl 6ive tirem a Srea'ber measr'-re of
thoug.ir, -uo uant 'bo sever ties gith iiGOsl their rna'in source of continuing
supportlaltlrougirrel.ationsea,silybecornestrainedlrhenthissuppor.bfails
or otherrrise provicle
those tha't clo only a sr,ra,Il proporLion clivid'e profits
'regular
incone on a, be,sis. Their te:rd.enc-urto a,cct':'tulate
their members.nitir
-bire bani< can be rela'i;cd. to a- -:rru.tber
-----a^-- ^..
of a6^J-^n< one i!s
O-no 'a ine:;2eriencu
i 1^c1-1aF,i
enoe
noney in .fac'l;ors.
uhile the equitable clj'vision of pro:iits
ne.ne.ging 3-a.rge su-ns of monge
.in
requiresacomple:':ocrlcr;i-atioirofrnenl..rerstcontributionsincashtl-abouror
'bo gerfor'r or fi':rc]- it cl-i:lficir-r'L io
tirne *rrich groups are ei{irer s-trc.boirerr
the redisiribuiion
investnent e,nd.expa^nsionis rleribera;te1y preferrecl over
1
llealthy barrk balanoes nra'y aLso
.of funcLs to 1a.rge nr:nbers of grortp members.J
I.lost itrcorne ubicil itoilen z'eceive tlrrougil their menber,ship of g:roups comes
not frorn -bhe clivisioir of profits but derives fron the proclncts of indivich:;-'1
nraking processes uitirin tlrese. s:cept r:here householc"s are heaced by group
. /.
members-i;hemseLvesr'clteusestor;irich'i;heirinconeisputarecr'e'Lerrnined'by
. \ :
coljrrno'i;ion lri'bh thJir husbands or other ma'le i"Sn1 primarily with
r. or in
they rne,nagetoge'i;her r'rith otl""o
referenoe to ilre needs of ihe' househol.cis r';hich
requires. iJomenlg iircohe is irousehoLd incone a:ld as suoil d-oes not necessarily
,inoreasettreirbar6ainin-g-polierorstatr.rsuithintirelr'ousehold-'suchfreedon
ismoreLil<e1f,'bobefound.r"'hereoverallhouseholdinconreisalrcc'dyil!'3trlfor
ta enrp).oyment close to homeo In general
ei:amp1e :.iher.ej irusba',i:C.hae :'eg:;Lar
con,oributions help to insulate households fron the demands placed upon them,
the outside, a^nd have the overall effect of strengthening household econor'\y.
l
And not only are inclividua,l group members.d.eeply ennbshed in the horr-sehold
econory but also their g?oups and enterprises are constantly threatened. t6r
kin ind affines - Honen related. through their husbands ancl household hearls -
mernbers of thej-r househol-cls\ chosen by tlrese nlen are evidence of this fact.
group uhich has received massive support from a donor agensy and- has used
Idombasa-based ltrGoe which has vrorked. ui'bh {} r.romenrs groups in Coast Prorrince.
(outl-ined above) uhich operate upon all groups. The four gnoups ltere
developmente different types of enterprise a^nd (in ttrree cases) hi6lh income
a.nalysis of the ooncLuding section of this reporbo Selec-bion of the four was
iIo'i; c s .
. \
d.ense: +he 1979 census records a figure of 418 people per sq.km for Gombato
being among the most developed" Fieldr.rork there r.ras conctucted in August and
September 1985.
Beg'innings
I
Agwiraye grer.l out o'f aAuft education and- nurse4r classes b,qgun blr a Loca1
man in 1982. These r^rere attended. by Digo r.romenancl their children in the
womall, r.ras chosen to continue his vlorl:. This was in early 1984. Shortly
,
aftervlartfs the chai:rvoman of the classes? committee took the initia.'bive to
form a womenrs group. A localIy-born r.rornalrr she rvas uelI qualified. for this
role. She had starbed attending adult ed.ucation classes in 1958 in Samburil
\rllear l,Iombasa, uhere her husband ,worked. Tlrenty years later she had joinecl a
new vloments group in Mvraroni (its project lras to build a nursery school) and.
llwamambi. Her fatherl who had arranged the marriage, had. prevented" such a,
meanwhiler had bidetL her tim) r:ntil her ! sons 1{ere sufficiently inclepend-ent
before making the decisive break. Freecl at last from close family obligations
amd experience towards the forrnation of a ttoments group. She Jecame the
Pgogressing in a cirol-q
towar"d.s ed.ucation a,nd r.loments groups: un'bil, the ll80s most of the ttomen of
Idr,lamambii_rarl enjoyed neither, in the fonner case because of the same paternal
policies
history of the group was very much a direct Ronsequence of iocat
designed. both to help and make fuIl use of vromenr" 6goop="
L6
At first the group was litt1e more than an iclea: the women were at a
Ioss as to how they could raise money and r.rhat they cor::Ld.d.o r.rith it if and.
when they got it. A rotating ored.it association ofganiseil, tryr the Community
Development Assistarrt (CDA) for r.romenrFgtoups in the looation provicled. part
of the ansller. originally this vras to involve ! rvoments groupsl bub 2 d.id.
not last the course. Each grorip vras to contribute 22osh a month (zosrr to b'e
set asid.e in a fund. for official expenses), topped up by voh:'tary
rfrienrlshipt paymentsl the sum .being presented.during a harambee or
commwrity fund-raising event for the benefit of the group r.rhose .turn j-t wBSo
To signal their intention of joining in the l,lya.mambir.romensent an gosh
t friend'shipt payment to the first of these in April r9B4 ana in d.ue course
beoame the eighth and- last group- to benefit from the round.r in Febmary L985.
rn the processr d.ifficuLt as it turned out to be, Agniraye became an
establisheil woments group.
. t
Raising this moneSruith so fevr members lras not easy. 0n1y 3 r.romencould
afford- to contributl on the first occasion, leaving a d.ebt to be paid. on the
second. The second time ror,md they raised. parb of the cash by serling
ma'lcut!1 roofing pieces mide from d.ried. coconut palm frond.s and an important
seasonal source of income for women. One r'loil&n1 the divorced. mother of their
adult ed'ucati-on teacher, for:nd herself in .such financial straits she rvas
that
unable to contribute further and subsecluently aropped. out of the group.r
l'leanr*hile the husba.nds of tuo members offererl to help ruith their or,rn monetary
contributions ancl r^rere -bhus accepted. into the Sroupr bringing its active
membership up to J. One of them climbed palms to knock down froncls for lr.is
vrife and. defied. the 1ocal norms of gender*specifio labour by plaiting makuti
himself at night inside their house. ny this time the long rains vrere
rrnd-err'ray and the makuti-producing season drar..'i-ng to a close. For the third
u
,l
harambee 2 of llae l.romenvrere reduced to selling the printed. pattern cloths ;
The third rogncl rvas followed by the month of nrnuntafr".n, ,rn"lt norr"ehold
resorlnces are traditionally diverted tovrards buying new clothes for the
family and food for the nigtrts anc] the feast of ldd-el-Fitr r'rhich brings it
'
to an end.. l,{wamambiwomenrs groupr as it r.las then knortn, failed to give
anything at all in the next 2 rounils, leaving them rsith an even greater debt
and facing the possibility of having to drop out. Dismayecl by this prospect
the chaigwoman paid. a secret visit to the CDA anrL clidcussed. ways in which the
group could be enlarged, a move which her fellor.r membels were unenthusiastic \
about. The result was a neighbourhood meeting held by the CDA at which am
enlarged membership of 2J, not more than ) of nhom should be,men, was
proposeil. OnIy thus could the group pay its d.ebts ancl be in a position to
obtain fu-ll government recognition and support. The requisite number joined
)
on the spotl including a third man, the husband. of another new member.
':
. This proved. a decisive turn in the for*r,ures of the SrouPr t'lhich was
one of them livi,ng on the plot r.lhich r.ras the groupr s meeting-pIace. The CDAr.s
enlargement and. reorganisation the group tras eventually registered vith the
\
Irlinistry of Culture and Social Services, in January 1985.
1B
the various contributions rvhich the J earlier mernbers had alread.y made, it
was agreed. that the new members shoulcl pay off the tvro d.ebts as r.rell as the
members vrould pay for the seventh round, before it nas their or'm turn to
TABLE 1 -
J. I'lbuwani 3OOsh
2. Magaoni 280 .^ including 60sh
spent on
3. Bongwe 230
transport
4. Kinond.o ?n
J. l,lvindeni 2n
6. shamu 232
l. Mwaroni 240
L 1JB2sh
In all_ the group contributed lrl82sh tor.rards the locationts rotabing cred-it
the group received 4r677sln. 1r085sh of this came from its ovrn members ancl a.n
estimated lr4oOsh from other womenrs groups. On paper the group had made a;
its earlier investmen'b in the association. The exeroise hadr howeverl proved
near fatal. Some of the other groups involved had even greater ctiffioulties
than Aguiraye. Of the 2 vrhich dropped 6ut one lras all but dead in 1985.
had yet to \
Another 2 groups gere left or'dn6 money to Aguiraye: oner Shamul
1 q
repay its 232sh by September 1!8J. l'lhen the association was first conceived.
it was hopecl that it wouLcl become a permanent firbure. .Hardly surprisinglyl
it has noto
Payment for the location rorxrd. had continuing repercussions rrdthin the
group. Follorving Agrvirayets harambee the vice-secretary complained. that
individual members had. still contributed. rrneclually. The J original members
had. contributed. much more: they had paid. for the first 3 round.s of the
association whil-e payment for the nert 3 had. been shared. arnong the larger
nurnber of, new members. Although this ha.d.been done to even up their
contributions the result vras clearly still rurfairo lleanwhile ind.ivid.uals nere
falling behincL in their payment of a 2sh weekly subscription r.rhich had been
rvaiting for the rest to catch up. Subscriptions uere raised from 2sh to !sh,
but members were no longer obliged. to pay every l{eek. This r*as in Apri1 ;1g}11,.
By september most members r.rere stilL far from paying up their shares.
. rThe group is subject to other, more direct, demands from the state, most
of tthich are oha.nneLed through the locaI chief I s office. Agr,riraye and other
of official frrnctions. Often they have no choice and. must subject firemselves
to the whims of administrators trho are apt to keep them ilL-informed and. d.emand.
20
then had. to serve up to the hwrg:y rnisitors ancl the loca1 men r.rho had. had. a
provid"ed. by school choirs and r,roments d.ance g?oups. This labour was unpaid,
bought from the fi:ncl which they had. helped to establish vlith their
hauing missecl the Ministerrs speech, they had to return another d.ay to hear
a.n elaboration of his message by the Diani chief. This r.ras not an isolated.
c}l.|ef the following month.. One day he d.ecreed.that henceforth all the
vromenrs da^nce groups in the location should fotm into proper lromenrs group6:
th-ey were alreadlr subject to calLs to perforrn free at official meeti-ngs; this
d-eoree put them eyen more firmly und.er the control o{ the state a^nd promised. to
double the number of woments. groups in the l-ocation overnight. On another day
the chief announoed that al-I the groups in the location r,rere to give him lOosh
each to take to a harambee in ltlal-indi vrhere he had been invited as the guest
As registerecL agents of the state they hacl no choice. From the point of rrier.r
of the state and its locaI. represen-ba.tives r.lomenrs groups are aJl important
the womenrs groups thenselves r:udh pa.rticipation is both a source of pride and.
2T
1 secretary 130 40
2 rrice-sec.*
42 @ 7o 20 362
255 15 2B 6
3 ' 100 359
36 6t 70 66 3 39
-- 4 vice-chair.lc 225 2,2 24
treasurer ,
fri ' 6 331
J L24 30 53 &
6 4 6 319
120 31 57 7o 6 , 1 4 298
7conlnittee * zLO 22 10
'8 vice-tr€asr
N 4 286
! conrmittee
135
115
2g
23
64 n 277
49 50 40 277
10 (mare) x 130 n 10 L0 100 27o
LL r32 1B 28
t2 90 268
.LIo 30 72 52 264
1"3 comrnittee L25 30' 25 '70
L4 committee 2fr
l.20 36 33 30 T6 24t
Ll committee * 135 25 t5 6
L5 chainyoman * 235
r-30 33 LL 50 10 234
L7 committee 133 33 23 20
18
10 2Lg
Ll_o 2L l_3 10 L2 t66
t9 55 23 28 n
20 CDA t56
5 7 ?o 66 148
21 m.speaker * L I5 B I
22 (nate) r_31_
85 19 13 10 t27
23 105 8 l_o
24 L23
75 B 25 10 118
25
.26 {joined. }9S5)
n L2 n TLz
t5 6 30 105
2J (joined 1985) 5 27 B
28 (left 1984) * 30
10 n
2! (left 1984) r5 3o
3 4 22.
others 30 7 37
3r738 Lr62.8
The first. ancl second. columns in this table can be lumped. 'boge'bher as
reLatively smaIl. The fourth a^nd fifth columns, d.iscussed. in greater d"etail
belowe represent forms of individual saving through the group rather than
for its benefitr hence the CDAIs contribution. If these are rliscounted as
Through its close links with the Cllt, Agr.rirayets investment was
beginning to pay offl and. it harl found an external aI1y. l'lhen the group was
enlarged. she had intimated. that this might increase their chanoes of being
: - \
aclopted. by Tototol with vrhom she -'was in contact throu6$r her vror[,. The
all oompeting for similar attention. Agr'rirayers taunting nigo nane, uhich
loosely translates as IIIold onto your orm!'r1 reflects this competition (an
earlier name, implying rtl.lhat are you staring at?tt, r.ras reiec-becl by Tototo.
One of. Aguirayers competitors is similarly called Lolarakor rrl,ook after your
orrn! " ) o
. Tototo staff first visited- the group in 0ctober 1984 and in the lferv Tear
and litarch she rtent on a 3-l,reek training/course r.rith other new Tototo reonrits.
Among her new d.uties, for lrhich she r.ras paid 3OOsh a monthr l'Iere to open
ad.apted. from l;orld. ftLucabion) and to complete a r,reekly log of group meetings
23
( ordinator. These were begun in April 1985 wittr l86sh in the petty cash ancl
nere onLy skefchilf completecl. ,In l,lay, ldth the onset of Ramaclhan, only
one entry r,tas mad.e anil in Jr:ne and July none at a$. In August they shoued
t| a balance'of Z)Js]n,
'- ' with lr48Osh in the banlc. The bank account had. been
opened in April uith a cleposit of llIBOsh from the CDA r.rho had. earlier been
given 2y3OOsh from Aguirayers harambee for safekeeping. t'Ihat happened to
bhe other half of the money from tha ha:rarnbeeis not recorded, ancl in
I
enable them to d.o so: inctivid.uals are harrl pressed. to raise the JOOsh d.eposit
this club. By September 13 group membe.rs plus the CDA had joinerl and.
Under Tototots guidance the group chose its main project - the provision
ard. sale of pipecL water. Group members buy their r.rater,at 1O-1! cents a
I buckct from taps along the main pipeline uhich serrres Diani. This is S,cross | .,
the main road some {OO metrestfro* Agr'rirayets meeting-place ancl is something
of a^n inconvenience. For some r.romen'it is a r.lalk of over 1 km, thcre are
I long queues before the supply shuts dovnnin the early afternoon and. it
involves crossing the busy highr-rayl a cla"ngerons uhdertaking for gjrls given
24
the chore. Thus the group decid.ecl to 1ay i'bs omr.extension to the mainline,
10 cents a bucket.
l
Plans,for this project r.rere dbar'm up uith rototors help, r"rorking riith
the group co-orclinator" It was estirnated that materials and labour for the
project r,rould cost some 30lOOOsh. In the first ferv months r,rork'progressed.
slowly but surely and. the r.romenbegan diggr4g a srnall trench in uhich to lay
project red.undant: no one r.rould pay for r'rater uhich the;r could. get free
d.ragged. on -bhrough to early 1!86 r,rhen the r.rater project r.ras finally aba.ndonecl.
Another problem vrith the r^rater project had been in raising the necessar5r
fimds. A plan for gloup members to make money t6r ueauing table-mats out of
.oambto nothingl partly because the r.romenr.rere unable to copy the samples
brought by Tototo staff. I'tore cons'bructive uas the help given @ Tototo in
11r632sh. The major d.onors are shor.m in Table 3. Over 3If'" of the totaL
raised oame from vromeurs gl'oups, (f?73 from Agrriraye itseLfl L4'/, fron other
groups) and- zJf, from ltrGos. In effect over half of the money came from the
tr
t
I
t.
lr
I!
- I
}:
i
f1
t
rl volwrtary sector. I
This still left Aguiraye a 1on6 vray shorb of its project i
t
iittrer sources such as their 1ocaI I,Ip and the beach hotelso
TABLE }-- :
'l.tot{E[II
s Agr.liraye members c.2rOOOsh
GROUPS ra r 6 6 0
other vromenrs groups tr66
/
NG0s Tototo and staff - l ro7o
Y.W.C.A.r Coast Branch x rL r v e) ) < r 2t925
( '
Br5z5stt
* The Crr""t of Honour, chosen by Tototoe w?S the General
Secretary of this bramch.
' l l
COI'ISTRATIITSOF HOUSH{OLDECONOI'ff.
(
26
in Diani location.
i
;
I
place and known by the name of its present Inclian ot,rner, I(as1ak1 was the
scene of violent clashes in the early lito" vrhen a group of Kikr4ru land.
specrrJ-ators tried- to enforce the ="rorri. of loca1 Digo squatting and farming
ilLegal-Iy on La:rd which they still- clairir as theirs. But the most d.isnrptive
I
alienation in recent years, altering the entire character of the 1ocal
econor{f; took place rrnder President Kenyatta in l)'12. This comprised. the
decision to oonvert the whole of the area betr,reen the main highway and the
become the site of more than 10 major hotels. Beach 2, f, km wide, comprises
an aocess road and. the services along this. Beaches 3 and. { cover the rest
of the ,La.ndinland to the main road. From here locals were to be resettled'
along'the road ancl to the uest on land designated as a Rese:lre, where most
beaches 3 and. 4 was stopped in 19?B by the neu President and Digo continue
to live and farm there. But the damage tras done. Localsalost land on
considerable uncertainty remains over land rights in the area, and only some
Before this d.evelopment the local Digo grew most of their grain crops
(especiall-y maize) ,g!igi,r or1 the rocl',y land. just inland of the sea, aued.
tended. coconut palms interspersed with other crops (including cassava a^ncl
rice) tjSgt on the Land rising up from the main roacl. Young men sought
r
27
after their la^nd and d"erive some income from the sale of copral dried.
coconut kernelo This pa'btern has norv Seen tfrorougtity transformed. The .
beach hotels have brougi-tt an influx of. migrant r.rorkers from up-country,
Kikuyur Luos Lulya and Kambar spavrning the rapid grouth of se-btlement
a.nd. services along the main highwayr especially in lJkunda. ,DiSo have also
found. work in these hotels a.nd the sector r^rhich has grorrn up around. them.
ldanye a]1eadf suffering from land pressure, have sold their lancl to
-
imnigrant entrepreneurs, rvhile othersr morg canqlrl have built accomodation
Beoause maqy menr yolrrg and old; are noll in paicl emplotrrment they have l-ittLe
whioh used to be uncler cultivation has rever*ed to bush: the women alone
cannot clear a.ntL cultivat" "ff of it. This r:ncultivatecl la.nd, including
large areas of alienated 1antl1 harbours wi}rl animals r.rhich are d.amaging to-
orops: 'monkeys, warthogs and l'.riId boaro \ It also encourage" tt. few looal
stock olm.ersr lrho would have once graded. theii a.nimals far inlande to
leave them to roarn in between the lromesteadso I'leanwhiJ-e men are. no longer
free to guard ttre cips at nightl while the culling of wild animals is
,especia.lly those rtith smaLl shiLdrenl are urable to guard 'bhe crops 2
themselves. As a result a very high proportion of vromenrs agricultural
enterprises faill inoluding those right nerb to their homes, the crops
being eaten or trampled by a.nimals before thcy are rea.dy for harve"t)-ng.
( .
rABr+r
4 _
]'IO.HUSBAND
- ' ' . ' t
HUSBA},IDH,IPLOYM HUSBANDUI{N,TPLOYtrD
" ' -
| - . .
dxvorced/ . .
dead in at Diani self_ retired. cultivating
separated. Iilombasa beach employed..
3 2 5l
\
. t' '
-enterprises
Their agricultuial suffered. acdorilingly.' ,IabIe shov;ing
!1'
35.fieIds belonging to or othemise uorked, sometimes jointly, by l-? grou{
members d.emonstrates this. Over half of ttre field.s rrere not cultivated in
l-985t in mar5r cases because of the threat from r.rild amima.lls. I,Iost of the
successfirl crops llere grol.tn by those fortrrnate enough to have fielcls chinj, 1
'below
the main roacll where cultivation is more intensive (ttrere being few
palms) and. r.riId. animals """"tlpenetrateo
I fhe reiu1ti i" " vicious circle. Because such a high proportion of
r l
d.ependent for t-treir subsistence upon food staples pr:rchased from the local
.: women uith labour migrant husbands find. themselves bearing a much heavier
men continue to live at home and do the shopping themselves -bo feecl their
I
/
29
TABLE 5
jlg/trome. no
juu/home no
@ttom" no
chini yes cassava yes
.iuu/Kaslakt s
.'luu/nome yes co'hr-peas no trarnpled by goats.
iuu/Kaslakr s yes maize yes guarclecL.
Jffi/Kastakr s yes rice eaten by lrild. boar.
j3g/home no last crop spoiled.
chini no
j31/Kas1akr s yes maize guard.ed. but eaten t6r
r.rild boar and. warthogs.
1g/trome yes rice guard-ed-bub eaten t6r
r,rild anirnals.
Kibara.ni no
- yes rice gua,rcled. but eaten by
114/trome
birds ancl wild. animals"
irlr, no
: d.iscouraged t6r amimals.
iuu/Kaslakr s no
j*?u/fastat<t s yes maize yes
!
Idwakido no
.'luu no
;i_911/home no discouraged. by animals.
chini yes maize yes
chini yes cassava yes
@ome no soil exhausted.
Vukani no
jg/Kas}akr s - yes lr"" eaten by r'riId. boar and
vrarthogs.
ohini yes cassara yes
d.iscor-rraged. logr an:imals.
iiss
juu
no
discouraged t5r arrimals.
no
juu/home no d.iscouraged W animals.
-t-
Jllg/nome yes maize eaten by cattle anil boar.
jsr no
chini yes cassava yes dow-peas tra^rnPled t6r
cat-ble in short rains.
Idsambweni no
no d.iscou-raged- by animals.
;1gg/ttom" '
chini yes io.ir" yes cow-peas d-rieil uP.
1 q 20
rh 30
and in l-9B5 a few group members had abandoned cultivation altogethero But
Agwirayer 3 of anhom were more or less inactive in the grbup. Tlhey r,rere agecl
TASLE 6
1 1
-n-'-
:AI--of th"ese were Digo, Jt rot onu r"o* ti" co*st"f belt'betueen Dia^ni and
school. Most of them first married a^ndwent to live vrith their husbancls when
they were in their mid. to Late teens. Over half of them have been d.ivorced"
and. married. again: Digo marriage is notoriousLy r:nstablerl while the social
a^nd.economic pressures acting upon divorcees are such that remarriage wi-bhin
a year or two is the normo fne cfritd.ren of a broken marria.ge often remain
vtith or are later claimed. by their father. The sample in Table 7 Jhous a1
TABLN 7
AGE IDUCATION
-':- St i'I cl n.Hlnzn3rrtrP
T9B5
signerl-up but did not
20 std..B D 1 I 1 1 continue as member
23 Form 4 l r l 2 2 2 secretary
25 none lil 2 L+2 2 2
29 Form 4 M 2 2+3 L 4 2 t r
30 Stcl" 4 t d 2 l+2 2 2 vice-secretary
30 none 11 2 y2 2 2
31 none l { 2 2+l 2 t .,1
35 std..2 D 1 l+1+1+l-+1+1 2 3 2 L inactive and status in
group rurc_ertairi'
37 std.B D 1 I+1+2 3 l 2
37 none I { 1 10 2 7 32 2
39 none M 2 O+3 L 2 t I vice-chairwoman
40 none l d l B 7 t 1 3 2 l
44 none D 1 5 2 chairr.:oman
47 none M 2 10+O I 4 2 1 1 I vice-treasurer
4B none l { 2 2+O 1 1 1.,
Irlean number of marriages =1-o5; mean nr:rnber of chidren born = 4.?i mean number
still alive = z!; mortality yate = 1{lbi meam number of dependent chiLdren
-(torn W the woman herself) = 2.7 i .me.anmrmber of ..child1en in fr:lL-time
employmente ie able.to provide'support = O.2.
I
within their mothersr household.s. On the other hand. r.romenare liabIe to find.
themselves looking after children by their husbandst former vrives. pol-ygr\y
is practisetl, though mar\y r{omen are resista.nt to this and it is one of the
causes of divorce artd so of seriar polygamSr.. 5 group members are in\
I
32
example lrhere there are no male heirs and a d.augh'ber is on lrand- to press n ,
,
cIaim. This is what the grouprs chairuoman had doner moving onto her
cleoeased fatherrs land after leaving her husba.nd." Other l.Iomenr particularly
,
divorceese &re f-ikeLy to return to live with their parents or brothers for
and. another ldfe elsenhere) on land or'rned by her motherr s brotherr by viriue
HousehoLds and the larger residential rrnitdof r''rhich they Jre frecluently
'Table
. a part are'.ott""porrd.ing1y complex in their composition. 8 gives a'
, men through rvhom most of the lromen in the group are relatecl. 0f the
I
TABLE B
/
RESIDBTTIAI ltro. OF' I{o. OF ADUTTF CHILDRITI TOTAL
ur'rrTs/ GITOUP HOUSE- No. OF
NXTDI'IDM IilEl'IBIIRS }IOLDS X I,IEilIBtrIlS
HOUS]HOLDS male f enal-e
. B (geographically I l _ 3 L2
dispersed.) I
1 1 I 1
1 1 5
D , 3 5 5 6 16
F 4 13
-IL
4 24
H;
Ii (geographically 1 1 t I 4 6
dispersed.)
L 5 5 B 11 24
J (geographically 1 1 1 2 4
'
dispersed.) (
L 1 L 6 8
K 10 L6
TOTALS 25 lo 90 4T 79 r49
TASLE O
entir.ely alone
alone, stopped. blr
_ _- iriness
r L + t d '
Sr_her sistepin-lar.r
l.ieedecl uith
labourers
- paid. 796sh by husband.
-r-"r-"[af - -
7 raFor:r6-r--
paicl JOsh and tractor
hired for 16Osh by
husband
help from 2 cultivated. -
r"rith her labour input
brotherfs sons V, brotherfs restricted by
bro-bherrs 2 U, husbemd.ts
sons sister
qultivated. r.rith co-
r.iife ancl ad.ult
<11
to he1 sont s h'ife
11 - I Labourer
Tz-
- cross-cortsin
-
)uring the short rains of 1984 group members experimentecl by uortin/
colleotively upon one a^notherr s fiel.cls. 16 uomen to,ok parLo Tlr.e rest r.rere
labour.at the same time. This r'ias a ctegree of co-operation r.rithoub precedent,
and. following the generally poor results of this season only 2 r,romen(R and S
in Table 9) who rni6;ht otherwise not have d.one'so continued to help one a^nother
d-uring the nerb season. A sirpilar fate befell the grouprs first collective
father) uith corr-peasr also in the short rains of lpBz!. Group members
who d.id. not participate nere asked. to pay lsh in lieu oi their labour (ttrere
is no record. of horq many did.). But after lreeding in September the crop
shrivelled. in the sun and there vras nothing left to harvest. The enterprise
inclividuaL fields.
too d.ifficult given the large number of goocl reasons, such as the illness of
a ohiltL or other householcl member, uhich might prevent a l.rgmall from taking
olose kinl 2 r.rere in the process of leauing their husbanrls, 1 r.ras afflicted.
tiI
36
Sources of income. only 3 women in the group had paid. employment (see below).
For the rest their main sources of spcncling money vrere from nal<uti procluction,
the sale of cooked. fooct arrd., g.iven the seaso nari,tyf ,r.*oil, .b'ese,
The main season of malcuti prod"uction is before the long rains, October
through tiIl I'larchi, The clry palm frond.s from rvhich these roofing pieces are
made canr be gathered. at wili_1 though occasionally r.romenbuy them for.5o cents
each from the ovmers of large plantations. One frond malces up to t$ rinisrrea
pieces, t'rhich in l"!B! were so1d. for Ish each. I.{ost bqyers are Loca}: makuti
roofs need replacing everTr 3-4 years. Al-most all Digo l,Iornenin the area make,
makutil usually in the afternoons uhile they chat liith neighbours and. friends.
I0-2O pieces ca^nbe made in a single day. The rnost energetic prod_ucers are
said- to be able to make 2rOOOsh in a sea;on (year)., Rut most v,omenaverage
/ r
much lessr a.]rd group members reported., making an average df eOO malcubi each in
the L9B4-BJ seasonr ma^r\yof these d.estined. for their olrn roofs. others were
d-estined- for the groupr which turned to ma.rke'bing makuti betr.reen Jarruary and.
Idarch 1985. I,lembers were asl:ed. to bring 10 rnalcuti a r.reek to the r speaker
masterr vrho soLd -bhemfrom his home at the normal priceo For every l_ot sold
Jsh vlas taken by the group and. the rest returned to the producero l,lon-members
vrerb also invited. to sell their makuti through the group r.rhioh in this case
took a LO/" cttL from the proceeds. Records r.lere not kept of this enterprise,
d.ifferent kind.s of breacl and ca,l',es mede frorn rdreat and rice flour" These are
sold in and. outsid.e Jhe shops by the main roadl r'ihere regular traders fornn
their .or'rnrotating orcd.it associations, the set contributions varying
il
37
children rvho are able to support them ( see Table J). In such cases it is
young children, had just separated from her husband; amother, al-so wj.th
3 chilclren to look after, nas divorced; ancl the thinl r{as a wid.or,rerwith
little means of support beyond her membership of a dance group vrith its own
rottbing cred.it association. Of 'f r.romenwho had left the group sjrortly after
Uses of income. The investments uhich households are prepared to make in the
. womenrs group are conditioned by the sum of d.emands upon housebold incomeo /
week and. ind.ividual bene-faotorsr ohosen on the basis of their requests for
TAsLE 10
1?April 2oosh
?::;:.*:;r:itT:3:"ffi:lffiil:":;"":::"1":"*li:":H*
come to 2lOOOsh plus). ,
2rApnil lposh
ffi;:l::":T?:; n::':1."fl:*""Lx"l:ir"1,xi:H:u'ilf""
-
rest spent on foocl.
9 Yl.aS l?Osh The vice-treasurer. Her son hacl been sent home from
school for failing to bring a 2OOsh rbuildingl
contribution. The money vrent tovlards this.
16 I'Iay l4Osh To a vroman ulrose husbancl r'ras seriously ill ancl had not
responcled to hospital treatment. Spent on talcing him
round. to traclitional d.octors (ire aiea shortly after).
ii
il
39
TAstE 10 (cont)
- By the seventh rowrd, sepairated from the sirLh by a gap of g ueeks, "";
11 women were still contributing. Thus the associa,tiol l.ras wound. up a^nd
, members set a,bbut calcrrlating what they or.red.one anothero Given the d.ifficulty
t
whioh they,were'having in paying their or''dinary grgup subscriptions it is
hardLy surprising that this should have turned into a rotating d.ebit
. Some derive from the structure of households ancl the obligations between them,
I
others from .the d.emand.simposecl directly arrd inclirectly upon household-s by the
state. The constraints placed. upon food procluction have already been outlingd.
securing lasib subsistence. A vroma.nliving alone estimated that she needed J-lsh
A 4-roomed house built largely of local materials can cost llOOOsh to build;
40
a ooral and. cement house uprrards of lOrOOOsh. Illness is not only a drain
upon labor:r but also upon the financial resources of a householdl especially
members hacl been ttrus afflicted, 2 in l)BJ (one of rvhomhad a co-r.rife vrho had
opted. to quit her husband instea,cl). Burial ancl .funerals can cost arorrnd.
lsOOOsh; the ceremony r'rhich conolud.es the long peniod of mourning 1O-2O1OOOsh,
coll-eoted from a rvide range of kin. Bridevealth paSrments are in the range of
2-{rOOOsh and a wed&ing/dowry carr cost relatives arq;thing between lrJOOsh for
a plain do and Z5rOOOsfr for a.n el'.borate event (only one group member, the
sedretaryr 'had
been treated. thus).
paying JOOsh a year for each of their childrep at primary schooL. This pLaces
Not all group members faI1 into' the pa,ttern described. ibove. Some are
employed and some orrrn their own lemd. in I'lrvamambie playing a corresponclingly
The 3 men in the group are less pbr.rerful than migh'b be ertrrected. The 2
nho are employetlr one a rvaiter and. the other a tailor, are largely inactive
for this very readdh: neither has the time to invest in the group. The self-
the 1ocal branch of KAIW, is rather more active in group affairs. Although
he tend.s to be very vocal when present in group meetingr an:l is clrdck 'bo act
when oocasion requires. IIe lives vrith 3 other group members: ltis rrife, his
fatherts sisterrs daughter (tne vice-secretary) and her husbando All rvere
early memberg of the group and nhile the l-atter ma.ll d.id. suspiciouslq welL out
of the shift from subsoriptions to shares (engineered W his rdfe) their role
reorganisation. Othenrise the group has not suffered d.irectly from male
esoaping the domina^nt pattern of gencler relatj.ons" AII but o'ne, Agtrirayers
chainromanl &re members of the CDA!s farnilyr her 2 yotrnger sis'ters a^nclher
younger brotherrs r,rife, the group seore'bary. The CDA ancl her junior
siblings jointly own and. manage 5 plots of la:rrl inherited from their father.
42
/
As vrel-L as living'and. cultivating on this land. they sell coconuts from the
palms whioh grow there and nou! 2 houses rented out by the room for a to.bal-
*:=:. A11 3 sj-sters r.rere educated through their fatlrerrs foresight, and ,
present job: her husba^nd, now dead, r{as a Tanza.nian a^nd so absent for. much
.
of the yearr The seconcl sister was teach:ing in l,Isambr+eniuhen her class
beoarne one of the first experimental r.romenrs groups in Kenya, ulder the Special
Rura1 Development Programmu'irr 197I.3 She left to become a nu?se (she sti11
is) a^nd.met her current partner, a clinical officer and. Giriama vrho lives
eLsewhere. Tlie thirdr half-sister steppecl into her teaching post, before
education teacrr-er ear:ring c.leoOosh a month. She is also secre*ary of aLl the
Her second. husband. vrorks and rents accomodation in l,tombasa and. manages a farm
r'rorks in Mombasa. His r.rife is paicl 30osh a month as the To'boto co-ordinator
adrot ed.uoation teacher. The role of the CDA in the groupts d.evelopment has
within the groupl &n influenoe r'rhich rui1l probably grow overLimeo
Ivlwarnambiin L9'lB-79" fhere rrere no male heir: "rrd she iook the opportunity to
lod.ge a claim by herself a.nclher elcler sister (norr rlead) in'Utre absence of her
a
I
i
I
43
./
hal-f-sisters who had. a1L married outside the areao This lrmcl provicles her
vrith a small income from sales of frrrit, casher.mubs a^nd coconuts (less than
J-lOOOsha year) which is macleup by remittances from her 2 vrorking sorlsl who
send the money (a tota"1 of 3OOsh plus per mon'bh) uithou'b their fatherts
lcrol&edgeo She cloes not pleur to remarrTr, currl in September IIBJ lras building
a house with 4 rooms to rentl malcing the most of her ner.fly inrlepenclent
'status. this is a route to capital- acoumuLation vhich the group itself has
_ 1
now decided. to follow: after the failure of its water project Agr,rira.ye set
about acquiring a roadside p3-ot to build rlpon, at the same time opening a
engend.er has yet to come out into the openo Secondr in its virbua.l- exclusion
l l
i of. the most vuLnerable househoLds, those hea.decLt6r women,w"ith/yor:ng children.
\
Notes
I. See Roger Gonunr rHarlots and Bachelors: marital instability arnong the
ooastal Digo of Kergrar , I,IAI[, VT't (t972).
\
2. rrWomenare muoh stronger than u) men'rl he once d.eclared, trbut they have
notsense.tr Lhis statement legitimises r.romenrsrole in performing the
grbater burd.en of househoLd. l-abour ancl menr s in making the most importa^rrt
d.ecisionsr'
'
3. See A.O.Pa3-a1 ld.H,Wal-Lits a^ndJ.E.ReJrnoIds: rThe uoments groups prog?amne
in the Special RuraLTevelopment Progranune (SRDP) t, in A.O.Pa1al T.Awori
ancl A.Krysta11 (ed.s) The Parlicipation of llomen in I(en"va Socie'by (Uairobi:
Kenya Litera'bure Bureaul 197t3) "
AA
roado Ln 1979 the total popr:lation of the. sub-locatiort r.ras 5fl41, r;i-bh a
d-ensity of 312 people per sq.km liwing in B4B households scatterecl throu;hout
- the ?r€&o Jiba^na predominate !:-tfrough many tromen are Chorgri follotring a
an'rayfrom the primary schoolo Arnlceni, 'rAwaken!", was the first uomenrs
held the previous month by the area CDA after consrrltation rdth the chief and
each'co join the gloup, r^rhich uas registered vrith the I'linistry of Cul"ture
a.trclSocial Seruices later that month" They r.lere cluick to choose a vrater
pro ject, reaironing that clomestic hygiene (ttrus health) and. otber projects
:;uch as rearing stoci; first required a good supply of-natero Before they
cor.tcl be consiclerecl for a grant the Social Serrrices advised them to continue
l . - \
coll-ecting subscriptions, set by the group at 2sh per r'reek r+ith a yearly
The big break came in l-982, engineered through the initiative of Amkenits
chainroman. Her elclest daughter r,ras then r+orking for tlorld Vision in Nairobi
as ilreir: project co-ordinator for South ltryaxrza. pitfr her encouragement the
chir.in;orcan rrrote to the I'Ipirobi office requesting assistance. The Coast region
co-orrlinator visited. Chilulu and discussed local- problems uith the l'romenrs
f,'Toupe As a result of his report the Chilu1u Amkeni Project was botnr one of
a 1a.rge nurnber of Kenyan projeots run by llorl-d Vision in conjr:action uith the
The Project uas clesignerl to help the local commwtityr lrorking primariJ-y
uith Chilu}u sotrool- and. Amlceni r.romenrs groupo A committee l.tas set up, chairett
rnail job being to revien the Project and its accor:nts and report to llairobi.
evet1r nonth. A yorurg man from the area nas appointed. Project manager anct the
groupt s chainroman ta.lcen on as its social r'rorker. In Late 1!82 they were
i'-grj-cultrrril extension r.iorlcer and. the team r,ias completed in Jrrne of that year
46
:
behaviour inconsistent rrith llorlcl Vision and C.P.K. e-bhics (l1ortcl Visiou
book-keeper took over his duties. In October 1985 they uere being pa'id the
Oneoftheprojecttsstatedaimsis'boseethatr'SrOOOpeopleare:
bible t
nurtured by organising evanSelism canpaigrsr
evaneelised arrd spiritualLy
equipping them
study gpoups a3d training 10 mothers a^nnua'I1y on evangelism,
d-ateorrJ.yBh$'mnbookslaprayerbookarrdabiblehavebeenboughtandthe
s€er, has been much to the benefit of the t^romenrsgroup and not alvrays in line
of its Projeot Horkero children from the most needy homes are selectedt
byfami}iesintheU.S.lAustraliaarrd]Ier.lZeala"rrcl.153attenclot}rerschoo}s
47
ChiLr:J-u primary schooll attend various secondary and technical schools. For
the latter sponsorship rneans that their fees are paid; for the rest it rneans
receiving the occasional Letter and. sma1l gift a^nd-, more importan'bly1 beiug
provicled. with schoo]- uniforms. In l-984 the Project paid 2rBSOsh to an Inclian
firm in l,Iombasa to have r:niforms made. Follovring this Amkeni clecitled -bo get
in upon the same act. In December the Project paid. 6rBOOsh for 2 Singer
the group held a hararnbee a^nd raised. Tr5O8sh to pa,y a young ldomarl to teacl:
members to ser^r. By April 1!86 Anrtceni was reported to be cloing a roaring tr;v-l.e
I
in ser.ling school uniforrnso
cultivation a,nd storagel the use of fertilizer and pesticiclesr ancl encourag'ing
mainly group members, amcl works vlith LocaL vromenrs g?oupsr Amlceni in
sprayiing lrith p""ticia"6 a,nd grving fertilizer to those ruho cau affor.d to bll]'
it. As a result most Amkeni members have suitched from trarlitio:ra1 prac'Lice
and- begqn bta^nting in linesr, gpd most have vegetable gardens. iloreovcr in
1984. ana 1985 indiviCual group members r,rere allocated substantial surns from
Project funds to pay casual labourers to cultivate and rreed their fielcls. I:r
llBJ alone.bire bill for this came to 2L1lOOsh, to be divic'l-erl arnong 4l tnembers"
rioment s gToups in the area and ltas planning to worlc r'tith a fifth. Bui Anl'leni
received the most clirect benefit. Table 11 shons sales of crops [tror.al on i bs
coll-ective fields betr,reen 1982 and late 1!Blo The Projcct has brou.glrt a
/,t)
TASLE }1
bea.ns 1r391
maize 1,7oo 2r620 r,ols
vegptables 548 500
crrltivation (see later) a^nd impioving yield.s through the use of modern techniques
ghere storage r,ras built for the frurpose, and a small portion of each harvest is
redistributed.ajnonggroupmembers.IrrNovember.].g85eaclrmemberreceiveclasmall
pregna.nt gra.de cor^rto the woments group for IOlOQOsh proviclin3 theSr coulC'
his
iending them his shed a"nd. la,ird u'til thel' ssultl build
ernploy a herrlsma' ad
their orm (at a cost of some lrOOOsh). The offer remained to be put i:ei'ore
l'lorld Vision.
r.rid.or.rs1 arguing that they are often unable to maintain tJre 1e'r3er
bereaved
was completecl in August l994t rvas to bring piped vrater from the mainline b;r
the Kaloleni-Kilifi road to the area around. Chilulu school t 2-3 krn a.r'ray. Tho
entails taking this water west to Swere; a.ncl the third phase rri11 take it east
from Ghilrrlu to llurima l,Ikulu. Project accounts record a:r erpense of sqme
2!2rOOOsh on the rvater project between I'Iay L9B3 a.ncl September 1!811 over half
of its cost to d.ate. lluch of the rest has been made up by the governmeirt.
$re sources of fr:nding and other aid are shor'nr in firll in Table 1?.
TASLE 12
TABLEL2 (cont)
Amkeni members alcl others in the conrnun5.ty contributecl labor:r for the fj-rst
phase of the project, d.igging the main pipeline trench between l{ovcmJler L)82
and Febnrary the follorring f,€&ro 0n1y one of three successive Peace Corps
of the work has been overseen by the Project vrorker, an experienced plumber.'
-b]re
When the first phase was comptretedl he turned to the worlc of maintenancer
kio.sks and storage jai.s, al-L for the benefit of Amkeni a.ncl its memberso 4
kiosks vrere bui]-t asrd.fitted. for the sal-e of vater in August-September 1985.
Tbe sales of water from these are to go to the rvoments gtcoupr and in late 1!8!
they r.lere r,raiting foybhe installation of meters and a licence before beginning
their tra.de. I'Iork on individual ertensions begari the year before: by Oc-bobcr
lg15 L7 group members living near Chilulu primary schooL had s'ba.ndpipes ou'bside
their homes. They l{erer ,no""orrJ., d.rawing 'ater free of charge in the
coll-ect gater from the Local springs, l- }3n or so from tlre school" tlor'l: tra"s
to
Rrblic image
In July llBJ group members uorked on repairing the dirt road vhich serves
Chilulu at the request of the loca1 sub-chief. In October they cool:ed. bananas
and. took them to KaloLeni for a meeting celebratj-ng World Food Dal'. 4 cla.ys
later they treldced to the diwisional headcluarters to sing beforc the guests at
wr all-day assembly marking Kerlyatta Day, Over the past year the group had.
Earlier in the month they ha.d been held. behind at a village meeting by iireir
sub-chief to be toltl how to present food for visitors and hoir to courbsey a.:rcl
sing before themo At th-is meetlng z)ls.n frad teln t'aised. for the Ker,yatta Day
celebrationso On the day itself they queued for food r.rhile honoured officials
gOrged. themselves and sr,rilfetl their free beer: failing to get any the lrornen
One of the speakers at this assembly was Amlcenirs chain'Ioman. She r'ras
later calLed upon by the area I'lP to tour all of its sub-locations in the first
half of 1!85 to press for the forrnation of more lromenrs g1'oups. This is some
measure of the ertent t,o whigh 4mkenir bolstered by llorld Visionr ha.s
project is directly in- Iine lrith state development objectives, a fact reflecLecl
the chairwoman wrote to a bus company in I'lombasar asking that its serrrice be
ertended to ChiluLu. The first bus came the follor.ring month. The bus come:i
husbancl and it leaves for l,lombasa at d.ar'rnr t[e chairrtomam is nolr pressing
i'or a mor.e regular senrj-ce. The Projeot itsel-f has paid. for the building of
a roof for Chilulu pri-rnary school-rs ne\,I Standard B classroom, while its
In August l9B5 the Projectts committee was changetl to reflect thi-s role
a:rd "bring d.evelopment to the vi]Iage" rrith greater haste. 3 Amkeni members
r.iere clropped. and ! state employees taken on: the sub-chidfl the CDA, the
sclr.oole and the headnnaster of ChiLulu prirnary schooll aJ-so a church eldero
The goverrgnen'b agriarl-tural- assistant novr works closeJ'y with the Projecbrs
ag:ricr:-Itural ertension r.rorker, uho has begun attending fortnigttly seminars for
goverrunent colleague to Umoja r.roments group in llurima I'ikulu and sprayed- their
seseuTleand cor,;-pea crops vlitlr pesticide. In October they visited. the sesame
fielcl of l\inani lrornenf s g?oup in neart6r Tsakarolornr and he was asked to do the
sa1ne: :lesar1e seed. has been prorricled free by the governrnent to encourage its
of (i.lortd Vision) funds r'rith r,rhich to br5r them. In this and other respects
1he project has been appropriated. by the state as an ertension of its ovm
i:lrrough the support and- fr.inding it receives from I'lor1d Vision. Other t'romenrE
/
53
TASLE13
DOITORS COI'ITRISUTION
CATOCCIIY
(26'1" fron
2 ltovenbey :19}5t l.romenrs gToups'nrovid-ed-r 4ir% of the J1508sh raised
they have had to operate in the shadolr of their international cousin. Amkeni
early 1983. The Chilu1u Amlceni Project marager vras chosen by the group as
its Tototo co-ordinator. But frorn the start *Yry did not go well. I,ecL ty
their chainroman the group hatl hoped. that Tototo yrould. gr-ve them money and
on his more l-ucrative Project job. In 1984 a young grcup member was chosen to
succeed him: initial-Iy the chairr^roman had wa^nted the position for herself.
Tototo pro-rir)-ed. some ma'Lerial for the groupt s sewing machines. In October the
chi'.igionran r.ras busy pu.rsuing Tototots direotor for help in securing a banl< loa.n
.bo buy a tractor ( see later). In the garne month Tototo introduced. a savings
club for Anr]:eni members: 31 'nomen joined. a.nd deposited 442sh betneen them.
The f'ollordng month 49Osh uas deposited: its acoounts, hor'rever, r'rere in a
i L;e1f. Sone instrulces of this have already been cited. It is nowhere more
Irt i-Ls early years Arnl,,cni had considerabl-e clifficulty in obtaining land
Kizingol € tm awailr and lent for just one season. In the same yehrtire
group also bega.n cr:-Itivating a * acre field. at Forirrie or.rned.by the locaI
I
church and rented- by Amkerri fort5osh a year. Then, in August I984t 'blie
I
group and. Project embarked- upon a nelr trackr accluiring assets in land., na.Ins
disposalo Over-the nert few months 3lr680sh r,ras paicl out for this p'lrnose,
TA3Ltr 14
t
T.I$LE 14 (cont)
Sep'Lember 1lzl{Q5[ 4? pal-ros pJ-ed.ged.to Arnkeni for .tho Pro ject r,rorker a.nd
19 8 4 an indefinite period. The agricultural ertension
oriner (now dead.) did this to r.rorker, the chainlomanr s
redeem his debt on the same husband and. his younger
palms to a previous morf6ag'ee. brother.
The present nr<.rrtgage must now
be redeemed. by his sonso
De c e m b e r 6 rOOOsh 1f; acres of farmlancl lrith pal-ms (a) tfre Project book-
t9B4/ in 2 at Vuga, pleclged- to the Project keeper a^ndagricuJ-tura1
Selrternber PaYments for a period of ) yeard so that bxtension worker plus 1L
tg85 the Jibana or.rner oor.rLd repay Arnkeni members trnd the
brider"realth received- for his husb:rnd of one of them.
daughter, nou separated from (t) 2 men.
her husband.
31I 6Bosh
jI
purchase of lancl (t case). Secondl the mortgaging of palm produce, the loan
mortgagee (.O,rntceni)r the fruit valued at a price loruer than the going ma.rl:ct
pa1ms, ancl their produce. This couId. not lr.ave been achieved r'rith.oub the
filr.ding unrrittingly provid.ed. by I'Iorld. Vision. The iclea to start acqrriring palns
orig'inated w:ith Arnkenirs chaizvoman a^nd rras approved bythe Project cornrnittee.
they ord.ered pa6rments to stopo fho reasons were given. First; because tiris,
enterprise clearl-y d-id- not benefit the commr:nity as a rihole. Second, because
it ma.clethe chr.:rch look Like a iinancia.l- institution. This r,ras in Decernber 1984.
l'ieed.less to say it was too late. A large number of patr'men-bshad- alreacltr' been
tr\rture d.ealings lrere shifted ffom Project to gr-oup accouuts. Until Janua4' 1!8!
these ha.d been kept by Project staff; hencef,or-bh 'bhey r'rere entrrrstecl io the
group secretary. Procluction and sale of tcopra. as ltell as fruit f rom the trecs
pJ-ecl.ged.to the group vlent aheade sorn€ entered into tlre group accounts a.ncl sone
going j-nto a clrurdestine savings accor:nt1 free from llorld. Vision scrutiiryl
opened. by Project staff for the purpose. It r.ras agreed that thj-s and- va.rious
rrritten agreements r.lould be passed on to the r','omenrs group in the event of the
Project being r.ror:ndup (at tl/e moment Project staff are on I year contracts).
'sli
The enterprise has proved. trery successful; provid-ing Amkeni rdth the
Recorried. saLes of corrra and fmit in the first B rnonths of 1985 are shor,n
in Table Ij.
I
TASLE Iq
I.iOIi'III SOLD
TYPE OT PRODUCtr I]i00i.lt
s'Lorage - anc]"rnuch of
.
themselves. Amkeni sold i'bs copra for 4sh 8O cents per }:ilo io tlte Cltilul-u
a1d. the group r.ras pla.nning to talce future !6rvests to Indian bqyers
-Dayer,
directives.
59
I:r September 1!Bl Amlceni had a healthy bank balance of 2!r8!Osh and
';he che"in,ornan lrar,sse'btinga"" sights on a.nother'enterpris.e: purchase of a
tr:ictor to hire out to farrners in Chilulu ancl furthef afieId" Given a clemancl
far in ezcess of the meagre supply she estimated that tiris coultl bring in an
for a pLough; 2)rOOOsh for a harrowl anrl c.LrOOOsh for the first yearrs
insurauce. This i'roul-d require i loan" To this end. the chainroman tal}:ed. to
chulch officiaLs in ltrairobil visited banks in l.Iombasa vrith Tototor and- r.rcote
Le-i;ters to the area councillor, d.ivisional officere ohief and. CDA. Nottring
had been fixed. up by early 1986. I{ea^nrihiLe the grsup ha.cl embarketL upon yBt
lrusband"
clescr.iirecl'by Darvid- Parl:in in ]ris Palms. lline. ancl tlitnessesl a stud.y based
upon resee.rch among the Girianra of Tsalcarolornr in t966-57.4 Parkin fowrd. that
j-nforlrr.tion anrl secure the approval of local el-cters a"nd household- heads in
role, rcleasing conver*s frornthe obligation to d.rink pal-rn r,rine rdth their
treighbours a:rrl clivert cash tor.rards the meat-sharing ceremonies which are
these precLi-ces are strongly clisapprovod. They are also disapproved W the
:;t;r'Lc. In ).979 't,he col.lcc'tion of palm uine, which rendors coconuts useless
50
At func;rals a.nd. sinrilar gatherings purchase of a 2Osh permit from the police
scsull'etj irirplicit approval for the open consumption of patm rrine a^nd it is on
inore i-rnpor-bant are the nider netr"rorks of inforrnation whj.ch haie secured. access
to outsicle funds. Its possession of thqe anct high profile in the community
ar'e sufi'icient to rirav lanclor.nrers in need of loans tcvlards it. The pattern
school fees as 'blreir main rnotive for mortgaging property, nhile only 3 cited-
bricleueal-th e:rpenses (in 2 oases the return of bridewealth for a d.aughter: see
Table 1{.). One ma.n, -bhe local sub-chief , needed a l-oan for investment in
I
air alterrrative enterprise: the establishment of zero-grazing forr daiqg
tiere anong the uitnesses to a number of theger oil one occasion along r.lith 11
Aml:cni mcntl)erc. 'fltc rnost crtreme instance of this shift in the reauirements
6r
year-o1cl son"
members. Another is his son by the first of t!es9 tromen, and it vras from
hirn thrr.t one landoirner sr'ritchecL his d.ebt to Amkeni (see Table 14). This son
a.lso orms a sl:.op. His brother, a son by the,second- r.rife, is the or.rner of
uhat r'ras untiL recently Chilululs only otherlretail outlet, a smaIl kiosk.
These 2 stores nor,r face competition from Anlcenirs ner.il-y opened. shop. None of
these relatecl men can match the scale a^nd.d.iversity of Aml;enits enterprises.
a r:riul ard a r'Iomo]1o The r.rater project will bring Aml.ceni a monopoly on sales of
r'iater, rilrile plans to expand- into dairy prod.ubtion ancl tractor hire rrould, if
acirievecl, put the group r^relI beyond- the "u..fr of its rivals. Oil'renrise it is
\
lef'L to enterpri-sing individ.uals to mal<ethe most of their corurections lrith the
'fhis is t,iha-bthe sub-chief has done, his mother and younger brotherrs
iir.oup.
tdfe bo'tir nembers of Amkeni. One memberrs husba^nd., rrho runs a smalI tea-shop,
has rented the shed l.rhich used. to house tlie vill-agers only grincling machine to
-Lhe Project to use as i'bs office, and it r.ras he r,rho coll-ected. 20Osh for
rela'Lrons rrith other groups in the areao One of these, thc Bid-ii Coconut
Business Self-Iie1p Group, based- in Jiba^na Tsakarolovu, was founded. btrr the
husbanrl of funlcenif s chainroman in late 1!B{. To put it mild}y they do not see
eye to eye. Unlike his vrife Bidiits chairrnan is only a nominal- Christian, all
teacher he tror.r rents the buil-ding uhich once housetl his oror slrop to Arnkeni-,
62
-bhe Projec'brs agrisu-ltura} e:rtension lrorker and the bus oonductor. Bidii
It rrn,s registered in April 1985 r.rith the aim of prod.ucing and. sell-ing copra.
In October it paid out 33!sh for.6?0 coconuts, dried. and soltl as copra to the
pledg'ed. to i* by 1oca1 landormers and rias hoping to buiId the on1-y drying hut
j-n tlre ii.rea to procluce first and. second. grad.e oopra rrhioh could then be sold
fot'a higl..er price than the j-nferior grade oopra which Amkeni ancL other local-
lookout for a loan for this purposel complaining that Amkeni (his lrife) wou1d.
not g'ive him any help and access to its or.nr channels of information.
lrollor:ing-bhe untimely d-eath of Bid.iirs male secretary (who had. earlier turr:ed
clorm the position of Chilulu Amlceni Pro ject manager: he had a kiosk to rrrn),
rior'l:cr rullil another literate member could be taken on" She replied. by
advisrng him to d-o the job h:imself , relinqu5-shing the chair for someone el-se.
Bicliits treasurer is also a man, but l-4 of its 2/t members are nomen ancl it is
the oity r,rixed group of its lcind- in the area. 11 of these rlomen have also
Urafilri mernbers had- started- selling rnalcuti and had rented a fieLcl at 3o0sh for
'/- ycttr:.
iidiits chairmar l,Ias, rrnderstandablyl rvorried that this uouJ-d.
d-etract frorn their committment to 'bhe gruup and. in November r.ras busily
exJrorting the lromen to pay up thei:: 3OOsh Sidii shares before sribsoribing to
Urafiki.
Also in the Jiba:ra part of tJakarolovu, a short r.raIk from Bidiirs meeting-
pIace, is the sesame field qultivated. t6r Amani vornents group. This and 2
o l , l t r - - t 'l ' i . r - ' l 1 1 rsr c l r c l c r l b ' l , o ' L l r c gronp by a locnl Jibrrna eltlcr; nn accumulator
63
riientbers of his family nere also members of Amani" Bidiits chairrnan r'las not
on 6oocl terr,rs r'ri-th himl the resu-Lt of a past dispute over the mortgaging and
"d'isparaging
orrncrship of palms. Amanirs members, meanrrhil-er about the
.wef@
overi; Christianity of Anrkenj. and its chairr'roman: the group had been forrned.
t-
after its fou4d.er mernbers trere denied entrance to Amkeni. Allied. through their
Vision provides, the different r.roments groups in the area are also competing
I
for the funds r"ilrich such bodies can supply. To date only Amkeni has succeed.edt
amd nonel uith the partial exception of Bidilr has startecl investing in
pa1ms, not to mention the host of other.enterprises which Amkeni has embarked
unotlc The rest remain more cl-ose1y tied to ggvernment objectives: their
producti-on of sesame, a ner"r and wrtried cash crop in the localityr being one
1:eir ipdiviclual members, especially vrhen these individualsr are llomen and the
-
fruits of entreprenerlrship are not divid-ed. among them; Most Amkeni members
are l.ockeri in a patter.n of gender relations and clifferentiation from uhich the
In late l_985 Ankeni had {.! members, aLI of thern uomen. Irlost were Chonyi
ancl Ji-ba:ra l{omen t'iho had married into the area: of 43 surweyecl 23 were Jibanal
ita,i- rccei-vecl sorne p"irnoJ eclucationl but ve'ry fer'r liere literate. The yorrngest
6Tn
rnember vas 1! and a sample of over' half of the group members sholls an age
IAI]L]I 16
in Diani. one large extendetl compound, the home of the man who owns ilre
Projectts officel housed p 6roup mernbers, while.a fur*he" 4 io"=. close kin
irirstl Lhe rate of divorce and separation is ertremely low: alnong Sroup
large tnunber of r.ddows reflecting the higlr propor.bion of olcler members ernd a
lor'l rate of remarriageo 0n1y one l'romanhad been married more thah once, after
being l.ridorrecl by her first husband. This can be taken as a measure of tbe
resilience of hortsehoLd. econor{r in the &!€&r hrt another r{ay, r^romenin and
erounc]- Chi1u1u remain more firmly uncler the controL of men a^nd divorce ls not a
verl' viallle option. i'lonen themselves rationalise this by saying that even if
thcir lmL:'uancls are ubter clrwrkarrls-ttrey feel obliged- to remain at home to look
65
Tial,ti l-7
,a
\.
t 2 8 i l 5
2 8 l i 4 1oca1Iy
2 g i i 3 I,Iombasa sec. sbhool Prn ject oonm.treasllter
teaoher
2g i,i 6 Idombasa
2 g r r 3 I.lombasa
31 I,1 4 Garissa
^' Ioca11Y
32 I,I 9
-r r.
))
i1
ir
t{
u I.lornbasa
3 5 r i 6 t
3 6 i i 3 t . I i a l o l e n i
ex-Project comfn.lemb
4 0 I 1 7 1 l o c a l 1 Y
!,5 tl 6+O 2 -
vice-chair-tIoR?rI1 e:c-
t 7 1 1 9 I l - o c a l } Y
Project c o m r n . m e m b e r
!,9 1.i 10 1 -
l,lombasa vice-treasurerr Pro ject
, L I I B
comrn.secretary
52 ': 11 2 - ject
Pro
l::i:i*,,""o", lliil;;Sil#l
S 2 I i g r o u p c o r r r n . m e m b e t
5tt I.i 10 ?
l'l 3 1 group comm'member
55
5 6 1 , 1 : - . 2 2 - o L d t r e a s u r e r
II <- g:roup comrn'member
56 9
11 6 - Project comm.member
56 ll
& i l 5 2
60 II I 1 Project comri'member
6'.2 u 10 6
66
TA3Ltr 18
t-
I
t] rI
I
I I I
I I
I I I E
I
I I
I I I I
t' I I I
L J I
I I
I I
I -l
I
I
-1
I | ^rH L
I
I I I
I A-sl,
I
I I I
I
L_ _ _ J L L J
X.= o1-Ir€r of the Projeo'Lrs office. A - I'l = Amkeni memberct one deceascd:
and ex-mernber of the Project cornmittec; B = ev--neml)er
A - group rrice-chai"rlro*rn
D = group vice-secretary; F = clied in 1!Bl, her
of ilre Projec-b committeei
iu; G = group secretary, Tototo co-ordina,''cor
position in the group inheri.bed-ty
pro ject committle;' Ir = a primary scirool teacher at zia.ni.i K,
and member of thE
L arrd. I,1 joined the group in 1983.
67
af'ber ilieir chilrlren rather than nrnning auay, rdriLe they ascribe the higtl
rate of ciivoice arnong the Digo to Islarn and" the greate_1 d.egree of economio
freeCorn rdtich Digo r'rornen enjoy. If a r.;omanruns ar.ray from her husband- then
her father must return her brirlewealth: a reversaL of fortrures which fathers
are not very hapoy to entertain, as it rnay plunge them into debt (tirus the 2
. l -
cases in Tab1e 14)" Bz'ideuealth payments are d.ouble those-in Dia.ni - 6rooosh
can be asl:-ecl for a d.aughter uhether ed.ucated or not - another mark of the
subscrip-bions by her sont s r.rife in lp8! was deterrnined. tpr her husba^nd-. In
funlcenirs seconcl sarrings cLub meeting women e:qpressed. fears that tbeir accowrts
tniglit be inherited. by child.ren other than their orrrro The meek submission of
Sroup netnbcrs to their chairvrornanr s dominance is part and- pa"rcel of the same
synclrorrte: rnost rrere not prepared. by 'Lheir erpOrienoe at home for ar5r other
role. r
Tjre seconiL cont;-ast r.ii'i;h Diani is in the nJture of male employment and
re-Lj-r'enen'L: 75"i in the sample of group membersr husbands shor.m in Tabl-e 1!.
qlartT.;l 'l o
10 I6 4 B
11=4.4
,Secause of th.e clistances involved men r.rorking in l,lombasa usr:a1Ly irave to rent
iitr ot-liii'Lionlrl rlr.in upcX'L'cir incomel aIt'ough they are at least regtrlar
68
TANL]I 20
GiTOUP}Iu.IBER SI.IBIJCRTPTIONS
PAID HUSBAI{DI S OCCUPATIOItr
1 \
6 2 6 sh none, accumulator of palms
2
60B t
none, accumulaior of palms
6q l'lornbasa, or.rner of P r o j e c t o f f i c e
A
6oo none
5. )yo no hueband
6. conr.riitee 596 no husband.
are liable to d-ivert what income they have torra$s the consump'bion of palm
lri:te. l{idovrs are not necessa.rily-r,rorse off than their married neighbours,
especially if they have no children to support but ones r.rho car. suppbrt ihem
little d.ema^nd-
for cooked food" Some women seII bananas a.nd other fru.it from
their homes on a casual basis" tlomen, child.rene and. to a lesser ed;ent ncn
make roofing g$[!e sold at .a much Iol'ler price tha,n in Diani. During tire
'[O
production season the price can drop to 30 cpnts per piece, rising to cen'bs
in Jgly and August, and it is difficult for even the most energetic proclucers
dayr obserrred that it took her 4 deys to earn the price of a 2 i:g bag of
rnai_ze flor:r._ Othervrise marly r'romenkeep small herds of not morc than 10 goa'bst
often bought t6r their husbandso These are kept for meat-sharing rituals or- sold
nhen occasion demands. I,larried r.lomengenerally look to their 1115!3.nds for heln
Idost r.ronen cultivate field.s or'rned by their husba^ncls and husbanr4sr }:in anc1-
perform tire bulk of agri c6tural labouro Group members rnalce considcra"ble use
d-etails the agricultural enterprises of I group members in thc long rains of.
1985" Some, but not a111 of the casual labourers employecl by tlrese lromen
were paid from Project funds. Group members ,*"" *torted eur avcrage of 4OOsh
each in L9B4 and 5o0sh each in 1985 for this purpose, .plth.ough some lrorien
70
TA]]Ltr 21
U 2 husband. r.reed.ed.
W 4 Jibana rice $ sacks onJ-y errough for a
r,romenpaid by her. maize. poor fer.r months, by
l{ovember buying
? husband 1 N- acre cuLtivatecl mar-ze poor maize flor.rr from
of by labourers using (g) the shops.
para11e1 Proj. money, the beans
cousin - rest herself. (+)
l:orror.led
'
X B elder 3 Jibhna women paid rice l- sack poor, too margr
brother a to'baL of 2{Osh; weeds.
also r,iorked. herself
and 6;uarcled, r,rith her
children.
?r
TARLII 21 (cont)
claimecl rnuch less ancl-others received- more - one is recortlecl as having used
Ir62osir frorn Projec-b firncl.s over the 2 years. Large though';lr.ey are, these sums
labour ancl nnany acl-ded'bheir or.rn fabour and-for money to complete r.lork on their
fields. I,ioreover, this assistance did. not tnansl-ate directly into agricultural
Procluc-bivityr rilrich l.ras more closely linked to soil qualityl use of chemical-
inputsr and. presence or absen'ce of paIms. It is ironic that one of the most
successful crops in the sample rras grol.rn t6r a member r.rorking alone rdth her
rnother-in-IatrJ.
7z
'bhe
such irorl.: in Pirst.
TAlI,ll 22
f,ti.iALIl
L2
TOTAL : o
z /
l l
Second, although 6roup rnpmbers d.o not receive a,:ny cash income frorn
Arnj<eniltheassistancegiventothem.bhroughtheProjecthelpstore].ease
incorne fr.orrr other sources r.rhich would othenrise tb tiea to the sane tasksc
r;hile in 2 months they cleposited almost tr.rice as muoh in their savings club
conpla.ins that sorne of the l.rorse subscribers can l"reLl afford to Pail uPr but
fa.i1 .Lo do so clespite the threat of expr:J-sion from the group. This threat
las 1ot lteen ci1r.riecl out: none is f-ikely to give up the va.rious benefits
r;';'.inl, +la
r /rrI v:r 'r^1r11 and Project provide tlithout a figlrt. The Pro ject r'las
p.:.{::.'}r'li,-rtrpr'l
trrr l.{61lf,. Vision
' , j ! v q | J . ' llith a vier'l to helping the whole connrunity. In
hclperi to insulate l-ocal- households frorn demands made t6r the state; But-this
bencfit !s equally distribu'ted among Amkeni membersr who have reaped maqy
apprropriation of the Projectl l{orld Vision has become the r:nrritting sponsor
a5ricuItulal I a.bour.
74
na,"sccni.;entrepreneur in her or'm right. I'b was trcr deLision not to divide
-bhe profits of ^A.,,nl:enirsenterprises, but to plough them back into further
ancl only prowicle small short-terrn benefits, to1t" members. Askect if she
r:ould divide profits from a tractorr she replied. that she thought instead
that it coul-d. be hired out to g?oup members at ha1f the norrnaL rateo As the
Projectts social r.rorker she already has a regular income of her ovrn, enabling
herbo ernploy a full-tilne labotrerr a Giriarna man r.rho earlier worked. for the
or,mer of the Project office. A rborn-againt Christian since l-956t she has
li role in tire household, then the groupl rflore generally rese:rred for men.
Leadership of tire group has brought further status ancl recognition" She is nolr
]rave no paicl employment" ,t" a mle they submit to the chairwomancs dorninance-
oi' the gi:oup: it hasr after a111 brought them a number of benefits. [here
clifficul'b to enforce: betrveen I'Iay 1984 and August 1985 an averag€ of 21 t{omen
r{ere present at group meetings and. only 21. members attended. more than half of
poor subscribers and persistent absenteesr arld had these typed. out and
clis-Lributed- to 6Toup mernbers. Bu-L no action r.ras taken i:nd the chainroman later
75
confirled that she r'ras afraid- of the consequences shouLd. she try.
the 13 riternbers associated. uith the extencled. household shor.rn in Table 18, the
vice-'c\irirlJornan anrl ihe secretary.of the group among them" l.lhen the Project
cornr:ritiee uas reor8anisecl in August 1985 the vioe-chairr.Ioman and- her co-yife
r-
r;ere clropped. Other appointments shovl the chairvloman strengthening her hand.
The 'breasurer of the Project committee, vrho also became a group member in 3_t8l,
is her 2) year old daughterl a secondary school teadher living in ldpmbasa" The
Christian, often cal1ed. upbn to reacl the pra1rer at the start of Amkenirs
meetiugs" In 1-!86the 2l year olcl r'rife of the Project worker (she joined. the
group in 1984) r,ras d.ue to take over as the'grouprs treasurer from the chainlomants
fatirerrs sister, rrho had ear'l ier replaced- a member of the vioe-chai::vromanls
e:ttentieci househ.old. In lTovember 1985 stre was locked in dispute r,rith the group
ihey hird- shared. vrhile attend.ing a Tototo savings club seminar. Her husband.,
these rnanoeuvres a nunber of educated. r.romenhave moved into key positions vrithin
'Li're g::oup. This eviribits a patterrr commonto the clevelopment of marly uomenl s
groups, as t,hey corae increasingly under tire control of members more qualified.
to rtur their enterprises and less likely to submit to the j-nfluence of household.
I
econolny.
llotes
4 r
2. Early improvement is documented in the repor* cited above"
|
3. One r"romenrs group in Tsalcarolornr is saitl to have been formed. at the prompting
of memberst husba^nds, hoping to sesure aid forbhc constnrction of a 1oca1
d.ispensary. Personal comrnunication from I'I,onica Udvardy (f 995).
, 4. David Parkin, Palms, l{ine, anrl Witnesses: zuUfic Snirit anA p"lvlffi
' Booksr f972). This
in an Africa^n Farr,ring Commr.:nity (London: Intertext
economv
householcl capit'a'
andinclisenous
;mH-t5"T;t-tz"::*i;-"l:H"f
_ /
a
77
cl.iaLect of Suar-rili calleci Cl}ffunii; also spol;en on !'.:-:lzi islancf i;o the nortir'
ancl in a fer.; villages on the nearby coast. It:r'iro has its ornr sub-C-ialeb-b of
an1
v r s J r:. n-i,her. rri'llage on 'uhe is3-andl tiasini, is populaiedr by Vurnba, speal;ers of
2 peoples, and ilasini bas its ot'n l-:omeitrs g?ouilo Tl:e island as a r';ho1e is
FCIJ:;DAT]ClIS
:
follor'iing the e:lanple set
I,X:l:i:.o l.roriletlrs gToup r'las fouriried. on 2i \',eq[ 1979t
post rrntil 'uhe follor:ing yeart r:hen slie stepped cior':r a:rd
Slre renaine,i in the
subscription, l-ater sPPecl to Ish. A dozen or so l;onelr joi-ned- r"herr the Group
lo
uas found-eci anci mer,tbership grev in a steady tricl:Ie rrntilr bf, 1"984, it
haci reacired. 63. Uncicr the first chairrronall group menbers started making
oor.'rie sJreLl trecl:I aces after 2 itinerarrt entreprelleurs, a naJr anci a l..:onan
frorn Kualer lr.ad prornised. to fincl a market for them. 3ut the couple fail-ed
to return a"nd members r.rcre left trying to selI their neclllaces to tourists
at Sirinoni" liauy rrere solri to the chailr^,'o::ranfs father, one of I shop ol-nrers
in i'[ci.:iro. At 2sh per neclclace the return to the proclucers L'as too 1or.r ancl
Undr-er tl:e second cha.inrorno,rr ?, rior€ pronj-sing trad-e r.las fou:nc1. This
Sirinoni hacl begun r.;or.I:ing uith Toioto ilonte In,iusiries in 197E1 producirrg r.;overr.
a youns rilan, suggested" ihat ihrliro do the sa-:ne, bringing its gooi.s to ihe
1982 the gfoup v,'as adopted. bi'To'boto. The first co-ord.inator, a troman of 181
proveC r:apopular uith otlrer inembers and quit the post in liovember. Unrie111
slie later dropped- ou'r of the grrcrtp, Her place l.;as talcen in 1983 bJ'the grouprs
first secreta.ry, then 20, anci another Jroutlg secretar-'r,- rias appointed.
purpose builcling to act as a kiosi-, (sria1L sirop), ilursery scirool, office and
rneetJ-ng-place for the groupo In August 19BO the g:roup was reg5-stered. r.,'ith the
Iii-tristry of Culture anii- Social Ser'r5-ces audr helped. b3r the CDA' opened a banl:
account in l,lsanbr'reni r.rith the nnininunr d.eposit of loOsir. In Oc'i;ober the grolrp
rias g:iven IrOOOsh for its project by the l,linistry. I{orlc on tbe building
progressed slot:ly: by Scnternber 1981 the group harl bought 2 tons of cenent,
4OO coral- blocksr ar1d.had paid a builder 11OOOsh. Ilor:ever, no sooner haC.
79
uorlc begun on the fou:rd.ations than a local man informecl the group of his
or.rnership of the p3-ot they r+ere builcl-ing upono !'oIlor.{ng his refusal to come
to terrns r.ror}: carne to a halt. The project was not abaircroned, but it was not
until December lpBJ that another pl-ot was fowrdr on land belonging io l'Ii:r'iiro
primarX' school.
SUCCUI.TBING
TO TRADITIOTI
Follouin.g its adoption i4r Totoiol the group l{as encouraged. to choose
isolaiion" A boat co'ul-ir be usecl to fer-r1' passengers and their l-oads bctr.;eeu
i.i:r-.'i-ro arril- the mainland at Shinoni, site of the nearest ciispensarnr a"rrd teriinus
fora bus r.ihich travels tjrrj-ce C.ailJ' to l,lsarrbi;eni a:rd ldonbasa. I.,iost of the
poientiel passetlgers r.rere l.Iomen airci il:eir snal-1 children trho othen,-ise ha.d to
rely upon the irregular servj-ce provided by local fisherrnene charging lsh per
adult for each crossing. The srnall hand.-padd.1ec1ciugouts usually useir for this-
purpose tal;e tl:e best paz.t of an hbur to cornplete ti:e crossingl a ris$ venture
r.:hen seas are rougho A motor-driven boat rrrn by tire group r.:ould cut dorrn ihe
crossirrg to 1!-20 n:inutes, calrl' nlore passell€iersr md reduce the long hours
of r.;aitil,1g o11 the shor.e for a fisl:er,iran r.:j-l-lirrg to riclle the trip. Cotrstnrction
of a vater resevoirr olt tire other hand.I uottJ-ii- sern-e arr equa1l1r pressin6 n.eeci"
Apart fror: raintraber Hasini island lias no natura.l, resenres of fresh l;ater. For
over half of the year villagers are denendeirt u-pon r';ater ferried. across frorit
the nainland: d.uring the rains rainr,iater is charuelleC. dor',n cot-rcrete slipways
into ccucrete-Iined. pits and drar.n from these. In ii:r:iro there are a smaL]
nurnber of privately-oinied. resevoirs and o:re bel-onging io the rfioIe village frorrt
6:roup riould oonsidLerab}tr' inprove the loccJ suppIy of r.;ater. arra help reduce
The r.:ater pr-ojec'u r.ras pr\cposed i4r the ge.oupr s ner.r chainloma,nr its
[iris fanily fourrecf i;he core of r:]la.t can bc iresigirateci as o D]o!'r.cssive faciioir
t:itirin the group. Their irnneciiaie rclationships are shor.rr in Table 23. Unlike
nost lkuiro villagers thetr'are Sajuni (G\ur}'a) fron the Lanu area on Kenvats
inside the local Shirazi cor:r.nulity. Their r,iobility l-ec1-to tire first 2 cirair-
lrorTietlrelinquishing the post, subsequently tal:en bt'a Ioce"l uor:ten r;l:.o put
i:erself fon;ard ancl-vas accepted. td,- the i:hol-e 8-r,'oup. To6ether tirey pressei. for.
alrri rlur, pror,'ici-ing a" seasona1 souJcc of incor:re a:rd- r.tater to irelc l.'lonen rr-itl:
tireir hous;ehol-d choreso A boatl the;' argneci-" 1a,1' too far ouisicLe of
heavily d-epencl-ent upon rnen, uldle tlre naintenailce costs of a boat a:rd en6'inc
r';oulci- be much higher tiran ti:ose of a ruater resevoir once ii hari been built.
rrro.-T,esisi'i
j--"1r4 rrn f:'n*i orr nr.orinrl irrsruified.
vrL,jr yrv v\?r rJu:J
urr+vr,. in
rtt its
J 9p fearc.
I Thc l1e1i c11.r,efp::ise, nruclr.
to its detrirnent, lras mociell-ed closely upon its courrtcrparts j-n a nnale-
An enternrise at sea
Tototors i.i-rec'cor begam solicj-ting aii. for l,ncuirols ner; project in ljB2
anC secu:reci ti:e support of i,lAlCil, a Canaaian donor. After ilr.e ctistrict
81
TAtsLril23
Bajuni Shirazi/l'l:r.;iro
Shirazi
/t'l:rdro
Vurnba
iu l,ionrbasa
Sajuri
Shirazi
Penr'ba /tii:r.iro
Sirirazi
(Tanzania) Vr:-r,rba
f ii;rtiro
In l.ionbasa
Segeju (Tanzenia)
corin'r:rrii;y develop::ien'i; officer ha.c16jven Tototo aJr assurarrce that -t,hc r.ronen
l'iere capable of managiug this en'bernrise, the group t;as .presel-becl r.:igr a
cheoue for 35ro0Osh. Tlr-is t'ras rn August 1983. Group nembers themselves
raiseci jrloCsir rri*h a losh subscrip'cion. This covered the cost of a neu
eug:itrel bou3i:t tor 2{r5t18sh iu l,ionbasa, but r.;as not enoug}r for the boat as
r;e111 Friced a'o 20rOO0sh. This hari been Locatecl in Lil:oni bj, tlte j,kr:iro
rril-lage clia:inlan a:rd. ihc CDi\ from iisanbr:eni. Ti:e Digo sel-Ier agreed. to talce
I3rO0osjr aild gave-bhe Sroup 3 r'reei:s to pai'.tire remaining ?rOOosh. After tal:ing
cielivery of the boa'b the group ask-eclTotoio for a loan of 5rooosh io help meet
u.r!-c
thi ,Jsit,rerlu.
ncr;:rar* The loan rlas gra:rted, ',o b€ repaid. b;r g:.oup j-n nioiiiirly
nenbers
itrstr.Llnreir.ts of 3l_0sh"
I'lniirors boat wen.r, into oirerai;ion oii 8 Ociober 1!831 plying betr,:een
lQ:r:i:.'o and- Shirnoni" A rdriverr, tire ]msba:ri of a group rnenber, r^ras ernplcjrecl
to rrur the boat and. bu;' peirol fror,r ui:turd-a.for iis en5ine. Group rnenlers
Ioads. Apari from occasional interruniions the boat ra:r everl' ciay of the rreeic,
betneen about 6 otcroci; in ilre nolfiing anc 4,in the aftenlooric
Fron the outset the enterprise t{as 6sir-g.l:t in ilre tran r.;hich i;he progressive
faction had r;arnei. agaiirst. FoIlor:iir3: the practiqe of local- fishemen incone
from tire boat r.;as C.ivi'j.ed. into rougirly equal por;ions. In ilre case of fisi:ing
boats these vary in num'ber according to 'uhe coinirosition of labour., the relation
bettleetl am. olmer and his crstr'(if not the same person)r aJld ihe techlical
d'etermined- by the relations and means of proiuction as, these varlr from boat to
boato The o'.'ner of an outrigger ca^rroendglite for examplel set aside a
portion for hinself, one for the crerr, ano a tirrrd for tite purch.asq, of bait.
The ot.'::er of a notor-por.,'ered. loat night mal:e further provision for ihe rurchase
R:'
of peirol anC maintenarce of the boat an<i its engine. Copying this model-
the nornent s group bega::. by dividing their boat irrcone into 3 portions: one
for the d.riverr one for petrol, anld.one for the €Foup a^rrclexpenses in
generaL. Later, nJren the enterprise ra:r into teclrnical difficulties they
unfortu:rate effects. First, it.rneant that the boatrs driver reoeived a fixed
proportion of the boatrs inoorne: ol1e third in the first perioC of its
operatione much more tiran if he had been paid a set monthl-v r.rage (see Table
2r', be1,or';). Secorrd, and to conp.orlrd ma';ters, group rnembers liorhi-ng as the
boatrs conducrr,or lr,€re paid ai the srna11 fixecl rate of lOsh per clay: conCuctors,
least of al-l- l{orflen, are no-b a nolnal feature of boat crer'rs. Sor r^ilrere a rnal-e
driver cor:J.d average 1r?OOsh a rnonth, 'r,he r,,oneu thcrnselves nade litFIe rnore
ihan 3OOshe rnucj: less indi',ridtr.al1yo Profiis fron tire boat r.;ere not othenrise
i.ivid.edL arTion6 group members- a"nd by follorring the rnodel of menrs fishing
enterprises 'bhey effeciively overpaici their drivers and. exploited their olrn
labour. Third, ihe praciice of ci.ivicling their income into portions had a
group kept the ciifference berr,ueeil bud.geted- incorne - the portion set asid.e for
a particular purDose - and actual exlenditure is'rrot ah'tays c1 ear. Over time
the accou:rts becane prosressively rnore confused, a confusion ';.:hicli rias to cost
in uneqrrivocal fasirion by an ear1y action orr the pari of some rnembers of the
g.roupr s connittee. Acting riithout the lqior.iledge of other nembers they bought
a piece of blacl: cloth ancl, a chicken with group funcls and tool: these to a
traciitiona1 i.ocior o11 the mainland io provicle the boat rdth protective meciicine"
Againl this rras in keeping uith tl:e prac-bice of local fishernenr or at Jeast
Q A
e+
Tlie first victim was another committee nernber, the rno'Lh6r of i,lkrrirors
first 2 chairi^:oilero The corn-nittee had agreecl to carry bo]:es of maize flor:r
d-estined- for the shop she ran r.,'j-th her husbancl ai half the norrrral rate, n
cents instead- of lsjr per boxo Hor.:ever, after loacl.ing a consig,rt:rent oirto the
hal-f pa;'r',rent aud ordered. -r,hen turloaded. (this r.ras the second. d.river em.oloyed. by
tire group, the husbancl of a cor,rnittee rnenber and- also of l,&trvirors first co-
ordinator.). The argu-nrent r^:hich ensued r,;as oi-ilJr seitled b1i the inte:rrerrtion of
l'kr','j-rols village chalr'rnan: the red.uced rate 1.;as accepted ancl ',,lie flour
transporteC.'co l0lrirol though -r,he dz'irrer refused to assist her in carrX'i1g i-t,
fron ihe boat to the shoreo The folioi:ing aftenroon she refusei io help o.i;her
merabers prrll the boat ashore for the night, arg:dLng tliai thj-s rras the rlriverrs
iob - hc had. left it to a young boy r'ilro r.ras forced- to call- for assistance frorn
the vill-age. The next d.ay the d,river again refused to help her r;nload. a
consignment of fl-our for the shopo Angered. by ihese incidentvs she r.;ent to the
the comniti;ee refused, telling her not i;o be fool-ish. Fol1or:ing this she
quii her post on the conrliiiee and stonped- pl3"y!ng an aciive role in the gfoup,
to the e::tent tirat she C,-id-not make use of tjre boat age,in and transferred her
The crisis that rtas brering carne to a head nhen the boatrs eng-ine was stolen
of J engines to d.isappear frorn the area over a short period, probably the r+ork
of thieves from Tauzaniao !Iad. it been insured. by alr insurance comDaily rather
than a local medicine-rnan then much of the trouble vhich follol.red night have
been avoiclecl. As it tur.necl out the group couJd not afford another nel.' eni;ine
85
arrcl in the storn r.:hich follor.red. slippedr further into the clebt of men a.nc1
organise a search for the stolen engine" llith police consent enquiries were
made as far afielci as Diani and the north Ta:rza;rian. coasto llhen these met
t'iith no success he turned. to the tasll of finclin.3 a" replacer:'r€nto To this cnd
Iisanbr,'enio It was tirere thai an engine r,ras found, being sold by a Digo man,
r.;hose orrn boat l'ias no'longer seavorthy, for 12rl0Osh. It r.ias bougbi by the
group uj"th BrOOOsh fron its ba"iil: accoturi anc'|.a foan si A.tloosh fron the
In his zesi to sectLre recont)ense for his senrices and paynreni for 'uhe
seccno-hairci engine ti:e chairr.'iat: scrutinised the grouprs acco'ulrtso I1 fact jre
ha'.rtbeen l:eeping his ornr recorci of these chuinr< L9B4t nnal<ing a copy of boa.t
receipts every afiernoono Accorcli:ig to this record j-ncorne ftor.r ihe boat
betr+een JanuarX' and llay anor:::'i;ed to just over 16r488shi 6tS6osh after expenses
had been subtracted.o Presenting thcse figrres to tl:e treasl'-rer and- secretary-
he asl.:ecl if iiiey agreecl riith his cil-crtations. Thelr s1i6o l.luch to his disrnal',
hot':ever, tltey had. no noneJr to shor; for ito Ass.uring that ihis had been lost
el1r-rtt.iries provec incoitclusiveo Tl:e chairr.ra:ll s arg',:,rent cioes not tal:e accor::ri of
Brl6Jsh r:hicl: the group had in the barrli and used to pai'. for the seconcl eng'ine,
morley tirich thc group apparently ciid not have r:hen tlie enterprise began. Sti11,
marly group menbers al-lege that large srrms of rTroneyrrere taken by their treasurer
vho, nonetheless, ,renains in office" The grouprs or.n accor:nts are not very
helpful in, resolving this issue. Tirey r,:erc lcept, mostly in ey-ercise books, by
the secreta:Xr and. the ,treasurer. Unforirurl.tely thel' are inconr:l ete and d-o not
B6
IASLE 2/l
o c r .8 3 R 3rO34
r a n r
L 9 Qz ) . 4 )
O e
L t45O.fr 557.65
fron Bih
C 3r1O4 rro25.B5 rr4n.n 627.55
It0v.83 R 41848
c 5t52/r 1 t739.& d
z1 lzOcJU
a d / \ ^
1ro58.30
aPR.84 l ; e o ^ \ / - t / / r a \
t!<)L o )J
\ J: )ou/ \!lz+ooo)ui !7Oia
3,580
- A / /
J t i;-OO.
- ^
1t
2,5& .5O
i. ^1r
I.:JII
O,
(//+ T)
IL (rrlzr) ( igo) ( 6c) ( Bir)
to ?th 1an 6 8tt
!liaL
v oor
drvidin.g i::cone in',;o pc'r'tions. l.ioreover, for some period.s ciifferent a::ci
conflictirrg recorcls are availabl-eo Tabl-e 2zi is recolrstz-acteci fron the accor:.iri;s
kep'u during ihe boatts firsi period- of opera-,,ion. 3oth recorrj-eci and corrected
figur.es are siror'n:f i;be lat-i;er bascd- urron 5-:rdeperrcient calculation fron dail-y
rrllr ^-,^
i'1lese argunents over no'iey clainedr a seconcl- viciim: ih€ gfoupt s third
r,.r.it.irrc-
u.r ! utrrSo Tt r,r2s sone r.ieel:s be-iore the g:roup co'irJ-C-fitrc]- a repla,cement for her"
lras stoppei. fron ial:ing up the post by her hr:.sbando It finally boiled d"or'nrto
a ciroice betri,een the village chairr"raqts sisicr (anottrer ciose reLative) and the
elder sisi;er of the 6ryoupts co-ordina'bor, a comrnittee rnember. The latter r'lolr
the vote. She tool: office i1 micl-September 1!8{1 shorbi-y after resumption of
the gr.oupr s enterpriseo Her eleciion vras amother blor: for tire progressive
( ,
, ?oihoritye and l!:r.rirors rnen had moved. to stop i'b being da.nced outdoors,
I
jealous otl ihe possible consequences of this open d.isplay of se:nral licence
l'iki.:irors resuned- enterprise sard; d.eeper ir:'uo the traciitional domain" Its
feII btr' the uajrsj.d.e. I{eanr*}ri}e the cornnit-bee accurulated a series of debts,
nrost of then to men. Tire fr:l-I er'r,ent of these ciid- not energe untiL a heated
Ir ' goup meeting in Jarruary 1986y r,rl:en marg'mernbers cl-airned. tha.t i;his was ihe
first the-y had hearrl of them. In fact no one individual- knevr the ful-I list t
TABLE 25
TASLE 2q (cont)
TO!AL 2eI'lJsh
Tire seconci-han.J. engine proved more ti'oubl-e tSan it was r';ortho Ii kept on
breaking dor.m a.ncl needecl reoeated repairs. The boat ent,erprise was frequently
interrupted: records inclicate that before the engine fina13-y gave up the girosi
in nrid ;-g}112the boat was only in operation for a total of B! dayso Little more
than a nonth after. the eng"ine ha.d been bought 1elOOsh ha.d. to be si:ent on its
chairrnane offered" to fix the eng'ine in retur:r for beirig given use of the boat
to fish at night" He took the boat for 11 days, each dayr s use reckonecl as
equivaS-ent to 2OOsh in hire chargesl the total (ZrZOOstr) covering the costs of
his repair vlorl:. In fact the repairs cosi much more - 3r460sh according to ihe
village chairrnan. Finding hiroseJ,f on a loser, the Lr:o man sued the village
ohairrran [or. 6rl25sh in a I'lornbasa court. 3ut tire chairman argued thal in fact
it was he who r.tas orred riloneJr, 2r06Osh nhich he had- spent on financing the
repair lrork, having raiseC. over half of ihis sun by selling his r:atch. The
on
Lrrc abandoned. his claimo Througirout this fiasco the boat a^nd its eug:ine
were notiring more tiran par'nrs in ari econonic gaxner a gaJne rrhose m1 es were
set by men.
engine auray for repair - provid.ing it r.ras r;orLh tlie expense. The group was
only too haprry to accept. The boat, meannhilee rras out of action rintil- mid-
January, ro'hen a local- man approached the group and. started. hiring it for 50s1:
serri'ice uhich the r.;omenrs group had susnendeC..- E:ccuraged by the prosl-'ect of
a reguJar income - as nuch as they had- made rihen running the se:rrice thernselves
- g?roup menbers turned to d,iscussing nhat tirey corrlci d.o vrith it. True to for:n
a cij-vision into 2 portions tlas suggested: one to repalr their nel-fly enulrrerated
d.ebts amcl one to buil-d their nulti-p'orpose house or1 its ner'r-found pIot. fhe
hire arreJlgerrlent, hor.:ever, l-asted no more tliau a fortuight" TIte man hiring
the boat bro!:e an agreenent to share profits td.th his i(ik:3-* partner', and the
eng'ine was clained backo Still lraiti-ng for a verdict on the future of their
Rescue cane frorn more distant shores. Unhapptr' r',d.th tlie nremature decline
of l,l:wirots enterpi'i-se, Totoio had noi bee:r idleo Follor'ing the theft of the
d.bnorr, the Parish of Trinity O,rurch in the City of Neu Yorko 3OrOOOsh r,.'as
reguesteci to buy a n"i, engineo The monetr' ca.nre t\rrough in April 1986" A ner.r
engine r^ras bought in liombasa, deliverecl to the #oupr and on 22 Apr:J- I'Drtrirors
boat uas back in operationo On all- accouats the enterprise is being conduoted
much as before. The driverl nor'; the husband of ihe groupt s treasurer, is
still being paia a fixed. proportion of the boatts income" Without further
inte:rrentions fron Toioio it is likely thai sorne of the problens uhiclr earl-ier
9L
striking instance of this. h'hen the boat en'berprise was in operation the
the neu rate of 2sh 5O cents per heado At ihe suggestion of one of tire members
its collection rvas cornpletel-y reorganised. The mod.eL for this reorganisaiion
r.ras i'i1;,ld-rots d.ivision into 4 v;ards - I'i1n-:ajurdr Pwairir l,luttani anci Bogoa -
one or other of tjrese the group r.;as Crivid-ed- into { sectionsr 3 t"dth 1)
menbers and one r^;ith l-8" A literaie rnernber from eacir section tlas assigned. to
pooS-ed in the weeldy meetings of the r,rhol-e groupo [he raiionale behind this
innovatj-on uas to rnake collection basier ancl 1e raise the leve1 of contributions
such it has proveC" a resor:nciing success. By the eud of Jarruary fer+ members
r.;ere behind in their subscr-iptions and the ones i;hat r.rere !.:ere either av:ay
visitirrg relatives or about to pa5' up. Beyond providing rrillagers v.'j.th a sense
vi11-age 1ife" 3y adapting thern to its orrll pltrposes I'[;wiro has succeeded, at
least in the short term, r'ihere other groups have faiLed: enforcine (in tHe
riifferent fron that found- in the other locations ciescribed. in this report.
I the relations of prod.uc'bion and. gend.er vhich gpverll these talce a form uhich
-
is rnodified by Suahil! practice. One feature of this practice is a long-
( different ancl in sorne lrays the r:ornen of l,[',r:iro e:rjoy a meas'[re of freed.orn
1
I,l..rriro r,iorneuts group has 63 rnenbers, the najority of the villagers ad.u1t
pareuts and nost are narriecr- to 1o6al- fishernen. The rnajority have received.
no fornral- ed.ucation: I,[:i':irots primary schooll l'rhicir has aboui 1?0 pupils,
r;as not built u-n-'cil-1981, replacing an earlier school in the mid.cile of the
islanci r.,,hicl'i serwerl botb of its vi11a6cs" LoceJ child.relr also ai;tend. Islanic
classes b.t the rveel:end, and in Augu-st 1985 sinnil-ar classes l.:ere begun for
. arl-ul-t women. Idany group rnembers attend theser . hel-d. at 4 o t clocl: in the
sclrool anci no other adult education classes in the villageo Feu aCult ltornen
can recJ.:on tryr 'chc uestern calendar, ancl the d.ating of the logs kect. for
TASLE 25
ACJEIJI YNAJTS
2 1 5 2 3 1 1 1 -
Table 2'f.
( I.iai:y nomen ma::ried fo:: the firsi tirne it:. their ri::ji.-teensr a practi ce
r.ihich is nor.: chaarging as-: a resrd-i of school atteui.anceo l,larriage palnnents are
nracieby bridegroons thenselvesl not lX, their fatherso These pairnenis are
I norrnally i1 the ranse of 3-!r3oOsh, and in some cases j-nc1uc1e fu-r'nj-ture. The
monsJ- is no1 g"iveri to tbe brider s fatber bui to other matrilineal and- patrilineal
kinl ancl- is used to pay for the uedd.ing ar:'J ec-uip the household of the nel'fly
| 6ar:,ied coupleo This p4.rirent rs not returrred after divorce and- subseo.uent
ft is usually ilj.tia'ted by uonen blr-t effecteci b5' nsrt. Ut'iier Islarnic lari l'iolTlen
group mem5e:. r.ras plr.niiing to clo -liris foIloi:i:rg't)re prolon3e'J abseirce of her
husbald-, but r.:as nrol-lified uhen he xeauurtteclo ltt early 1986 only one group
|
mernber r';as fowrc
---at,-
to be currently
-ri--^-^^j
cj-ivorced ^-.r .--:!1.^
and l'iithout a husba-rtclo
'usualIy
Over BOl" of rnarriages take place beti.;een Sirirazi bor:r in I'kr'iiro,
1 1 / q
AGE St N O ^1 rr+
h n
ttJ
f
ltt
l n
ttJ
Iie
22 Ii 1 2
23 .Itl t 2 3 co-ordine:tor, col.I ector
for l.[urrarri r.Iard
26 r,i t 2 3 t_
30 li L 2 a
32 r,1 5
2 ,n,
cTJa
tr
) 4 1 3 fiz'si cirairrroiran
1 a i l 'l
JJ I'1 L o+l-+I t+ L com'.rittee rnenbel
t
J4
t
l.l 2 4 Ll 1 cor,rnrittee member
a
JL'r
^ tt
.t r 2 1+! I 1 ! 1 e--vi ce-chairnoman ( quit
,r .r :rJl r nv : ra - . i ' l *' aI r
\
/
36 },r I t] I b
36 I1 I 6 2 tl 1 3
+L H 2 ->iu l- 1 1 1
.-t J f,i 1 11 Z
.-l
I 2 3 2 2
'lc
l- 3
d
43 ]i
1 a vt ce- cnaL liljonan
mean nr:."0'j:erof mar.r.iages = 1r!! n'iean nir-nber of children = 6.1-; mean nr:.nrber
stil-I alive = 4.5; no:.tal-ity rate = 2J.Jl':':1 rnean nu.mber of dependent child-ren
(bom by ti:e l':onarl herself)- 2.!.
rnernl:erse soiii€ i.ihose husbanis (not incl-uded- in the table) r'rere more or less
l'I:r:iro were olmed- anc- their buil-ding parbly fina'nced b1- l','onen. oll separation
it is the husbands r,,'homust move outo Some l.'on:en idrerit the houses ot'med by
thei:'mothers; other.s coltinue 1ivin6 in'chem r:ni;iL they are able to build
TASLE 28
1
I
1
l_ 3 7 11
a l_ '7
z 4 I
1 I 1 3
1 2 3 q
z I 3 ? 4
l_ t
1 2 4
l_ 1 1 L 6
I .7
1 I I o
L 2 I
I 10
1 1 1 3
1 1 a 3
I l- 1 7
2 1 z 4. 7
1 3 z 3 a
(J
1 1 l_ I 3
zu I I 25 60 LO2
their orm" Before the advent of lanc1 registration there llas no restriction
upon the or'mership of Land in the village; rights in a plot uere establ-ished.
simply \r clearing and building upon it, and lost just as e'asily if the p1-ot
cr8tivated" A t}:ir"i- of the fiel-ds r,;orked W group nenbers were ovmed t6r r,'ornen
oA
Only one woman interuieued - the first chainn'oman - d.id not nornrally cul-tivatet
except ir occasiondJly helping her nother. { rrornen, Cr trr tr'and I in the table,
did not cuf--r,ivate in 1985r uhile orCy one r'lorn?rr1 3r cultivated. d.uring the
[A3Lg 2a
reLr+ (cont)
I'ie Fi OlE:trR AilliA LASOTIR CROPS }iANV-JST C0l.rl.IHiTS
.bi o
a .
nusbano 1 1 o3 r not c',rl'uivated. illr pregnant
r'-itir a c/hil-d
vrhicir d.ied. at
birih
TABLE2a (cont)
.tt there
are !6 boxes to the sack
For rnuch of the year mar6r housgirolds are dependent upcn food. staples
bought from shops on the mainland or in the vilIage. This der:endence is said
as the nr:rnber of retail outlets has gror,m and cash income become more rearlily
and coastal traae for crops and other goods (including iron tools) produced on
the mairrland. fhe island, lacking gror:nd r.rater and stretm with outcnops of
I'iost l:ouseholcls cultivate only one field a,:nd fer.; meet their anrluaI subsistence
surplus grain: the only one r;hich enployecl casual labour. Labour is generally
99
d.rar.m froni l:ithin the household.. tlen sornetimes assist ir:. crrl-tivationy often
iu the late aftentoon after retuming frorir fishingl and build the fences
uhich sumound fields 'i;o keep off the gpats which roarr the island" Othervrise
Together uith other forms of ]rousehold labour this takes its to11 upon
uFon a.ttendranrcerecords for the pcriod- l-982-85, and shows a marlced fal-I in 19e5
Tl3Lg 30
t982 36 1 5 23
1gB3 1 ? 2g
tg84 4tr. 1 q 28
'lq
t985 o
o
dernands cf household l-abour upon her or.m time. .On the first of thesel in l,ia1'
l9g2t she vroterri.lo a:1y taslc today because nqyself I did- not go to the meeting
I uas r'rashing n6r clotires a^nd after that I go to take firev.'ood at I'ilarngrrni a-nd
ccme uith it.'r Oe the second occasion, g.rrring Tototo notice of her d-ecision
I'lombasa to her urrclets refusal to let her go, because of v;ork whicir had to be
lnn
done at home.
incorne. Tr,lo of the most irnporta,nt of these in I'Ikr'r-iro derive from the
collection and sale of rnarine produce:' octopuses and cor,rie slr.eIIs. Soth
are collected. from the local- shoreline, only by women. Octopuses are
collected. fron the reef at Io'u: tide, often by l.'onen rtorl:ing in srnaIl groups,
using sharpened stichs as spears" This can on1-y be done in the morning uhile
ihc srur is sti11 1or.l; the tides perrnit collection over a period. of 5 or ?
d.eadtoctopusels are then hung on poles to d-ry in the swr, an& sold to visiting
traclers from the mainland for 3-6s!: each depenC.ing upon 'lheir sizeo A good-
catch miglt fetch 30Osh, though tJomen ofi;en corne al,JaJrwith nuch less. Cor..,riesr
on the other hand, are sol-ci fs3 llsh a tin (c.18 kg) to l,&l.rirots Saju:ri shop-
1986 he coJlected. TO tins anC. rnade a net profit of sorne 1r28osh, over l8sh per
tin. llomen vllro gather cowries report being able to make 10O-35Osh everX'time
they sel-1 them, though they do not do this every month. Trade in both
octopuses and covries ?rops d-uring the cr{tivatillg season, whil-e just over
hal-f of the group mernbers intervier';ed engageri in neither, some because they
lJor,ren also make and seII a variety of ciifferent kinds of breai and
mainland.. Just unrler half of the uornen interrrievrei. d-id- this, mal;ing up to
LO0sh per rnontho A fer; vronen trade produce directly from the mairrla-ndo The
made l-{gOsh a month b;r selling coconuts brought by herself or her husband from
(usually 3-5) for slaughter or s ab: a.n a.o-ult goat fetched. 2OOsh in l!g.:iro in
101
early L986. There was only one rotating creC.it association in the viIlage,
operated by B l;omen and 2 men in l,lcr.rajwri ward r,rho cont::ibuted 2osh each
every Fridayo 4 of these r.rere group mcrnbersr 3 frbrn the same Bajrrrri fanrily_
btrr Tototo, arld 9 t'rornenpaid lsh each to join" Like oiher Tototo savings
clubs it uas offered.5OOsh (florn FAO and Women in Progress Ltd., a l{airobi
Invol-vement r:itl, Toioto has provid.ed. group members with another so-urce of
incorae: prod.uctio:r and. sal-e of lroven har:C.icrafts for Totoiors shopo Hor.r this
came about has already been d-escribed. The group used. this tra.de to repay its
1983 loan frorn Tototc; but nost benefit has gone d.irectly to inclivid'raL
nen'l:ers and their households. Table 3l-r baseC. upotl lecords kept by Tototol
TlisLE 3l-
'7tr,
1g81 43 1r503sh 57 .A+ . I J 37.27 3.10
tg82 <A' Ltt432 718 5 9 "8 3 211.7C t7 "54
1983 7r o 6 9 29"4t rzt.B7 10.15
t9B4 o1 19,071 t)l A1 ^P.
307.r9 )tr. A1
t9B5 63 , 6 -
z I r4oL.>J lr72o 143.33 435.2t 3 6 "3 5
The net profit to producers is sorner.;hat lgwer, because they have to purchase
the d.ried- strips of palm teat (utini-u) and dyes r,:ith rvhich their irand,icraits
-.a!e rnade. Ukinclu is boughi; on the mainland - there is none on the island. - in
sr;iall- bund.l-es cos'cing 2sh lO cents each. Dyes are brouglit in smal-L 2sh packets
l.o2
froiu i,lombasa: the od-y na-Lural d-ye on the island is henrra, occasional-Iy
inlruts ano prices of the main gpod.s uhich I'il:r';iro members protluce for Tototo.
Labour ariti tra.ns;ort costs are no-r, incl-uded.: oval- tabl-e matsr for exe;npI et
fetch a higher price for proaircers than square ones because they are more
difflcuIt to rnal:e.
TASLE 32
the mar.icet for therr hancij-crafts carneto a stanC-sti]I at the end of 1985. In
January 1-!85 tototo siaff retunreo ihe bulk of their last orcie:' to the group,
telling group menbers that they had faileci io se1} the gCods at shovrs in
103
Nairobi and ldonbasa anrclthat tnere was no room for them in Tototors store.
Producers are paid. by Tototo r.,'herrtheir goods are sold: follorving the r.eturrr
of their baudicrafts I'romell complained. bitterly that their investment i' ulcindu
anci tiyes hac been in vain. Jlrriiro members have no other narket for their
ha,.nd-icrafts: what littIe scope there is for selJ-ing them to tourists on the
nearby mainl-and has been tafcen up by Shimoni llomenrs g?oup, whicl also produces
these gpods for Totoio. Irt co:rseouellce group mora\e fe1I sharpLyr ancl the
Wonen generally pool their income wiih tireir husbands. $lj-ves are not
obliged to surrend.er this incone, but usually spend it on the househol-d. Ore
member said'r,hat if sire earired loOsh from cowries she rnighi go out and buy
clothes for her irusband.e anrd t:as d.escribed. as a ttgood vriferrby oiher wonren.
Another notea that if she goi 3COsh fron oc'copus sales it l;or.:fd- enabl-e her to
bt.u,*-a bag of cenent for her house. l{onen. are equally depenient upori incorne
ind.epend.ent inconeo 2 women reported getting no hel_p fron their husband_s and.
3 ha-d. husband.s liho r.iere absent for most of the year and. only gave flreir vrives
noney on home visits. These worTlenrely on both their ovn3 solrces of incone
and help fron other household members and. lcin: one lroma:re v;hose husband. was
absent for up t,o 2 yean's at a time, 1{as given money by }rer motherts br-other,
vrent to stay in l,ialindi uith her husband. and co-uifel leaving group recorcls
group members. 2 of the absent husband.s uere traders based. in l,,ioa on the
bor'ler betvteen Kenya and Ta:.rzairia, and a fair ar,roult of sr:ruggling. Brrt mosi
101
TA3,Ltr33
gr"oup menbersr husbands are local- fishernen. 6C men in l.l*uiro are registered.
1966" Thq,' fish everXr day except Friday, the da1' of prayer, a.nd.brihg their
catches ashore i:i the earS-y aftenroons to be r^reighed by the 1oca"l- co-operative
secretarX'. The oo-operative pays the fisherrnen 10sh per kilo of (large) fish,
Lsh of this set asid.e in a fi.:.:rd for l,1l:,;d-rors school and Islamic classeso Ou
a third. of I'?',r+i-=ors fishernel orv]rrtheir or.nr boats: the rest rtor]: t':i-tir close
kin o:: others for a porbion of incorne frorn the catcho The exanple just cited
gives local- fishermen an averagp income of 3Osh a dayr 9O0sh per month. Daily
co-operative payments vary over the year bettreen about 5C0 and )rOOOsh. A
good dayts ca'r,ch can bring in 60Osh and record.s in Shimoni shoti ind.ividual
hov;ever, exceptiona3- cases a^nd d,o not take account of the diwision of ihe
proceeds anong crel{so The trariitional division into poriions indicates that
boat or.rers also d.ivert a good part of their incorne to capital reinvestnent
lines and traps, only the latter made and sold loca1Iy" 3 willagers.ran
llater is particularly er:peYrsive: 2sir plus per 20 Litre container from the
l-oca1 resevoirs arrd Jsh per container from the mainland r.,'hen this supply ru::rs
o[to During the d.ry season households may fin,i theraselves spending betr,reen
2BOsh and l6osh a month on r.rater, d.epend.ing upon their size. These erpenses
are usually borne by r.romenrdth the he3-p of tl:eir husba^nds1 and in marly cases
greatest difficr-lty; and one group menberr a lridor.rr had to pay -for the
building of a neu house lrith 3 floor mats she had made. On the other hand,
some schoo3-boys pay for their or.m uniforns by fishing in the holidays; while
the fr:nd. established. from sales of fish to the co-operative covers marJr
primary school exPenses rnhj.ch r.roul-d normally be bor:re by parents. I,larried men
do not..as a :rrle br:y l-uxury goods for themselvesr though sone, like the
The relatively stable economy r;hich has been d.escribed above is nor,r
interventionso The first nail in the coffin r.ras land registration, which
took place on the island in ltlp-Bb" Sefore thiis isl-anc1 land was held in
conmon; nou i.slanC.ers have been issued r:ith titl-e deeds for the p1ots and
fiel-ds vrhich they happened to be occupying at the tjrne. In narly cases land.
tit'les for fields largeLy r.rorked by r,rornen" The d.ifficuJ-ty this oreated for
the groupr o building pro ject has already been describedr r.rhile its effects
what woul-d happen, cl-eared. mucb, larger a"reas than they nornral-Iy worked - hence
the 21 acre field shor.n: in Table 2) - and a sna1l nurnber also l-aid. cl-aims to
p1-ots on the rnainl-ando Disputes brpke out betvreen the Sltirazi and the Vumba,
footbaLl fiel-d - and others at the r:ninhabited end of the is1and. furthest
frorn their o1'r1 viIlage. Some rrillag€rs were l-eft ldtli relatively srnal1 pJ-ots,
resultj-ng f"o.* the sal-e anri raortgaging of land has arisen for the first tirne.
mar\l' years there r.;as only one hotel on the mainlarrd near Shimoni and a single
selling their land. to d.evel-oDers3 the first outsider seelcing to br4y land \r
one of the locaI beachesr a Gernarrl was turned aniayo This resistance has
not'i crunbled wrri.er the influence of 2 faciors: need (and greed) for cash, airit
firsi 2 chair',.;or:len, the recenily elected KAlilJ locational cira.irrnan, with his
sights non set on the position of area cor:ncillor (see Table 2l)" Like his
to llasini and the marine park to the south of the isl-ando He has also bedil
proviciiug his elCer sister r.rith occasional E\ropean visitors rvilling to rent a
roon in her house - the first tine accornod.ation has been lei to tourists in
hor.lever, has been his role in arranging sales of lando Over the last'2 years
ageut for an D:glish hotel- ol.mer from up-cor:ntry. Ttre prices paid, 4O-lOOlOOOsh
for plots scattered across tire is3-and, contain sufficient incentive. In early
1!86 sonne grouli nenbers expresseo an interest in fol-lor*ing suit. These included
107
his or.n mother and. sister, v;iro connplained. that he was refusing to handle
He a:'gues that the constntction of tourist lod.ges on the isla^nd will bring
a t';ide rarig€ of benefitse not least a cheap arrd- reliabl-e supply of r.ratero
Tliis is lilrere mar:g' villagers place their hopes, believing that tourist
of its tatiings be put into a fr-rrrd fo:: vilJ-age d.evelopnentl orig:ir1aIly this f.ias
to }:.an'e been for botl: the islandts villa€psr but has been appropriated t6,'
I'Jasiui a-oneo Tlr.e or:ner cf Sliinouits ner;esi hotel- is cor.rnitted- to pay half of
the costs of staff acconoC.atioi: for a. health centre in the vii1age.2 I,kr.i""ru
-uillagers are nor,i keen io get their or..:r sl-ice cake.
of the It is al-so argued
that iroieLs neerr i&.rd.ro v;i13- provid-e en:ployr,rent opport'anities fo=.villagers and
create a l-ucrati-ve rnarhei for local- fisher':len a:rci hancl-i-craft producerso This
majr or may not be true" tsut r.rirat ls rnore cerbainl ancl not admitted, is -i;hat
I,iotes
1o Se:,rral politi.cs in l.Xl'.tro d.o not take the form described. by Bujra in her
si;uriy of a Sajuni vilJ.ageo The Shirazi have not ernploye6- slaves i:r the
recent pastl l;omen, not men, pla.J' the major role j-n cu-ltivati_on1 and
they d.o not engage in labour rnigration/prostituiion on a.r-$rlarge scale.
.I,lcr';irors oi.at Baj',r:ri are, ho','lever, rather more mobilco See Janet Bujra,
tProduction, Propertyr Prostitution: 'rSe:cual Pol-itics'r in Yurnbef in
,
Hazel Joirnson ancl Henry Sernstein (ed.s), T):ird I'lorl-d Liv"u of St*gslu
(Loncl-on: Heinenann, I}BZ). ft rnight te
prodtrction preclucles any confirrenent or restriction upon their visibility
in I'E:r:iroo
iialindi torrzrsi:ip and 14.0 krn norih of i"lonbasa. Bonani is a small. cenire lrith
locaiionr i;l tbe l.larafa clirrisron of Kilifi ciistrict. .lona:li ,,ras the first
of a n'anber of ,',oour,is groups to be formed in the area. trhe ',ri1Iage also has
-iEARS 1
FOzu,HTf'rfd
it has rts orrgins in a:r ar-iul-t eaucaiion class rnrriated. b77 t" nan and. atiended.
starto Untike Ag';iraye, hor,.;evel, it r.;as forned before the r.,onents group
prog?anne 'book fuJ-1 effect i:r the area. As such 3onani was sl,.ared..:nany ot' the
dcma:rdS ghiClr sfier:* :7r^r!:s in their ioz'na.i;iZe sta.ge anC rr,as lefi -r-ery nuCh io
Boma:tirs aduJ-t eci-ucaiion cl-ass -ir'c.siou.ncled i:r -la:.cir i9?j afier a l-ocal nan
available',.iithin the willage: the l-ocal prinary school- uas not built',urtiL
1981. The tiornan he asked. io gp rcu:rd and nersua.de other',:onen to join the -cIass
became the chain.jornan of its conrnittee and. l-ater of the tronenrs group. Herself
illiterate (and. a poor speaker of Svrahi.li) she was well- suited. io ihe task
for one of her o',.n: clrillren" She r^ias living in ilakalar sorTredistance
inlanC. of 3onc.ni, i;hen ber husband d-ied-, leavi.ng her rrith 4 yo'rng ciaughters
ancl _tregria.nt i.;ith her cnly son. Fol-lor.;ing Giriana practi.ce she a,rld her
'o-v -iowever,
c:riidren uere inherj-ied. her deceased. husbandr s el-,j.er brotirer.
rrhen the boy came of age irer ner.r ir'':-sband refused to send hiro to school. Angered
by iiris she registered a secret conplaint with the loca1 chief, uith i;he
result i;irat her husband. ivas gaoLed. ior 1-2 dEys '.:-ntiL he capitulated.. But he
refused. ro pay irryr-ching ior'rart'.s the boyr s ed.ucation. Fincling things d.iffi'ru.lt
mother:md. son noveci to Sonani, where one of her daughters had marlieci. This
was in 1963, after the boy had. completed.4. years of scirooling. Iielped. by her
daughter ar,nd son-in-Iaw she started c',:ltivai;ing cottonl but her husba.nd-
',iisited. afi;er every har'rest to cla.in ihe incone ano any otl:.er saleable
''i -'L+
rn<req<i nn< <l.a , ! r r . o : r ! : :" 6
^ ^v' s
- ao rT1 1 T € s l o l i s e to ihis she'r,-rrned- to a source of
ii:.oone '.:hici:. ste could itiore re3.Cily contrcl uithout e:ce:na- inierference: ;he
lcrel..'r:tg and sa-l e of inaize bee:.. Iiel-ped. by ihe proceecls frcm 'i;his her son
rri'l'l qco- Tn ioJl iris inother was stil_l strrr6gling to see him ihrou.l1 scirool e.ncl
'ccct:e ',he
e.nri si;.b;erruentl-;r :ecreiarX' oj ti:e l' o:enrs g?oupo S h e : r . 1g 9 l a r : - 3 i i t
'n:r-..:orr n
v L 'al erv< q s;;.rted at the sane tine. In the first jreaf She i.;aS paid. 1:;r
t
subscriptions brou,ght by iire pupils once a rnontir: 2sh per ehild. for ihe
nursery and. 4sh per uonan for the a.dnlt eclucation c1ass. In 1974 -the Social
Serv:ces de;artnent be;an paying irer 1!Osh a nontit ior irer ad-ult ieaching: ihe
nursery class ccniitrued vrithout external support '*ntil 1982, r.rhen a member n f
'Ioioiors coirnittee began iaying ihe tqacher 2l0sh cer nonth" I'lore
3ov'::rring
I11
ihan 20 r.tomen joinecl the adult ed.uca"tion class, incl'.:Cing ihe 2 r.rives of its
iorinder. Sone neasure of its success ca.n be gauged fron'uire fact that i,ihen
t .
tne teacher/secretary left tson:'rri in f983the grouprs accor:rrts r.iere kept by a
l.r'orria,rtl then vice-secretar;r' r,lho cordd. neither read nor wrir,ie at the classrs
incept:-on in 19?3.
The .c'rea-ter. 11s2',spreof success is that the cl-ass evol-vec1 into a l.roments
8:aoupo This pz'ocess'oegaJ3 j-:r -ihe collective effor-b of ihe irornen io constrr:ct
a. buiicling for iheir cLasses. Tirey cut a;rrd.canried. poles for the strrrcture and.
'iOsir '.rlth
raised- 150sh for i;ire actual burld-ing and i;o roof it rnakuti. In
Decenber L973 this br:il-tiing fel1 domr and- tire class r.roveC to another rented for
Fentecosial ci:u:'cir arrd. laier in 'bi:e s-'i-iched to a iree beliiir,-l ihe groupt s
Teat
ner.r baicery. Final-ly, ai; ii:e enci cf l-961, iirey noved. io Lhe nee.;"oy burlCing
af iiie Boriranj- ?:'o3:'essi-le ilenrs g?cupr r.;h:cn llad been iorrncled. in L)'lj.
Tn 1974 ihe ::onen re.ge"n a Zs'n l;eek17 stbscrrliion r:ra a roiaiing c:ed.it
associa'i:ion based. u!oi1 ccn-Lribuiions of 5::h per nenber per r^i€eko !l::is noney
uas cizviCed. at the end of eve::y nonihl benefactors receiving l-Oosh each r.;h.iIe
il:eir nunber '.raried according to i;he total sr:.n collected" Tn ]-976 the nomen
bega:r to offer i1:.err collectirre labo'ar serrices to oiher far':rers in the atee,
r:hnrcin-
vr:*:
pi. f.he rate
k v oi lOOsh :rer acre. A;:,onE ihe sen-ices tie;4 pe:'fo:':r-,ed
5;1ltJ
rrere hoe cr-rJ-ti:ration a.rtcl cotton rarrwesiing. This i;as an ilre.3.-rJ-ar aczi-vity
enC-not all of ti:e l;onren'cook part. lhose r:iro ciirl hati-chreir g:'oup and
bale.nce vas divided. out a:ron3 thern for i:rrlirriclual useo In ihe salne jreart
1976, the r.ronen onened a ba^nlc accoiurt in idal-ind.i l.ritir noney saved from i;ireir
strbscri-ltions . rurder ihe na.:re of Jaribr:.ni ( "1"*,t s trir! tt) :.rornents group. 'll:e
position she held. i;htough to L979. In 19?? '::re group aas visited. tpr and
LT2
regisiered" sith the l'linistry- of Culiure end Social Services. Ask-ed. to choose
a project the riomen clecid.ed- upon a bekery: at this tir,re ihe nearest supply of
-Ministry
policy the wonen l{ere adrrised to coniinue accur.rulating funds through
their group subscrintj-onso More substaniial support c1id. not cone 'oirtil ihe
foLlor,ring [ear rrhen, thz'ough the local offices of ihe i'tlnistry, the group
Boroani l{as one of i;he first 6 groups taken on by Tototo at the start of its
rr:ral wonents lrogramne in 1978, Ir al-so pr'ovecl to be tlte nost successfuL1 and
for na:4r years ttas the shoi..,1riece of ihe par'iicipdtory ne-rhodologl arlopted by
fototo fron its U.S. sDonsor, lior]-d Educaiion Inc. Bonnanits teacherf secte-taql
these to impressive use in inobil-ising ihe grol:.p a:rd- soluing ihe pz'oblens which
l.IorTrenr.rere alrear\r baking loa.ves in tireir first, nakeshift, bakery. A plot j-n
ihe centre of Bonani rvas clonaied c'J ibe :cti"ier of the groupr s only Slva}ili
presence of the chief arrd sub-chief. Lecl lry thej.r co-onlinator anrl encou:.a6ed"
W the Tototo facilitator (fiela super"risor), r.rho .risited 3ornani 7-12 i;inres
every nronth in ihe first year, the v;omen contr:bui;ed. their labour a.nd. raised
various subscrip'tions to assist in ihe building of the bakery. The group tried
absenteesl aid. a'i one stage threatened to seize srnal-l- stock irom menbers rihc
1 ' r1
problems in its orga.nisation were tackled. as they arose; ainon€. ihem rosters
show that betr+een l-978 and. 1!81 alone 33r483sh was spent on build-ing, rebuil-d-ing
and. frtting the bakery. A significant proportion of the early fwrd.ing carne from
the group itself, dranm from the profiis of bakj.ng e^nd the groupfs necklace
enternrise (see below). Other..rise nost of the capltal was pro'rid.ed. by oritside
souxcesr both the govern-'nent and- rriGos. Tabl-e J4 sunmarises the major exter.rreJ
TA3LE 33
*
l.I.c. c. K. a used oven, the services
rL - o
/
"t R
v Kananai of a builder to insicJL it
Conference and. bakery training for ihe
Centre group rnenbers
TAA,E 34 (cont)
' J +
the iI.C.C.K., l.iational Christien Council of Kergrar is Tototots parent organisa'r,ion
From the beginni.ng the enterprise was heavily dependent upon erternal
inputs a3d adrrice. The negotiations over the ATA0 garrtl ';rhich 'oegan.in i98f ,
r:nd.erline the extent to tvhich the enterprise was subject to decisions taken.
outsid.e of tlle groupo It was Tototo lrho contacted ATAC; 4rr liGO with its ovm
l l a
ind.ependent field of interest. In line with these ATAC pressed for the
instaf lation of a.n energf efficient si'-stern in Bomanirs bakery. In Jwre 1!82
reporb recommended tb.at erpa:eded. oven capacity. (which is uhat. Tototo end tbe
.t'romenwere asking for) be accompa.nied. t6r increased. wa,ter storage :::ed planting
In pursuit of this ecological goal lototo were put i^n touch with another
about finding a suitable pl-oto In tb.e event none was fouadr the idea came to
nougbte and ATAC settled t'or a larger oven nhich also heated. water from ihe
bakeryrs exj.sting storage tafiko This rvas not, however, the Last of ATACTs
i-ntenrentions in Bornani."
Oiher enk'rlpriseg
When Tototo began riorking -"rith Bonani a:rother p:'oject was r:li.ei1.iay:
ltere borrorqed- from a SwahiLi landou-ner. In l-979 this field was a!-',,ivated tn/
tractor for 2OOsh a:rd planted. in maize, then cotton" Tb.e naize crcp l^tas
divided. alnong g:.oup mernbersr as was 4OOsh from the sale of coi;ton {3:cup
gccor:nts simply show a"n incorne of 30Osh f:'orn cultivai;ion and no expend.iture).
'oy d-e.;elopedr
this field. uas subsequently reclained. its oueer and, as ihe bakery
Idore lucrative r,,rhile it lasted rras the har.,ticraft tra.de inii::ated- blr Tototo.
This was based upon the production of trarU-tional Giria.nra nda"].e neckJaces for
the tourist market. The vromen bought l-engths of ndqle copper wire from
specialist producers and fashioned. these ini;o rriwele, heavy pendantsr aJrd
vira^ngi, with brase and colorued- beads edd.ed.. lf feet of viire, bou4bt for 1sh,
was enough to nnake 2 or 3 viwelel the cornnonest product, so1-d to Tototo for
u-6
10sh eachl r.'ihile virangi fetched.20sh. Wcnen report being able to make up
to 1OO or 15O viivele in a vreek a.nd at one point group rnembers engaging in this
Tototo shop record.s shorv that in i978 L4r95tsh was paid. out to indiuiC.uals and
)2Os1n to ihe groupr r.ihich took the _oroceeds from one necklace in every baicb
an inC.ivid.ual ozrcd.uced.. This noney was pi-ougbed. back into the bakery along
riiti:. the rnoney raised. from group subscriptionso The ',+ornenl irollever, pr-cduced.
nore neckl-aces than ti:e Tototo shop could sel11 and- after 2 years the trad.e
came to a halt along lrith other forrns of handicraft produclion which Tototo had
aiternpied. to introduce" Looking back upon ihis enterprise group nembers blarne
Tototo for its faih:re, aJr er'rerience sini1ar to llkr.rirorso The Loca1,
l,laiindil narket for necklaces remains sraall - thef are bought by Kamba rnid.dLeriren
and. sold to tourists in ihe town - and nda.le prod.ucticn is not a significanrr.;
source of incone in Bona:ri; nu.ch tir.e losii;ion t"rhen ihe groupr s traCe with
Eototo started.
ihe groupo A contingent of about 20 wonren joined fram ltlad.zql,arlj and. Purn',.ranj.r
some mil-es west of Boman:i anr.d a^n hor:rt s walk fron iire bakeryo !hi-s proved. a
constraint upon ihei.r acti'le pariicipai;ion in i;he grollpo In early 19?9 it i*as
suggested. tirat they nrig'ht start a separate Droject in I'iad-zayani to nake nore
effective use of their iime err.d-labour" This problern car.re to a head. l-ater in
ihe ;rear',rhen tne itreAze:Sani and Farn',ra:ri uon:len failed to contribute their laborrr
to i;he construction of a tea kiosk in tsomarii arrd were asked to pay a cess to
nake up for the fasto Following ihis, in lt80r they J.eft the glpup to fo:rn
their own i.n l{ad.zayani" This ga"oup, "'rbich buiLt its orvn tea-shop, was
adopted. by Tototo in its or'm rignt in 1!82. Bona.nits kiosk projecb, meanvrhile,
d.i€- not take off. But the group d.id- taf,<e on a nurnber of new members io nrake up
for the lost contingent. Th.is was ,loue after consr.:J-tation between the ci:ain.;onan
11?
and. ihe 1ooal chief, a^nd brcught Bomanit s ;lenrbership rrp to 53.
.grcup subscriptions, -a1l- aitention r'ras direc'i;ed. sposs tb.e bakery. Al-1 seened.
wel-l r:ntiL 19821 althougt3 Foitp nembers ?rere d.isappointed" wiih the snaI1
secreta"rXr (siill the co--ord.inaior, but no longer paid. t'y Toioto) left lonrani
for a yeart s nurse4y school iraining in ltatugar south of Mornbasa. Eer oLace
as local nursery i;eacher was taken by the yor:ng daugtrf,er of a group mernber,
the third trea,surer (f 98e-85) g whil-e the woment's adult education class
ienporarily joined- with one starteA W ihe nenls group a:rd taughi by their
secreiary: an experinent lvh:ich, hor';ever, d.id. not last: longu In the absence
oi -bheir secretany ihe gznup .i.id- '.;eLl; and ihisr paracloricalljfu bro'rght,
their problems out into th.e cpen. In Janru.ry bhe 6roup raised- leOOOsh, 8OOsir
of iiris providei, by the ner.r treasurer, to paX- off d-ebts wirich had accr:nmlated
with the locaL shcps for the purchase of aheat flou:rr reposiiion their ovens,
renew their licence and. bql a frarned photograpb of the Presid.ento In Febnrarlr
they raised anoiher 11OO0sh to rirake a buJ.k pu:rchase of wheat flIour. With the
profits fronr baking with ihis the Eroup bought a bic;rcle (zrOOOslr+) io assist
e.norlg the rnenrbers, and. had. l-rOOCsh left over. At the end- of the year this r,ras
tak-en by the g:lupts secretary io be d-erosited. in i;l:.e banlr, along rriih the
profit fronn a d.isco r.rhich ha.d been he1d on the balcery ploto The vrorner were botb.
simiLar prrcfits hacl not sholm in earlier Jreaxso At first suspicion turrred. upon
the ohainioman a.nd.the nelr treasure?, before attention srritched. to the grouprs
secretary, rvho ha.d. always kept the accor:n*s eJrd taken their monenr to the bank.-
118
Serious encluiry begen in 1983. The chief was caLIed- in a.nd asked. to look
over the groupr s books. He begen in ApriJ- a^nd gave up in Ju:ee, r.lnable to
reach anXr d.efinite conclusion. In Jrrne the groupl s secretary, who had been
taken into fi:.Il-iirne employment by Tototo ast a:r assistant fieLd. suoe:rrisor,
moved with her family to a. neart[r village where they bad. a L2 acre fa:rrlo In
JuJ.y ATACTs Project llanager uisited. Bornani to checic up on their 2JrOOOsb gra.nt.
Rlnding tb.at noi all-.was in order, she returned ]-ater in the month '.rith a
In lugust a Technoserve aud.itor was sent to Boma.ni and chased up the ex-
secretary, who had retained. margr of the groupf s accor:nts a^nd-receipts. Asked_
bow rnuch money the group haC in tbeir berk erccount sbe ga.ve a d.iffereat figure
to that which she had earLier given'the chief. These sums were in the range of
llBOOsh. The money roust, she said., be irr the Jaribur:i accou:et; but she
could not rennemberhon rnuch because it had not been used. for sorne tirqeo On
being asked. to produce the releva^nt receipts she said that she irad. taken them
mere 53tstr {! cents. The combined. d.eposiis clearly ie1l short of the amount
which the secretary had. been given to bazrk at the end. of 1982), ruogether lrith
3r3o0sh from the -{TAC grant whj-ch she had. been given via Totoio to acccunt to
the groupo Meanwhi3-e the group accow.ts for January-jrure 1983 showed.a pei;ty
Faoed. with these facts and evid.ence of other imegularities Technose:rre ald
the group members pressed. for astion to recover the rnissing fi:nds. llotl::ing was
achleved. r:ntil Janr.:ary 1984r when the forrner secretarXr was j.nduced. to sign a
formal statement admitting the loss of 2lr'f2!sh 30 cents plus various ba^nk
receipte and acceoting her accowrtability for this losg. Thls statenent was
grcup officergl the chairman of the menrs group, the chief and the sub-chj.ef.
TAsLg 35
TA3LU 3q (cont)
TOTIT 23t9&.55
from that given in ihe signed- staternent and it is d.Lffictrlt io'reconciLe the
trio. Examinaiion of surrrivj-ng goup accou:rts froro the early perroC. and- the
a. number of errors.
be nra.d.e i{hile there seems liitle d-oubt tha,t the secretarT-
Given ihe inconpleteness of avail-able records - some group mlnnbers cl-aim tha,t
the separate bread accounts were b'ar:rt by the secretarXr when she left Somanj. -
g:roup rnembers. This enquiry took place in a very charged' atnroslrhere and 'uhe
bj-tter:ress this affair generated has yet to subside. Looking backr group
nenbers say that they now recognize r,rhat they d.id. not at the tiine. tsefore the
'r{hen she
crisis they had ccnplete i;nrst in their secretary a^nd.teacirer.
her a.nd-no one else was sufficiently literate or felt cornpetent enough to cr.oss-
checlc the accounts she kept. l.lhen she toLd group roembets that thel€ was no
reason for others to accompany her to the bark they never suspected. that she
might have different plans for their fundso Now the6r thiDk otherw'ise alrcl
121
believe that over the years she was pocketing nonelr ent:rrsted- to her bit by
have aLrea.d.,,vbeen touched upon. The thirrC. treasurer reca1ls, for exam.ple,
that when she weat to colLect 1r600sh owed. to the group and. individ.ual members
by a, Congoni custoner in 1!82 she arrived. to find that lrOOOsh bad 6,f1.saay
beea taken by the seoretanXre tb.e porbion oned to the gtoup as opposed. io
bitterly over sirnil-ar'incidentsr d.isputing su:ns whicb had. been tritb.d.rarrn and
fhis affair has had a, d.ra.n,atic effesb upon tbe groug a^nd its eaterprise.
(_ In this respect ritcbcraft belief has played. a^n iinportaat rcle. The background.
io this is as folLows. l'{bea ihe bakery ivas :-j-rst buj.lt the secretary arranged-
medicine inthe building. fhis was to proieci the enterorise from the
nacirj.nations of jealous husband.s and otherso fhe ned-icine was instaLl-ed in ibe
presence of 2-3 other group members. l{hen the secretary 1ef-t Bomani in r:rid
inorning outside the bekery door after. one of the womenhad beea beking through
ihe rright and had. neither seen nor heard. anJrolre apprrcach. On another
occasion bread. doUdr rose excessivelyl burst open, a^ndsrnalL biting ants
was for:nd. to be stale upon arrirra.l and- had. to be thrpwn d\!{/t In-December 5
boxee (fq4 kS) of wheat flor:r failed and had to be written off. tr'ina1Iy1 in
March lr914, the glass frames hold.ing the groupte licence, registration
nurnber, and picture_ of the Presid.ent wero found one morning smashed,on the
out. Frigbtened W these events all but a handfiil of women stopped. coning
to the bakery. The inplication was that the former secretaey had rernoved tbe
bakeryts protective medioine and $a-s in some way resDonsible for vbat nas
'h.appenlng. This had a more potent effest upo,.* the women wbo were not
members d-ropped.out in the course of the yearl sorl€ at tbe insisbence of their
T.AgtE 36
Christia^n 14 15 30
MusLin 3 z
1'l
TraCitionalist 13 4
TOT.AL$ JU 22 >z-
fhe womerr.*ho left at this time have sti1l not returr:ed. to active participation
that most of them r^rill return to the grcup and think that it is only a roatter
. of time before they do. The Locfl sub-chief thinks that they should. not be
allowed. back in but the group d.isag:reesl althougb. they have enterlained. the
tbought that those frorn the 1t8O intake wbo left should. be penalised. t6r having
to pay sonethlng in reoognition of the labour and rnoney wbich 19?3 nembers
_ earlier invested. in the group. Roughly equa.L numbers of 19?3 and 1!8O members
lefb in 1!83-84: arnongthe former were the r,rives of the adult ed.ucatfon classrs
121
a fact recognised. b'y the lromen themselves. T'leis affaj.r has left the group
dominated. by Christia,ns in a, way r,rhich it was not before the crisis. The
d.irectly cluring the crisi.s; a task takea olr b;r {IAC and- Bechnosetsreo Tb.e,ex-
secretary, no.w an assistant field. supe::visor, renained Tototor's main contact,
t.ltb the group a^nd g-iven the accusations whj-ch were d.j-rected toward.s her ii is
hardly surprising that thls contast was suspend.ed.-i;hr.or:gh1984. triollordng h.er
signed' adoission of gtilt no arangeneent ha.d.been na.d.efor repatrrment of the
m-issing ftrnd.s and none was forthcoming. ATAC a"nd.fechnosexve continued. t.o press
for action a.nd-in November 1984 arra^ngeda neeting rith Tctotors Director,
Bomanits new secretarye arrd her accussed. predecessor at Karr.amai. It was agreed.
that fototo wor:]-d.d-ed-uct the 313OOsh nissing from tne -A.TACgrerlt from the
latterts sa1ary and 3lOOOsb.of ihis was given to the group the following montho
Tototo maintained, then as now, that theft of the nrissing fi:nd.s could. not be
i.t was clear that roost of the grouprs prcfits over the period. irr question had
been reinvested- in build.ing a.nd equippin€ tb.e bakery. In any event when tbe
a[eg€d. misappropriation took place the secretazy qas not a Tototo employee:
Tototo could. not therefore be heId. accor:ntable for the nrissing ffrnd"s, a problem
lvhose, solution lay rrith the 1ocal authorities.
L24
Aga,inr more interesting than tbe elusive tnrth are the effeots whicb
these d.ifferent stances bave UaA. llhe problem remains in- ttre hand.s of tbe
local" adninistrati.on a.ad to d-ate no action has beqr taken. As a. result the
g?couphas become progressively estra:rged. frorn the local agents of the state.
ndssing f\mds tb.e-chlef a.nd.sub-chief have not d.one arrythiag', whiLe.the group
Some nemberg suggest tbat they are acting (or rather not actlag') in collusion-:
vrith tb.e. ex-secretarXrr who nor trol-ds posts in KAI.IUup to district 1evel and.
has a^ number of influential corurestions. In any case the wonen generalS-y bo1d.
their chief ancl sub-chief in Iow regard. and. ha,ve as fiJitle to clo with then ae
( -
possible. Cne way this is manifested is in their relusta^nce to participate
whose earlier eathusiasm for s:uch events had earned. her the aiclgrane I'Mana
telling irin that she had enough '*crk to d.o at home a.nd.in the bakery and. noiing,
l'leanwhile the group hadl for obviou-s reasonsr become estranged. from
us€r 3 wieldy leCgers were purchased. by the grcup: one for imprest cash, one
for cash sal-es a.nd one for ba.nk tra.nsactions. Thereafter the aud.itor visited.
Boma^ni every 3 or { months, penrsed. the accor:nts a^nctadded. copious notes for
the instruction and benefit of ttre secretary. fhe hoped. for effeot of these
after their ar:ditor had visited. the group in July L985. they rrrote obsenri.ng
tbe nebd. for bakery rosters, a code of nrJ.es, and. prrcfit-sharing upon a
and. the opening of its tea-shop in Ll8l (see below) 1 Tototo thanked. Techno-
setlt/e for their assistance and 1et then h:ow that they wordd continue the
job -i;hemselves. Ir llf,arch )_986 [ototo folIor*ed f,b:is up tryr sending one of their
(
ol.m staffr a, volr.utteex second.ed.frorc Lutbera^n Horld Re1J.ef, - to rvork rrith the
wonen over a 3 non*b period.'and. review tbeir businbss a.nd accounting practice
Ietailed r'ecord.s of bakery sales ar:.d.costs are not available for the period-
before the crisis in 1983. fn 1!81 sales of bread a^re record-ed. as totalling
2lrooosh (a.n average of !r?5osh per nnonth) tut the frrll list of expenditure on
ingred.ients and. rnarketing' is nissing. The ATAC consr:.ltarrt Jent to Bomani in
1!82 estimated i;hat tbe bakeqi was making sorne llJOOsb. every nonth. Ifowever,
the reccrds kept after Technoserr/ets intenrention show the enterprise in a
rather less coinfortable situation, stnrggling to break €V€nr fhis inforrnation
is sumnarised. in lable lJr show'ing bread saLes anrl direct prod.uction and.
mar*ceting costs between Ja.nua,ry 1984 a^naAugust 1985. This d"oes not show total
bakerXr gutnutl but. only the portion orgenised. collectively by the groupr Since
the starb of the enterprise ind.ividual members had also baked. a.nd.sold. brea.d. for
TtstE 3?
IdONMILY NO. OF
Dro$fivYEAR INCOI.IE ffiPBIDIITUNE B.OLA}{gE BAKERS
May rl
9 1235 8r433 Bo2' 20
.Itrae rt 6 r4 @. -852 15
7 r3tZ
rr groBG 17
t -_- Ju-1y 9 t865 773
August rr 4r827 _1I
5to4o J
October rr -735 10
4r283 5ro18
llovelirber rl 2r376 21226 150 9
Decembe:e' rl 8r694 g,o4B -35+ 13
lilarch rl
July rr
The price of the roain ing:red.ient (wheat fior:r) a,nd the wholesale a.nd.
retail pritces of the prod.uct (loaves of bread.) are fixed tvy the goverrunent.
fb.is pricing stnrotnre d.oesr howe!€r, leave.sone room for profit: in theorXr
baking profits should. represent between one fifth anrd one ttdd of total sa^les.
Table 38 is based. upon December 1985 prices for the prod.uction and sale of Q
loaves.
TAsLE ]B
Group mernbers confirned that ihey regularly nade profits of this orCer from
the group absorbs nost of the wastage which occurs in the course of prod.uction
t6r women who are also baking for indiviclual profit. The fact that no records
are kept of inclivid.ual- baking nrakes this d.ifficult to check a.nd control.
Bomani shares thie problem rrith a^nother Tototo-sponsored group and. bakery
I28
nhere ind.ivid.uals have similarly favoured their own over groud baki.ng.3 This
effect upon the bakezyrs maz*ets. The flour has frequently been poor in qrrality
and loaves have spoiLed: on other occasionsr as in ilarch aad july 1985r the
after rnixingl a.:rd it is d.ifficult to seclt:pe arr3r conpensation from retailers a.nd.
wholesal-e supplierso In August 1985 4 boxes (g5 *e) of flIour fai-led and. the
group only got their money baolc on orr.. the state-o'wTred supoliers, ASfAt
{
claim that poor quality resul-ts frorn the rvheat croo being ha:rresierL too ear1y.
these prcblems is for the group to brly flIour by the sack (J boxes rvorih). Bni,
the nearest place sacks can be obtained is direct fron, ATTA in Mornbasaand. the
ertra transport costs this wor:J-d.involve are generally considered. too high.
Instead a 1ot of the g?ouprs flour comes in boxes fron 1ocal retailers in Bomani,
prod.uction, the bakeryl although stil1 the only' one in the area, has lost
most of its rnarkets to competitors from further afieLd" Table 39 ind.icates the
prod.uction has been halved. Between L!8O and. rdd-1985 individua-L bakers baked.
1 box of flour for the group arrA + a box for themselves. In October 1985 this
was cut to 3 a box for the group and + of a box for indivldrlal profit. At the
same time, following advioe from Tototor individual sales were restri.cted. to
the markets outsid.e Boma.nl where bread can only be sold at the wh,olesale prlce
'l
20
TABLE 3q
INTTIAL
SIZE OF STASU$
PL.[CE tstrrER ORD&?. DEC.85 COirfi.miTS
TA3LE 39 (cont)
of 3sh 5o cents per loaf. iienceforih only group brea.d nas io be soLd. in Bomani
itseLf at the nore profitable retail price of 3sh ?O cents. fn ear3-y 1986
In late 1985 the group was responding to its marketing problems tryr seeking
to establish its orrn retail, outlets. In llarafa ihe wome!:.planned to open
a storel to be rr:n by a paid assista.nt alrd. selling Bornani brea.d. as weLl_ a,6
fresh vegetablee. A suitable build.i-ng was located. but permission to go ahead-
vdth the ente{orise was blocked W the 1oca1 chief, a former qr:.stomer and. hotel
owner hirnself. More pronising were plans to buil-A a. sma1l kiosk in Gongoni from
which to selI bread and hot and. cold. d.rinks, again using a paid. assi.stalt.
fhrougb the efforts of the 3r4 treasurer a plot was gre.rrted. to the group free of
cbarge and. pbrmission to buiLd. was g?arted. in December b,y the chief of tr\:nd.i.sha
location. MeanwhiS.e, the group had opened its ou.n hotel- 1n the bakery building,
realising an ar:nbition d.ating from 1!J!. fhig was achieved. with the help of
131
Tototol which bad renewed its active invoLvement r,rith SonEJri follorring a
plea made W the chain+oman and 3rd. treasurer in ea,rly 198j. flrd hotel was
officialLy opened btrr lototors Director in Octoher, a^ndthe group presented.
rrith utensil-s a.nd.ingred.ients -for the irritiation of the enterprisei Taking
it in turr:s F'core of active nembers bega^nselling tea, sometimes scones
and. other kinds of sweCt breadr. and. loaves from the bakery. Ingredients for
the tea were bought as need. arose from the local sh.ope whiLe other produets
were provid-ed. by both group members alrd others. Tbe erbra 2o cents gpined
in nearbtrr Marikebwril renteC. from a Swahili owner for l5Osh a year. The
resulting sesa&e crop was sold. for 5OOst and cotton for 1r2OOsh. 5OOstrof this
wa's spent on polythene wrappers and. flor:r for the bakery, all of which
spoiled. Hla.:nswere afoot to d.iviile the remaining 112O0sh between the women
wbo had worked the field accordlng to their d.j.ffereat labour lnputs: but by.
the end. of L9B5 this had stil-l not been done. In 1985 the group failed to
132
obtain secarne seed. and instead greil a. crop of maj.ze, most of which was
stoLen from the stalks before it could be ha,rrrested. Ehe cotton crop was
sti1l being picked. and sorbed at the encl of the year. fn 1985 the group
inland of Bomarui and near the home of one of the members. rrlhil-e a processing
antl canrring factoqy i.s curently being pfanned- for the area, the wonen
IIOUSEiOLN;ECOIIOIfT
and esbended. houseb.old composition) on l-2 active a.nd.inastive members and- the
household.s to wh:ich tbey belongo llost merobers are Giriarna from i;he hini;erl-axrd.
of Malindi" 0ne, the 2nd. treasurer (now inactive) I is SwahiLil while the
4th treasurer was borrr in Somani to a Dununa father and. Giria^na mother (also a
group nenrbe:r). tr'ew have ha.d.anqr scbool educa,tion and a nurnber were first
married. in their early teensr some yeats before they bore childreno Bridewealth,
sc&rool leaver, and may be parbly paicl in cattle. Polygrrly i.s practised.
1985 26V wete either widowed. (l5f) or divorcea (ff%) I anC.the interviewed-
in Dla.ni a.nd.Jiba.nal al-ttrough members househoLd.s are rather more d.lspersed and.
fasrE 40
A@ IN IEARS
t>tg 2a-24 2>29 30-34 35-39 &-44 4>49 fr..54 5>rg 60-64
2_
TABTE 4,1
2l std..? D 1 1 1 1 secretargr
22 u z 1 1 1 corunittee
1____
30 i{ A
z 1+6 5 !
active
32 lt I
3 3 1 a active
/
35 sta.3 D 2 1+O+5 t_ 1 2 1 active
A1 11 1 B 1 7I
z inactive
, 1
+L 1,1 1 10 1 B l_ n 2 1 1 inactive'
46 l{ 1 I L5 1 11 1 2 2 3 3r.d treasllrer
rAsrg 42
Rg,agrol{
BEN}IffiN r\O.0F ADULT$ CIiILNRBI TOT.AL
E(Tn{Du) GROUP
IIOUSE{qT,NS MEMBERS] male female
headed bry a I 3 4 2L 2B
na.n with 2
rrives in 1 (r) 1 3 4
separate
househo].ds
( ' iacluding a. 1 2 7 10
son lrith 2
i
-;
wives in (r) 1 1 ?
separate
houseb.oLd.s
3
-:;
i t2
headed- by a 2 L 6 1L
nan wii;b 5
nives in Z (:.) 1 1 2
separate
households
L2 1B
1 2 2 1 0 1 4
- _ -
3 t5
5 1 A
I+ 22
1B 2g
Gultivation
. Boroa.ni lies r.ritbin the lO-crile strip forurerly he1d. by the sr.rltans of
was initiated. in 19?B ir:.th assista4lce- from the -lustralian governmeni. Land.
ca.n eventua,lLy be secr:red W palrmeni of 6rCOOsh. Most of the Land. rrithj-n the
lO-miLe strip is still- owned.by people the 1oca1 Giriarna, refer to as SwabiLi
cultivate on l_end which they d.o not. have title to. soma bav.e, reached
(_ _
agreenient liith the Swa.hiLi landovrners a.nd.orl-tivate ihe la"nd. for free; others
paf a yearl-y rentr-often nominalr for its use" Ttre najority of landoiqners
are absentee, living and. n:nning businesses in lfalindi, Mombasa and. other
oi,rnerst This bas resulted. in a secondary tier of 1a^nd rights and rowrershipl
operating among the Giriama themselvesa land. anrd trees are bougtrt qnd. solcl
regard-less of fu11 legal ownership. Large areasr of land remain uncleared. and.
some loca1s have obtained. ertensive holdings ihrouglt clearing busb, nore'
ertensive than those available in other coastal d-istricts. There is, however,
press their clainns: to repossess land they only have to compensate squatters
for the trees they have planted. Loca.l resistance manifests itself in the form
higil rate of resid.ential rnobility in the area. Even tbougb the woments group
has title to the bakery plot tbe former owner6, luoluding the inactive 2nd.
136
treasurerr continue to bold d.iscos on it from r.rhich they alone reap the
profits.
thrrcugh the year. ldai-ne, the rnain subsistence crop, is often interpJ.a.ntecl
il:ith sesane and. its haruest in August ca^nbe folloffd'oy the plaaiing of a-
season beginsr lasting througti to the long rains and the start of the nert
(' yea"trs agriarltural cyclo. l{ost agricrrltural labour is performed. tryr women,
inputso
TAsLt 43
A8E]L
clll,$.lll
Me Fi PLA0E OMIER.SEP ACNES, LASOIIR CROPS, EAR\TEST COi,ff'IN.{TS
[.[3LE 43 (cont)
T
tagrE 43 (cont)
t
F. 12 - Marjjrebuni ctrltivated 2 with naize 1 sack no fertilizer;
uith (of 3) chi-Ldren poor'harrrest
pe:missioor of and a.:cd depeaderrt
SwahiIi, owner' husba.:rd. upolr. shops
cotton poor ' no pestioide;
t sold. fo:r lOosh
b5r husband.
cashews
TABTE 43 (cont)
TABLE+3 (oont)
TA8LE 43 (cont)
Income
As Table 43 indicatee income frrom casb crop sales is usualLy taken W the
household hea.d.sare nen (aff tut one in Tab1e {2) a^nd-for mantrrof thero this is
wbo a.1so have some forn of employment. fabLe 44 shows the occupation or
fasrrE 44
( - *
NO IIIJSB.AII-' iiLrsS.gJ{D El'iPT,orm IiUSBAIIDUNB'trT,0fm
widowed. divorced. own seLf: other
business enpl-oyed
B 6 r9
L+ 16 L>
Susbandst controL of inconre is not confined. to the proceeds from crop sales
alone, but ertend.s to all pr"oducts of theil r.ri.vest labour. In l-ocal Giriama
exercise tbis control and what portion of her income a rife may be allowed to
d.eterrnining what effect group *"*iu""t income has; most of thern are first and
foremost members of bouseholds which they d.o not head. [he group itself doee
not trave the power to d.eterrnine what happens to the incorne it prnvid.ee for its
upon the agreement a.nd support of their husband.s a.nd household heads. Thue the
143
formd.er of Somanirs adult ed.ucation clasa, who. ba.d.bis 2 wives join in L9?3.
When the bakery glas in operation he paid. for a.nothgi' householcl memberr his
recentl3r wid.owed motb.erts sister, to joia the group a^nd.when she d.ropped. out:
througb illness bis yor:agr thirdr wife took her pIace" the:rl in the wake
of tb.e 1!83 crisis, he pul1ed a3-1 3 wives out of active participation in the
gloupo
to tbe denrise of Sonan:i Progressive Hents group. fhis was found.ed in 19?9 aad.
later adopted t6r Eototo lritb a fishj-ng project. whioh proved. soroewhat inappropriate.
to. local. coaditionso Very few members were experienoed. fisbe:xr_en a,r:d tbe rest
were- r:n1rilling to r:nd.ertake the ctifficult work of -fishing at nigbt far a,+ray
( - -
from horne on -i;he Tana river. Dissatisfied. ,iih ihis state of affairs members
then 'nrasthe adult classts formderr wb'r,ook mone6rto trade it rnaize" A.long
d.ecisions a^nd.rmbappy with the smal-1 income lshich tbeir collective enterprise,
produced. the grbup, d^issolved into inactivity in 1!83. In effect. the rnen we1g
l{omen are rather nore accustomed. to co-operation ( a,ad.being toLd w}lat to do), and
a,S second.ary earners of househoLcl income ar€ llpre readil-y sat'i.sfied. by the flriit-s
UnLike the othel g?oups studied. in this report Soma^niltas a long history of
prrcvidin€ lts memberg witb incorne tb.rougb its enterprS.see. Tbe chairwonait
( see above) 1 played a.n importa.nt role in encoura4'ing her fellow rnembers to
follow suito Hlren the neclclace enterprise was r:nd.ertiay she pressed. produoore to
sav6 sone of their income by investlng lt in gpatgr arrd in some oaces she kept
tM
mone5r d-ue to individuals r:ntil they had acottu'.t1ated. enougb to do so. fbis
policy met witb some successr a^nd.some rnembers began to invest in stoclc (see
Table 46 below) , af i;hough there ltas no guarantee that the,y would be allowed.
control of the incoure from iheir herds rather tha^n being o-o1iged. to speud. i-li
Sigrlificantlyl wh.en money frpm necklace sales was brought by [ototol the
tb.e chairvioura,nr a,n act of obeisaace to tb.e real stnrqbure of oontrol designetl
to forestall a.qy objections. One woman recalls that her husbaad. freely
slarrghtered. her goatsl kept together rrith bj.s orae herd., for household
both from baking for individual profit and froin d.ivision of coilective group
profits, The relation between individ-ual a.:rd group baking a^nd.the effect this
has had upon the efficiency of the latter bas alrea$r been discussed.. Saking
rosters are not enoloyed. and there ,i.s consid.erable variation in the frequency
of baking from one member to another: one constrai:rt upon membersr participationr
is tbeir ability to buy the ingredients for individua.] baking and so make ihe
between Ja.nuary 1984 a.nd August 1985. Gi,ren the fixed. ratio of group to
rABrE 45
TA3LE 4q (cont)
TasLE 45 (cont)
Hhile the returns upon actual labor:r are reasonabler these figures indtcate
that over tj.me income gs:ined. from individt:aI baking is quite sma11 compared with
the sources of income arrailable to some wonen (sg,Ie of 2 boitl-es of rnilk per d.ag;
wouldr for exarnple, bring in l8osh a rnonth). From tiris point of view it is
significant that some group members have continued. rrorking fron time to time as
casua.l labor:rers at the sal-t works nea,r Congoni, where they ca.n earn 4O-8Osb ia.
a datr a.nd.up to 5OOsh j.n a fortnight. Among iU""u wonen a're members 6, Z.Z, Z7
linited. and some are consid-ered. be6rond the pa.1e by the active core of Cbristian
(and lftrsllm) members: pa-id agricultural labour carries a hear4y stigma and meuize'
beer brewing ls proscribed. for them (the ohairwoman gave up beer brering a^nd
converted to Chr{.etianity a,fber od.ucating her son). Saking catt prcvid.e roucbi
as smch as the women themselves. One woma.:lwas pr:l]-ed. out of the group by
her uaemployed. husba^rrd.because she refused. to give ldn the proceed.s fron her'
come to discr:.ss the matter wi',h him; an offer which they rejected. ldale
active member only bakes for the group because her husba^nd, an eatreprenellr
r,ritb a shop and- 2 grinding mach-ines, takes nost of tbe money which sb,€ eams.
Her youngei co-w'ife, rather more adept at- persuading hin to let b.er retain a
sbare of her income, continues to bake botb. for herself and the Soupc
Bakery profits been diwided 3 times. Iur 1!BO members received l0Osh
_have
eacho In 1982-83 they received varying sun6 accord.ing to th.e nrmber of times
t-
they lwi baked.o in Mali'198d-lOrOOOsh'tras divided oa the sane principle r,riih the
help of the fechnoseffe auditor. liembers were g'iven llsh- 50 cents for their
first baking anct'lLsi: 5O cents for each subsequeat one. The incornplete recorriti
which sunrives shows ibat: they received d.iffe:r'ing arnounts up to 3l6sh 40 cents -
tlris for the equivalent of 29 days' l-abour. TabLe 46 outlines tb.e uses to- which
interviewed. nembers put the money- fron ttris a.:rd earlier d.ivisio11.sd.
TA3LE 46
*
Me YEAR AI.'IOUNT USE
RECEf,\TgD
H lgSo lOOsh add.ed.to 4o0sh from her individua.l baking and boqlht
a cow. By 1985 had. bred. J others a.nd was seI1ing. 3-4
bottLes of milk a datr for Jsh each. Cowekept i:r her
husband.ts herd; a herrisboy paid 220sh a nronth b3r
herself, her husba;ndr a^ndher daugbterl e.
148
TABLE 45 (cont)
( - .
J 1982-83 SOsh bougbt a yo,.rng goatr r+nich died-.
I
D. L984 ?Osh spent on daily bouseholcl needso
n' L9B4 3OOsb bor:gbt 1 acre of cashews fron a Giriama for 2OOsh;
th,e oroceed.s from the crop are taken b;r her h.usband.
( --- Renrain:ine l-OOsh soent on food.
H l_9B4 3OO+sh h.elped. husband. pay second.ary school fees for their
SOIIo
then it is 15Jce1y that the profiis from these rs"iLL be used. to the genera"l
household. head.: the net effect being mucb the sarne. l{onent s acocss to incone
E ln Tables 43 a.nd {6, one of the nost active a,nd.enterprising o.f group
nembele. Apart from those given a;bove hel sourcee of income iaclude the
sale of water (lringing in sone ?Osh a dry) brought from another village
ouaed iry b.er husband.. In 19?8, with tbe consent of trer husband., she bought
tad<e the proceeds from the sale of cashews from these field.s a^ndone other
wb.icb she had. cleared herself some years before. fn I9B5r horrever, he
d.ecidecl that she coulA benceforth keep tJre rnoney herseLf. Els reason for
d.oing this was to make his.Fanagement of this and anotb,er wifers householat
easier: instead of taking tb.e noe€fir a^ndtben harring to give nost of it baclc
( -'.
'bo his ',iife for various household etrDensesr it nade sense to let her'd.o 'Lb.e
-incone and labou= tbatr met all of their basio subsistence reqrrirements;
sufficient income was l-eft for hiin to be able to oorafortabl-y reLinquish some
oi ttis e,ontrolo Bhis was not a consequence of his wifers income or group
membershS.pl but tbe outoome of a more genera"l: understanding bettireen tbem ini
househoLcl.
Ore d.ay in 1985 the ex-treasurert s yowrger br.other anrnor:ncedtb her that he
had made 3lOOOsh fr.orn his work a,a a, builder a.nd sbe offered. to take 2rOOOsh bf '
this and buy cattLe for hln ae a sensible ievestment. lhrch to her 'llsgust,
150-
bowever, he spen',, all of i;he money in 3 dayg in bt5flng beer and. aistributing'
g-rfts to his friend.s; anr actior, consisteat ldth the redistributional: ethoe of
bouseboLd economilrand sharply at odds r,ritb her protestant ethlo. flie loca1
Saptist and Seventh, Dary Ad.ventist) encoura€e nembers to pay i;heir social dueg
througb the church, and. to this end ask then to surrender lO$ of aL1 iheir
income. Tbus ncost of the active members of the womenr'sgroup give portions of
their ipdi-1ridual incone to the churches tbey belong tor tb.ough bow strictlg
they a.dhere to the nrLe is d.ifficult to sayo Cburch merobership alone is not
in Mapiroo
Tbe sonenr s group itseLf bas cone increa,sing!-y under the control of women
for lea.dership a^nd entrepreneujrial- acti\rittr nore ertensive t?ra.rt those available
to theu at home. The new rr,r:€ESr:a€r, no; one of the rnost' active of group
divorcee with a re$rlar sourc€ of j.ncone from her nurserXr a:ld adult education
teachj.ng-in tbe villageo the ohairrroo?ur; :nea.nwhile, is now the hea.clof her
own houglbold a^nd.enjo,ys the supporb of .her working son: the suoceseful
Notee
'
L. No rritten accounts su.rv-ive fron tlr-is period. and.1 while agreein€ upoa
1 the general. outliae, group members interrriered. in 1985 gave wiclely
d-iffering accorrnts of parbicular activitiesr their chronologr and. the'-
sluls of none6r involved. l{here such disa4reemeats arise th.e accor.urt
given by the groupf s first secretary a,nd adr:-lt ed.ucation teacber is
fo11owed."
I 2. See. lforeen Clark, Ed.ucation for development a.nd the nr41 womg13rYoI.
II (New Torkr Worf fe
tra;ining a.nd its inmedia-,,e effects.
('--
153
rely heavily upon funding and other forms of assistam,ce d.ispensed t6r erternal
lfithout it they calrnot hope to free themseLves from the various constraints
vrbicb opera,te upon themo These constra;ints stem from both the- character of
the state. The state plays an arnbivalent role in this process: on, the one
members beJ-ong; on the other j-t offers thern a. cha.nce to escape these d.emanclsby'
distributing ftrncLs to groups and W provid.ing conlacts rritb NGOJ a.nd so access
cash provid.ed. by them or their 66ussh6!d.s. fthe amount of income which tbege
the retu:ra thqp ca^n expect from this as opposecl to other investmentso Investment
a resl1t group subsoriptions are usua^LIy srnalJ"- smalLer tha,n the sr:ms invested
meetlngon Groups d.o not possess tho power'to sepapate members frprn thelr
L54
soliciting he1-p from outsi-de, young g?oupe tlo experiment r,rith a wicle range
the Jase of sorne favoured. cash oropsr free seed.l both d.ispensed. t6r governroent
the prinrar-jr school-s1 rareLy r-eacho Howeve:er the support given is genera3-Iy'
groups canno.t afforcl tbe purchased. inputs which they are advisecl to use a:rd
taken at tb.e same time. Perhaps more importarrt I the acreages und.er coLlective
cultivation,axe typically smaL11 often l-ess th.an the area worked. by individual.
households. The government d-oes not nrLe intet:vene to make plots availablet
and. groups have to borrpw or rent fields. Such land is not always easln to
obtain or hold on too The net effect of these constraints.is tbat groupg reap
Little reward from their collective fields. From this point of vlew it is
receiving tlorld Vision-supporto Even after this intervention the grouprg a^nrutal
capitalist enterprlseo
L55
Tlle groups stud.ied. in this reporb also erperimented. rrith other forms of
enterprtse. Bomani meurbers sold'their collective agrlc'ultura1 Ltabor:r to
looal household.sr a temporary e:rped-ient,which reproduced. existing relations
of production and gendero Mkw'iro memberg producecl corrie necklaces and.
failed- to find. a market which d.id. not oven-erploit their labour. Amkeni
members triecl selling chapatL in en area- where there waa scant d.ema^nd.
a.d.optecLthe role of a niclcllernan in selLitrg a. protlucrlt, for which there was (afi.d.
the 3 older groups this was not difficuLtr each was the first group to be
formetl in. its respeotive area, wtrile onel Amkeni, wa,s forrned. d.irectLy at
Amkeni for a; welfare proiest, Bomani for a.n income-generatlng pr.ojec# a:rd.
Mklriro for a conbinatlon qf bothb Amkeni a.nd Bomani received. these gllalrtrt
after they had- obtainetl the support of N@s3 while Boma.nil ltke Aewtlayer
although 'there are some notabl-e exoeptions of whicli. Ankerd i's one.' Groups
can raise similar s1trnE, sometimes morer bry hosting hararnbees w'lth official
support: at suoh eventB the larger contributions tencl to be nade b5r other
womenrs grcups ancl N@s. [']rese sufiIs are often i:rsufficient to estabLis]t the
prrcjeote lrhicb. groupo have in rnind; anct this !s where, the N@s come into
their omwn"
I
The NGgs have mucL more to offer-than the capitaL which larger enterprises
requireo In the case of N@s operating r+ithin Kergra,they play a^n aqtlve roLe
bave no for:3&atio3 in th-e historical economy of the Kenyan coastr and woments
or provicling the Labour for enterprises und.ertaken t6r or for the housshold"
Even rqhere these enterprises a,re their or+rlthey general-Iy have littJ-e' control
over what happens to the products of their labor.m: if the product is not takenr
from thesl, then almost certair0y they wilL be obliged to invest it in the
houseboltlo Th-ls experlenoe togethe:r witl! its coroll4ryr the genenally Iow
i3-3--prepareil to :rur what: a"re in, effeot smalI-soaLe capitalist enterprlges. llbe
who arg better equipped. for the task: thig is a posltlve outcome in terms of
the logio of enterpr-Ise developmeyrt, but one whlch sltg uneasiJ-y with
economy and. threatened. t6r other capitalist interestsr enterprd.see n:n tho
tb-is resuLts j-n friction between then, though this is rarely expressed operrly.
Those ba,sed-in llair.obi tend. to remain at some dista.nce.from the groups wtr-ich
they heLp. In the case of Amkeni this alLowed t?re gnoup to'appropriate the
group enterlpr.ises. Thid has been much.to the benefit of these enterprisest
introd.ucecl a corirplex set of accounts and pressed. for other reforms in tb.e
And while Tototo agreed. on the need- for reform in Somanir it ttisagreed. with
technocratio natr:re of Technose::vets input and laten sent- out its olwr
rroh.:nteer to work more olosely r.rith the group. ThesF judgements are rootetl in
womenrs groups on the coastl the frults of ertenbecl co-opera,tion with a U.So
between its staff a.nc[the groups. ftre groups themselves tenaL to be prlmarlJ-y
interestect in the capitaL whlch fototo ca:rr secure for thern from intenxational
NGOs, though they also weloome Tototors advlce and. support. fhe case-studles
158
sbow that tluis eupprt doee not tra,nslate automatioall.y into entrepreneurial
succesn. Tototor's resoupceE antl smal] sta^ff ars now stretchetl over more ttralr.
@ groups, while tbe staff themselvee have not been trainecl in.the kincl of
skills which enterprd.ses require. Tototo and. similar agenclee arer- howev.er;
and Tototo llas al-rea.fur respond-ed. to this and. other recent evah:e.tion6 W
restl:ucturing its progrsrrme' of work with groups a.nctbtrr accepting the' services
of, a business advisor employed. t6r l{orlcl ftluca,tion. ta train and. clisc.:ss possib!.e,
r:nd.er*'aking for womenng groupsr d.oes not.faLl into this categoqf. of the
.Two
groups studiect, Mkw'iro ancl tsoroa,nil have prcduced- ha^nd.icrafts for [ototors shop,,
source of incomel sometimes more thalr they cterived. fron other errterprises blrh
rmrch less over tine tha^n a f.iving montifly wage. Producers in Mkr'riro po'cketed.
(and spent on theiil householcls) most of the income which thie brought tb.em. In,
Bomanl a. portion of the income tras transferred. to ths greup and constitutecl a.:r
iraportarrt lnput toward.s oonstnrstion of tb,e firsb bakerXr buiLcting"; Ini botb'
ldkwiro and. 3orna.nl, the ltand.icrafbs prod.uced. were based. upon eristing: forme of,
industry. [buee when tbeir ord.ers w@e o'urbalIed t4r Tototol botb ra.n into
probLems. One rea,son Tototo stopped. these ordere was becausa the women-were
prod.ucing mloh mor€ tha.n they ooultl seLl: 6 yeara later BomanJ.necklaoeo are
alternatLus narksts that aouLd a,bsorb the noLune of produotlorr thenr litt was
orga,nlsed a,E a, colleotive enterprise (in nhfch, for erarnpXe; the group
I{asdicraft production ditt not get off the grouncl at all for Agwiraye
because the form of production which iototo tried. to introduce had no basis
tbose which are ca,pitqfL intensivel are difficu.lt for groups to operate
mernbers, who tbus require, conti:rued inputs of advice from erterrra,l a,gencioso
and, especially wbere they employ coLiestive Labour, it nay be clifficrrLt fon
them to compete with rivals in the private sesto:ri Ag a result it is not eaq;''
al-L of these pr$b1ems. suen though it was the first to opera,te in the !'lalindf
f\:rther afielcl ancl now has 1itt1e hope of rnatchi'ng the performa,nce of a bakerXr
NGO') and has yet to be ertrloatecl fron tb,e close embraoe of traditional
Lfi'
'
relations of'prod.uotionr and- gendero It fs inter€stLng t9 note that the groutrl
ma.deas mroh l.f not more from the enterprisa when they rented it out to sorneong:
Ttre simpl'est way to avoid seare of these constraints is to choo8e the right
enterprise, in the first p3-a,ce. flie easiest enterprises for groups to ]run and.
maintai:t'a,rearguabllrthosewhiobreproduceeristingprocess€sofcapital
knowleclge, needed. to nrn therro i's rea.dily arra^iLab1e1 a,nd theg requi,re less
pa1i1s atd i:ts exparsion irrto other enterprises at the expense of inctivid-tral
aoo1;sru1ation: varSr from pltace to plaee: investmeat ir. palms would not; for
has now beenrdisplaced. lgri"ayets recent d.ecision to bu-il-ct a bouse with rooms
to Let is muoh rror€, in tr.r:m wlth Local- devel-opmentsr which have brcught large
nr:mbers of migrant worlters ltrto the areao RentaL houses are not difficult to
labour a4d. provid.e a regt1.lar inoome. B3r eetabLlshiug sucb enterprises woments
groups are rnuoh mor€ likely tha,n othe::wlse'to fr:LfiL1 their promise as
corproate entrePrensultsc
161
ECONOMIC
MFECTS
difficult to sustain group roeNrobersbipand tb.e tlena.ntLs upon cash-, ancL lal]ou:r
'chilclren.
whiab it entaiLso fhis particu3-arly: affects divorcaes with yodng
('
In the urainla.:ecl comuritieg where viriLocal marr{'age' is the rrr}e the
the ofd and infirml those who are sceptical of group success or whose
gsoups;
ciro-unstanceg rnake them better equippect to n:rr their enterpr5'sesi- rrn o-ther'
words their d-evelopment favours women vrllo already occutrXlia rel-ativeltrr fortunate
positioa in their tlousehoLds ancl/or the conror:nity. This inolu'des women who a,re
eduoated and. thue able to keep group reoords. It aLso lnolrrdes women who inr
one vradaor another have suooeeded in: eecaplng: some of the restrlotlve
control,of thelr (fn .Z oases fo:mer) hugbands" Group membership prorrid-es such
uomen gdth a.n opportuntty to €xerolse ard further d.eveLop thelr entrepreneurlal"
L62
profits a^nd.few provicle thelr member$ lr'ltb lncono on: a reguTa"r basfs. I{hen.
they cto the amounts are ustrally so snal,l- as to comprJ.se only a fraqH.on of a
livtng lra€er al.though: thls should not be taken aa a, measun€ of their valua
oror househol-d. As suoh lts \raLue is not negllgible but ltt foms alx
important supplened to. otber sounoes of inoone available to womear in
some instaloes clisplaclng tbm. In some cases it magqdi'splaoe, the income
pltovicted' bf a'husband.g orr to put it. a.notb.er wagr.,rouxd, mailr red.uc6 the
husbarxdts obligation to contribut€ flom big orcr pockote thue lea1ring him
-'Wlter:r
oilh more inoome at his tlisposat. income iB hand.ed.over or otherr,rise
fincls its way back to husband-s t]iere is no gua,ra,ntee th.at wornen lri1l play a
roLe. iq tletemining how it is iavested., or whether it wiLX be invqsted. ln:
The' smalil arnou4ts of incorne provid.ed b'y l.romen-from their grcuF errberprises
are r:nlilrely to tip the bataace. Againl this fav6.to* those who are a^lreaftr
more fortr:nate *nT average. In other respecbe the income which tniclcles
dol.m through woment's groups helps to insulate householct econorny frorn the'
pressurss aoting upon it frtm the outsid.eo; h"onical\r the women most in,
need. o.f thi* inoome, those w:ith young children and w'ithout husba.ledls, a.re
the ones whor partly because they have littJ.e monetrrin: the first pla.ce,
SOCIIL ffiFECT$
'lfhis
reporb has not examined. welfare projects in d.eta.ilr tb.e oonditiong
immed.late effects ar€ generally obvious and not iliffiqrlt to evaluate. Eopes
hale also been ra^ised.r howevory - that womentrcgroup membership aJd income-
genera'ting efforte nay foster moro general. soolaJ. a^nclwelfa,:re benefLts. O:rc
L64
najor intereet in this regard. has their possible effest upolt attttudeB aud.:
This topLo is treated. at some lengtb here both beoaugo it formed. a.:rrimportanlt
e@nomsro
uril-I.iorc peopl-e and a,n, estiroated a.nrruiil grorrth rato of 3.8S.1 Variorrs measrunes
.aware_of contraceptive user only 29/" han' ever uEgA thero: fig:r:ree whicb" wett€
?.
fou:rd. to be lower arnon'gth.e Mijikend.a peoples of Kerqrats.coast.J Inr response
to this situation the' gover?merdi has annorlrroed that it lr:iIl spend BOOimiLLiorr,
have been iclentified. as one possible, vehic].e for gettiag tbis nessag€ €lorroEoe
D.C.) end the, Minlstry of Eealth: in L985 6 group memberer atl of then aged
l{orLd Ed.ucatioir in 1983 showed. that contracept!.ve uste t6r thelr members was tnuolh
Lower than the national'. avera€sr whLle olose +o 9ofr knen about; some form of
L65
birtb controll Legs thaa i-llt{rciIlrai.ever r:sed contraception a.nd.lesg tha;n 6fi
Ilr interpreting this result various factors ha've to be taken into a,ccou:rte
anong them the fact that ovsr a third of the gToup members surnreyed. were over
QJ yeata of agel r+hile' 2L/, were widowetl, separa,ted. or divorced. This does.
not explainl however, the low receptiviff to family p1a^nning given the higb
disserdnated throrrgh organised neetings a.ni[ the med.i3. Ehe 1984 Kirq;:a.
famillee of ? ohiLd.ren; one more than the nationa,X anrerrg".6 tfhile the
provid.e art inporba.nt labor:r regdr:rce for the houseliolcl but they al.so hol-d the
rrhen tbey are, oldera One Agrdraye rnember mad.e this abuncta.ntly clealt
aIl to b.er since,he had. Left school antl become,a beach-boyo "Given a cha.ncetrl
she said., rrl woul-d open a ba^lrk acoounts but now my childrefu are'the balkrr.
Rather tbarr chang:ing attitudeE in the nrral- area,E ed.ucation has been sucked-
pa6rments cLema.ncted.
for clarrghters refleo-b the costs of their ed-uoation, whiJ.e
the more educated. chiLclren are the greater the cha^nce that they will seslrre
good. mplotrrment ancl prowld.a thelr parents ltlth lnoome'in the years to @me.
thus the reLation betweeu the chairrronen of Agrlraye ard Sona.rlt aad. their'
chj.ldreno Parents ar:e unb.apg;. shouJ-d. gror.m-up ohlltlren fai-l- to meet these
marqy a3d leave home before rrepayingr their parents fo:r their eduoa.tf.on Ls
given a,s a; reason fo:r not sencling tlaughtere oc. to: second-argr school.
progta^mnee have a l-irnitecl inpact in the nual "tL"" and- among womenrs groul'
menbereg the more chiLclren they have then the greater tbe returts. [']r!s
oau.se the body to seize up. Sinilar feare surround the use of contraception.
in higb bLood pressure or multiple birbhs when their use is stopped., arl.ctthat'
rightlyl the fact -that they and not nerri at€ the maSn objeats of oontra,ception.
0ther beliefs have lese foqndationo Imported. yellow ma.ize' fron Norbh Am'erica
ea,rly 1986 when it was rumoured that the gpvernlnent wae laoing the miLlc ,supplied
measur€ of the resistance to famiLy pLa^nning ln rura;I €lr€Bsr 41tr the indioations
are tha.t Euch Teslstanoe.r,r!]-l petsist untl1 householtl €oorlomy undergoes majon
family pJ-anning prograrnmel b..t nq sffecUo I:r the short-teru tU"y oau hope
to effeot socia:L a^nd ee,onornio change ovenaight. This shoulcl notl however,
be the only criterion upon r.thich they a're evalua'ted. For'women themselves
whicb, thls bringethen. As long as'they continr:e to recelve supgort fnon the
goverr:ment a.nd other agencies r,romenls groups r+iLl continue to serve as a:r
Notes
1. These figr:res are proJections from tbe 19?9 censuso sorrrcer office of
the Ministry of Finance and. Pla.nning; I'tombasa.
rsln 8OO rnill-ion slated. fon farnily planningf , a:rtlole bry Job Githinjl ln
4.
the DaiLy Nation (Uairotf) r Thursd-ay 16 Jarruary 1986r p.lo