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Forming and Operating a Community-Based Organization
How is a successful Community-Based Organization formed and how does the resulting organization operate? Winnie Muriithi and Teresia Kariuki from the Ministry of Social Services explained the formation, registration and general running of a self-help group while SACRED Africa then provided a case study based upon the operations of its Maize Marketing Movement, a network of farmer marketing associations in Bungoma District.
Winnie and Teresia made presentations on the requirements of formation, registration and operations of self-help groups in Kenya. A CBO ought to have common goals and concerns, be registered by the Ministry of Culture, Social Services & Sports, have objectives that guide their activities and be run by elected officials. An effective CBO should allow full participation of all members, monitor and evaluate its work, hold frequent meetings to enhance cohesion, be transparent and accountable for their actions, ensure gender balance, engage in group- building activities such as social events and collaborate with other development agencies. Self-help groups enable farmers to access better markets and have greater bargaining power on their produce. 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. Therefore, good farming requires intuition, skill and the willingness of farmers to assist one another.
The Maize Marketing Movement was recently initiated in western Kenya by SACRED-Africa. Farmers were recruited to join local Cereal Banks to realize better returns from produce marketing. SACRED-Africa provides marketing services, grain quality testing and assistance in developing local grain stores. It also conducts audits of the cereal banks and ensures that benefits and losses are shared properly among the group members. The groups have democratic and transparent structures and undergo training in marketing, grain quality control, group leadership and recordkeeping. A poster on grain quality control procedures was presented and reprints of the chapter in “Organic Resource Management in Kenya” that describes the operations of self-help groups were distributed at all the events.
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