Organic Resource Management in Kenya

Chapter 19

The Operations of Rural Self-Help Groups

Paul L. Woomer, Musa N. Omare and Eusebius J. Mukhwana

Groups of neighboring farmers share common obstacles and opportunities and it is reasonable that they organize for collective action. The self-help groups that arise commonly devote their efforts to accessing information, learning new technologies and pooling resources to acquire inputs or to market surpluses. Most farmers, however, lack experience in forming self-help groups, particularly with the steps necessary to formalize and register their new organization. The information contained in this chapter is designed to provide guidelines on the establishment and operations of a legally-recognized self-help group in Kenya. Several case studies are presented to illustrate the common features of grassroots groups despite differences in their situations and goals.

Part of the need for grassroots rural organizations in Kenya is related to the collapse of formal extension services to the smallhold agricultural sector. Many years previously, several programs were initiated in maize marketing, fertilizer supply and veterinary medicine but for a complex suite of causes, these services became scattered at best, and virtually non-existent for most (Eicher, 1999). An abrupt introduction of market liberalization and structural adjustment imposed upon Kenya by international donors and lending institutions was partly responsible for the removal of subsidies, but equally responsible was the lack of a new approach to equitable service provision that followed these changes in national policies. Yet, even farmers receiving the best extension services often find it in their common interest to form local organizations aimed at improving their individual farms and their communities (Terrent and Poerbo, 1986). Good farming involves intuition and skill but seldom close-held secrets. Indeed, the willingness of farmers to assist one another is a comforting feature of rural life.

Forming a Self-Help Group

Formalization of self-help groups provides a legal instrument for their activities and a recognized constitution that identifies the groups’ mandate and modes of operation. The process of forming a self-help groups may vary but the step-by-step procedure that follows demonstrates how a new group may be initiated, formalized and registered with Kenyan authorities (Figure 1).

Step 1. Identifying common difficulties and mutually-accepted goals. Formation of a group starts with an informal gathering of relatively few persons sharing mutual concerns. These individuals identify common goals, interim officers and a strategy to reach out to the larger community.

Step 2. Obtain information on group registration. The interim officials collect information on how their group could become registered and managed by visiting existing community groups and government offices, in this case the Ministry of Culture and Social Services. This information includes registration requirements, application forms, example by-laws and lists of potential members.

Step 3. Documentation. The interim officials complete application forms that identify a group’s name, its objects and intended activities. This document must include the minutes of a planning meeting, including its venue and participants, where a self-help group is formed. Also required is a draft constitution that defines the group’s name, mandate, activities and office bearers. A prototype constitution is available from local community development assistants or another registered organization, and then tailored to individual group needs. Application to Kenya’s Ministry of Culture and Social Services requires fifteen or more members.

Step 4. First general meeting. Candidate members are invited to a general meeting in order to register with the local organization and to discuss, amend and adopt its constitution and elect office holders. A presiding officer, who is not seeking office, is appointed to conduct the elections according to the group’s constitution. Elected officials assume office immediately and all inquiries and activities of the group are thereafter conducted through the elected officials. Groups have at least three office bearers, a chairperson, secretary and treasurer.

Step 5. Application is submitted. Elected officials meet with a local community development assistant or the District Culture and Social Services Officer to formally request registration. They submit copies of the group’s minutes, constitution, membership role and elected officials accompanied by an application letter. An application fee of between Ksh 1000 and 2000 is payable when the application forms are accepted. The registration process takes up to four weeks because all applications are approved by the District Officer in charge of Culture and Social Services. In some cases, applicants may be asked to seek the consent of the local chief and district officer before their application for registration is finalized.

Step 6. Commencement of operations. The registration process is complete when the group receives a certificate of registration that empowers them to exercise their respective mandate. From this point, officials are expected to hold regular meetings, design a work plan, identify local and external collaborators, and continue membership drives. The group’s success is not by successful registration but rather how effectively it identifies and undertakes tasks that realize the stated goals for community development.

Figure 1. Suggested steps in the formation, registration and operations of a self-help group in Kenya.

Operating an Effective Self-Help Group

Planning group activities is primarily the responsibility of the group’s officials and committees that they organize. Activities must be planned in a manner that permits members’ full participation and is consistent with the group’s rules of operation and goals (Vedeld, 2000). This planning process also identifies new opportunities for collaboration and sustenance of group activities through resource mobilization. It is important to include a monitoring and evaluation plan for the group’s activities to ensure that objectives are being realized and activities sustained. Poor planning results in activities that are not cost effective or fail to achieve significant impacts as anticipated.

Self-help groups face the challenge of sustaining the group enthusiasm over time. Frequent meetings promote group cohesion and continuity. Regular elections provide opportunity to members to confirm or reserve their support for group leaders. Long-standing officers becoming bossy may lead to the collapse of a group because all members expect to be treated as equals. Presentations from invited speakers, distribution of sample materials for on-farm testing and social activities also serve to reinforce group cohesion. Officers should politely resist attempts by local politicians and administrators to steer the group toward their own ambitions (Vedeld, 2000), but rather invite efforts that assist in the realization of the group’s goals.

Effective leaders are those who promote greater group interaction and constructive dialog. Updates concerning group activities should be communicated to members regularly and all issues raised by members satisfactorily responded to by leaders. Transparent handling of finances and operations is a solid foundation in the group’s success, and it is necessary for the treasurer to be familiar with standard accounting procedures. Wider delegation of authority to members through the establishment of committees and working groups inspires greater cohesion and reduces officials’ workloads. A balance of roles among men and women is also important in maintaining group cohesion. The social dimension of a group’s activities, where song and dance, poetry recitals and skits are performed, scholastic achievement honored or where members support one another through personal difficulties must not be overlooked.

Establishing tasks and collaboration

The work plan of an organization is separated into a series of tasks that are undertaken to achieve its larger objectives. Some tasks may be undertaken through group mobilization, such as pooling resources for land preparation, local marketing or establishing community seedling nurseries. Other production and marketing problems cannot be resolved by that group in isolation. Indeed, one of the major concerns that lead to the establishment of grassroots groups is the need to access new information and technologies. This need often results from weakness in front-line extension services, suggesting that information and technologies will not be delivered to their doorsteps and requiring that the self-help group seek links to other organizations (Omare and Woomer, 2002). Collaboration is readily accomplished through three mechanisms, usually in stepwise fashion; by linking with neighboring groups, by joining networks or planned development initiatives and by developing working relationships with specialized research institutes and development agencies (Terrent and Poerbo, 1986).

Self-help groups mature over time and at different rates, and as they accomplish various goals their reputation grows. Indeed, successful groups stimulate the establishment of new groups, particularly along their geographic margins. New groups form, rather than established groups grow, because the rural poor lack ready access to transportation and communication facilities, so more-localized operations are required. These successful organizations thereby serve as a model for their more recently-established counterparts, particularly when some members belong to both organizations or when officials of both organizations liaise.

Participation within networks and planned development initiatives offers special opportunities to develop fruitful collaboration (Lacy, 1996; Terrent and Poerbo, 1986; Omare and Woomer, 2002). Most networks are founded on the assumption that client groups will become attracted to their activities, and will actively seek collaboration. Self-help groups should take care when joining these initiatives that the goals of the network are compatible with their own needs, but when this is the case, new information and candidate technologies will follow. Collaboration within networks occurs at cost, however, particularly in terms of time and resources required for technology testing, recordkeeping and impact evaluation, and self-help groups must be aware of this commitment from the onset of collaboration.

Many non-governmental organizations specialize in networking with several smaller self-help groups and this may prove an especially fruitful collaboration when their common needs are being effectively combined and planned actions “packaged” for donor investment. At the same time, there is no shame in declining an invitation to join a network, particularly when its activities cannot be related to the local group’s priorities. For example, marketing initiatives may be premature for a self-help group struggling to meet household food requirements, or testing mineral fertilizers or pesticides is unnecessary when these inputs are either unavailable or too costly.

Working with researchers poses a particular dilemma because they tend to be driven by different goals and approach issues from a greater level of sophistication than do small-scale farmers (International Federation of Agricultural Producers, 1990). Science is hypothesis-driven, meaning that experiments are designed to either accept or reject a statement describing the relationship between various phenomena (mechanisms). Field experimentation requires contrasting treatments, some of which are intended as controls, and not as possible improved technologies. Furthermore, treatment plots must be randomized within an experimental design to achieve statistical legitimacy and those plots may contain one or more sampling areas within them.

Non-scientists are often mystified by this scientific process, and are inclined to consider all treatments as “recommendations”. They believe if a scientist has taken the time to carefully install a particular management on their farm, then it must be credible. Some farmers even have difficulty distinguishing different treatments from accompanying scientific field methods. For example, when crop rows and plant spacing are established using marked lines, they might do the same in adjacent fields and then sense disappointment with the resulting crop performance. Working with researchers requires that both parties be prepared to take extra effort to explain themselves, and that those members in the self-help group possessing a better understanding of science must explain the activities to less-educated members (Lacy, 1996). Most researchers greatly enjoy their time spent in the field, and many farmers welcome occasional distraction from tedious field operations, but this mutual satisfaction must not be confused with genuine confluence of interest between the two parties.

Significant rewards may also be realized by self-help groups through collaboration with researchers. It is usually agricultural scientists who have first access to potentially useful technologies and germplasm. Scientists can better diagnose the hierarchical constraints to crop growth, or separate underlying causes from secondary symptoms. On-farm research projects often require that farmers collect data or document their activities, and these exercises improve recordkeeping skills and their ability to calculate their production costs and economic returns. Successful research collaboration brings prestige to a self-help group that may be translated into future opportunities. Self-help groups must recognize that when the research project is concluded, periodic visits by their scientific cooperator are likely to end. Field researchers must realize that their role within society is to find useful answers to important questions, and that the immediate needs of client farmers should not be overlooked in favor of professional ambition (Nyerere, 1974). A list of practical suggestions to research parties appears in Table 1.

Fundraising and grantsmanship

A group’s funds must be accurately and transparently reported, and this task becomes more difficult as sources of funds diversify and accounts grow. But how can a self-help group comprised of relatively poor households raise funds and what opportunities exist to obtain grants and loans? Fundraising begins by imposing modest dues upon new members and requiring that membership be renewed at periodic intervals. These dues, sometimes as low as KSh 50 per year (US $0.67) can provide little more than stationery for officials and tea at meetings, but this is often sufficient to allow for the formulation of plans leading to collective actions. The strength of newer self-help groups may be measured in tasks accomplished and not bank accounts, and pooling labor and physical assets is the best way to achieve solidarity. Membership drives are a means of raising funds but do not increase a self-help group’s per capita financial resources, rather they mobilize more individuals toward collective action. One such collective action is the bulk purchase of inputs, such as seeds and fertilizers. Local retailers, especially those in more remote locations, sell their products at relatively high prices out of necessity. Group members who pool their cash for purchased inputs are able to place larger orders and obtain lower prices. Group officials may then place a slight charge for organizing that service, for example 10% of the cash saved through bulk purchase, as a means to raise funds for other group activities.

Table 1. Guidelines for successful collaboration between farmers belonging to self-help groups and researchers conducting on-farm studies.

Cooperating farmers should

Make their own observations concerning field trials and express them at group meetings and to research partners
Organize local field days that demonstrate the tested technologies to their communities
Make a genuine effort to understand the scientific basis for treatment selection and sampling procedures so that promising results can become adapted into farm practice

Cooperating farmers should not

Falsify data collection records, disguise experimental failures or exaggerate claims for compensation
Remove crop harvests without the knowledge and agreement of research partners
Expect researchers to engage in lengthy social interactions during intensive field campaigns

Researchers should

Involve cooperating groups and farmers in an earlier stage of research planning
Rely upon simplified experimental designs and relatively few treatments and explain which treatments are intended as candidate improved technologies
Establish a clear timetable and division of responsibility for field operations, data collection and recordkeeping
Interpret their research findings into terms understandable by client farmers, particularly their costs and returns
Be prepared to modestly compensate cooperators for their efforts and harvest removal
Encourage farmers to conduct their own satellite experiments adjacent to the field trials

Researchers should not

Perform unplanned on-farm field operations without the knowledge and consent of cooperators
Fail to keep appointments or rearrange schedules without consulting cooperators
Ignore collaborator’s impressions of different management practices, particularly unrealistic reliance upon additional labor, land or expenses
Exclude acknowledgement of community groups and key individuals within their publications

Self-help groups tend to refine or diversify their activities over time (Terrent and Poerbo, 1986). Successful groups that were initiated to accomplish household food security find themselves reorganizing to market modest surpluses. Individual farms may be victimized by opportunistic middlemen offering low prices at the farm gate, but a group of farmers is able to bulk and transport surpluses to better markets. Even at the most local scale, it is more efficient for a few group members to market larger amounts of produce than for many individuals to compete with one another to sell smaller amounts. For these reasons, many self-help groups develop marketing activities that charge modest fees for selling members’ produce. Other collective actions may lead to income generation by initiating new enterprises such as raising poultry or irrigating vegetables that would otherwise be beyond the financial means of individual members. Furthermore, self-help groups are able to establish bank accounts to qualify for short-term loans to purchase farm inputs or to initiate new income generating enterprises.

A milestone in the maturity of a self-help group is when it becomes able to generate its own proposals for grants and loans. Many small grants programs exist but identifying suitable donors and meeting their required format and writing standards is no easy task for a group of poor farmers, no matter how articulate they may be (International Federation of Agricultural Producers, 1990). Most rural households have invested heavily in their children’s education and one means to reaping returns on that sacrifice is to involve then in preparing proposals and small business applications. Potential cooperators may also be judged on their ability to raise funds for group activities.

The computer revolution is penetrating rural Africa through the establishment of cyber cafés into small towns and trading centers. These facilities may be used to establish free email addresses and to word process and print proposals. Similarly, mobile telephone coverage is rapidly extending into rural areas, after a decades-long wait for land lines. Email addresses and telephone numbers lend credibility to grassroots organizations, as well as allow for more rapid communications. Care must be taken to maintain these contacts because chronically non-operational communications will reflect negatively upon a group as well.

Some pitfalls to avoid

Self-help groups are advised to avoid several common pitfalls. There is tremendous diversity in Africa’s agenda for rural development, literally from A to Z (e.g. Agroforestry, Beekeeping, Carbon sequestration, Dairy goats … Vitamin A, Women and Youth group, and Zero grazing) and grassroots groups should avoid establishing overly-complex sets of goals. Furthermore, several large organizations advancing specialized or ideological agendas may manipulate grassroots groups into testing and endorsing inappropriate technologies to secure positions among competing interests (International Federation of Agricultural Producers, 1990). Farmers tend to be practical and skeptical in order to avoid unnecessary risks and their grassroots organizations are advised to behave in the same manner.

Poor time management and lack of punctuality are all too common in Africa. Admittedly, many rural poor are unable to afford wristwatches in order to keep better track of time but if timekeeping was the only problem, one would expect as many to be early for a meeting as late and this is surely not the case. Members should attend meetings on time, officials must start meetings on time and everyone must be careful not to waste one another’s time. Poor timekeeping is cumulative, and when immediate tasks are achieved later, then longer-term goals become delayed. At the same time, members who have something important to say should be provided opportunity to do so, but when an individual, including the chairperson, feels compelled to respond to every member’s comments, time is probably being wasted.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and even those sharing the same set of goals may differ on how these are best prioritized and achieved. Such differences are constructive when they are objectively discussed because this allows for a consensus of opinion to emerge. It is not appropriate to allow past disputes and petty jealousies to become aired during meetings, and those who indulge in repeated selfish or vindictive behavior pose a liability to the group. It is important that leaders develop conflict resolution skills. If necessary, members whose constant feuding interferes with group progress should first be warned and then suspended from the group. At the same time, no one is perfect, so members should demonstrate tolerance to one another’s mistakes and idiosyncrasies.

Case Studies of Self-Help Groups

St. Mark Women Group, Amagoro, Teso

Figure 2. St. Mark Women Group members greet scientists that have come to observe the group’s approaches to soil fertility management.

Teso lies to the south of Mount Elgon in Western Kenya. It contains infertile sandy soil and until recently, was primarily used for grazing. The conversion to sedentary agriculture resulted from increased population and establishment of land titles but was accelerated by an epidemic of East Coast Fever, a viral disorder that decimated the local cattle population. The St. Mark Women Group was started by

30 church members in 1998 as an outgrowth of a prayer group. Its original goals were poverty alleviation and improved child nutrition. The group has five elected officials; a Chairlady, Vice-chairperson, Secretary, Vice-secretary and Treasurer who are elected for three-year terms. The current membership (2003) is 52 and the group is locally recognized as an effective and equitable community-based organization, in part because of its widely attended field days and its successful efforts in processing and marketing traditional crops.

The group’s primary collaborator is the Sustainable Agriculture Centre for Research, Extension and Development in Africa (SACRED-Africa) that initiated a local outreach project in partnership with St. Mark and other local organizations in Teso in 1999. Relying upon participatory methods for problem identification and a simple adaptive research process, progress was made in the areas of composting, soil fertility management, tree seedling establishment, integrated pest management, crop diversity, marketing farm surpluses and gender roles in agriculture. The St. Mark group also serves as one of seven cooperators in the Best Bet Network, a group that evaluates alternative land management recommendations side-by-side on 140 farms in Western Kenya (Figure 2).

After five years of operations, several impacts from St. Mark Women Group are evident. Their rapid bulking and broad distribution of cassava resistant to the mosaic virus promoted food security within the group and among neighboring farmers. When most other cassava in their district was failing, this group had established over 240 ha of cassava throughout the area. The adoption of a maize-lablab relay fallow has demonstrated that sustainable field cropping may be achieved on the worst of N-deficient sands. Traditional green vegetables and small grains that previously were considered a home gardening activity now have established markets. But the benefits from the group’s activities extend beyond technical adoption because the members now view agriculture in a more holistic and positive manner.

Members are able to diagnose new problems as they arise and to better apply past lessons to emerging situations. The underlying mechanisms for the degradation of agricultural resources are now better understood, as are the relationships between various conservation measures. As Jenipher Etiang’, the group’s Chairlady, stated “We discovered that we had many resources at our disposal that we were not using well and the relationship between the problems that we were having and our present and past actions. It was a turning point in our lives.” The group is frequently visited by members of other organizations from Kenya and neighboring countries, officers from the local Ministry of Agriculture and local politicians who attend field days to make modest donations. Members assist one another with medical and funeral expenses and through small loans because they know their neighbors can now generate income by farming. Even domestic lives have improved, as evident from Jenifer’s comment “Women no longer bother husbands for money to buy salt, sugar or tea leaves and this has improved our family relationships”.

Siritanyi Farmers Field School, Bumula, Bungoma

Siritanyi Farmers Field School (SFFS) is located in the Bumula Division of Bungoma District in Western Kenya, a smallhold subsistence farming area with sandy and rocky soils that relies upon maize-bean intercrops for household food production. Ironically, the area has favorable market access, being located near the Bungoma District Headquarters and along the main road connecting Nairobi and Kampala. The group was formed in 1998 as a component of the FAO-Ministry of Agriculture Farmer Field School Program that was originally intended to promote pest and disease control technologies. Siritanyi is Bukusu for “well-established” or “unshakable”, a name selected to express their hopes for their newly formed community-based organization.

SFFS was formed by 30 members in 1998 and remains approximately the same size in 2003. Membership is open to all neighboring farmers and requires annual dues of KSh 50 (US $0.68). The group officers include a Chairman, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Farm Manager. Officers are elected and serve for three years. The field school is a registered organization with the Ministry of Culture and Social Services. General meetings are held three times a month. The group operates a 0.6 ha demonstrational farm, land provided by one of its founding members. An important function of the group is to access information and new agricultural technologies, a task that is accomplished through broad collaboration with local extension officers from The Ministry of Agriculture, The Farmer Field School Network, SACRED-Africa and other farmers’ groups in Western Kenya.

Figure 3. Members of the Siritanyi Farmer Field School host visitors from several universities and NGOs to explain their strategy to produce and market higher-value crops.

The group has organized collaborative training in various agricultural practices including farm recordkeeping, establishment of soil conservation structures, Nalondo Maize Marketing Self-Help Group in Central Bungoma. Producing a bumper maize harvest in Central Bungoma is no easy task, but one that can be achieved because of the area’s deep clayey soils and well distributed rainfall. The highly weathered soils are infertile, but fertilizers are available and may be combined with domestic manures to offset their high price and meet the crop’s nutrient demands. Seeds of well adopted hybrid maize varieties are commercially available, and these varieties are resistant to many of the serious fungal disorders that caused problems in the past. It is not uncommon for a smallhold farm that devotes one hectare (2.5 acres) to maize production to obtain grain yields of 4 tons, with only 1.5 tons needed for household needs. Farming as a business requires that crops not only be grown, but they must also be processed to industry standards and effectively marketed. Individual smallhold farmers find it difficult to achieve this second half of their business operations.

Figure 4. Members of the Nalondo Community-Based Cereal Bank and cooperators from SACRED-Africa pose before their recently-established marketing facility.

Complicating the situation is a recurrent “good season, bad prices” phenomenon, meaning that immediately following peak harvest prices are extremely low. Some farmers are forced to sell maize surpluses at little or no profit in order to meet other household demands for cash. It is this dilemma that has led to the formation of cereal banks, where farmers combine their efforts to process, inspect, bulk, store and market grain. The Nalondo Cereal Bank is one such group. It was initiated as a component of SACRED Africa’s Maize Marketing Movement, has 101 members, elected officers and an audited bank account and it is registered with Kenya’s Ministry of Culture and Social Services. Its goal is to stockpile and store maize until later in the year when prices are at their highest, and then to sell the maize for maximum profits.

While the goal is straightforward, their tasks are many. First, farmers must improve the quality of their grain to meet industry standards with strict limits on damaged grain and the presence of foreign materials. Most farmers lack the simple tools required to exclude contaminants and separate off-grade grain. A particular threat is posed by grain borers, small insects that attack maize in the field and then spread throughout the grain after it is processed for storage. Finding buyers is also difficult considering that the largest millers require that suppliers provide quantities of 100 tons or more, and that up-to-date market information is difficult to obtain in the poorer rural areas. Nonetheless, SACRED-Africa and other partners are working with the Nalondo Cereal Bank to overcome each of these difficulties.

SACRED-Africa trained Nalondo’s members in maize processing, and designed and distributed the tools necessary to ensure grain quality. Group leaders were also trained in recordkeeping, marketing and leadership. It assisted the Cereal Bank to secure and renovate a 4000 m³ grain storage facility, and distributed the bags and pest control agents required to suppress borers. It provided a low interest loan of KSh 300,000 (US $4050) so that it may make partial payments to members while their maize is stored as well as purchase additional maize from others. The Maize Marketing Movement has also enlisted marketing support from the National Cereals and Produce Board, the Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (a broker) and United Millers Limited. During the current season (mid-year 2003), the cereal bank expects to market 600 t of maize for a profit of KSh 2 million (US $26,700) above what would be earned if that amount of maize was sold to middlemen when prices are extremely low.

Tom Katenya, recently-elected Chairman of the Nalondo Maize Marketing Self-Help Group, described their situation. “At first it was difficult to convince farmers to join the cereal bank because many hope for quick benefits and others recall the failures of the previous cooperatives. Now we have registered 101 members and benefited from training in maize processing and marketing. The cereal store is in operation, we look forward to advertise ourselves as a business group and next we intend to diversify into other agricultural commodities. The cereal bank has proposed to save some of our maize for the next hunger period during March, April, May and June.” We wish the members of the Nalondo Cereal Bank good fortune in their collective endeavors and suggest that their approach may prove a useful example to others.

Conclusion

Several of the general principles that were presented in the earlier part of this chapter are illustrated through the three case studies. All groups were initiated to address specific constraints but the scope of their activities has broadened with time. The need of greater household food security was the immediate need that led to group formation for St. Mark Women Group and Siritanyi FFS, but initial successes were translated into the production of higher-value crops and marketing activities. These two organizations have also stimulated the formation of new self-help groups in nearby areas. The Nalondo group was initiated to collectively bulk, store and market maize surpluses, but now intends to handle higher-value crops as well. Because of the investment necessary to collectively process, warehouse and wholesale maize, Nalondo grew in size rather than spawn other groups.

Each group is registered with the Kenyan government, conducts regular meetings and relies on periodic elections to appoint officials. The groups have established bank accounts and telephone and email contacts but are at different stages in developing the capacity to prepare their own reports and grant applications. Each group relies upon membership dues to maintain its core operations, but has also established strong collaboration to implement specific activities. The groups also maintain cordial relations with local government officers but do not rely upon them for financial support. Social activities have differing importance within the groups, indeed the St. Mark Women Group started as a prayer group and acts to preserve traditional song and dance among the Teso community. Marketing associations tend to be more business-minded, but regular meetings also serve to make new acquaintances and reinforce old friendships. These are but three of thousands of self-help groups in Kenya, and were selected in part because of their geographic proximity, sophistication and recognized success, but clearly they reflect very positively upon the crucial role that community-based groups play in African rural transformation.

References

Eicher, C.K. 1999. Institutions and the African Farmer. CIMMYT Economics Program Third Distinguished Economist Lecture. CIMMYT. Mexico.

International Federation of Agricultural Producers. 1990. Sustainable Farming and the Role of Farmers’ Organizations. International Federation of Agricultural Producers. Paris, France.

Lacy, W.B. 1996. Research, extension, and user partnerships: Models for collaboration and strategies for change. Agriculture and Human Values 13:33-41.

Nyerere, J.K. 1974. The Intellectual Needs Society. An address to the University of Liberia, 29 February 1965. Man and Development 5-13.

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