Family Futures

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] 108

Social development programmes

for family well-being in Kenya

Stefanie O. Bitengo, Principal Gender and Social Development Officer, Department of Social Development,

Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services, Kenya

onfronting

amily

overty

overty, ignorance and disease have remained Kenya’s

priority areas of intervention since independence in

1963. As the country marks its fiftieth anniversary,

considerable progress has been made in mitigating these

challenges. However, chronic poverty incidences remain

high and persistent among an estimated 46 per cent of

the population. In an increasingly unequal society, access

to basic needs such as education, health, clean water,

adequate housing and sanitation are still unreachable to the

bottom 30 per cent of the population who only have access

to 10 per cent of the national income. The main determi-

nants of poverty in Kenya include geographical (rural or

urban) location, the gender and education level of the head

of household, high unemployment and underemployment.

Kenya, like many African countries, is home tomany peoples and

nationalities who embrace diverse cultural orientations. Despite

these, the family remains a common unit which enjoys recog-

nition and the protection of the state.

In the African context,

the traditional family referred to a larger kin group beyond the

nuclear family of father, mother and children. It embraced an

extended network which often served as a source of security

and livelihood for its members. The traditional extended African

family provided the required social capital: if one of its members

had a source of livelihood, then it was assumed that the family’s

well-being was catered for. With the family structure irreversibly

changing from this extended model to more nuclear forms, liveli-

hoods at family level have deteriorated.

The effects of social change and the resulting breakdown in

the traditional extended family support network have exposed

the family to varied problems, leaving its members vulnerable

and in need of social protection and support. As a result, the

family now bears the greatest burden of poverty and vulnerabil-

ity; a situation that calls for multi-pronged and concerted efforts

from all stakeholders to realize enhanced family well-being.

Since independence, the Social Development Department

within the public sector has been instrumental in coordinating

policies, programmes and activities focused on improving family

well-being. Interventions targeting family well-being have been

numerous, and cut across various government ministries.

Until now, the department has existed under different port-

folios. Since 1922, department functions have evolved through

a series of colonial and post-independence policy frameworks,

sessional papers, national and community development plans,

circulars and, more recently, the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

It has made significant strides in the country’s social devel-

opment, transforming from social welfare to community

development in the 1950s and leading to the creation of Kenya’s

first Community Development Ministry in 1954, with func-

tions that included adult education, approved schools, juvenile

remand homes, rural betterment schemes, youth sports, music,

women’s clubs and recreational activities. The overall objec-

tive of the department has remained focused on mobilizing and

building the capacity of individuals, communities and commu-

nity groups to attain self-reliance. This objective contributes

both directly and indirectly towards family well-being.

Several interventions have been prioritized under social

development, including community mobilization and

development programmes; social welfare programmes and

services to vulnerable populations; gender and women’s

empowerment, as well as the development of policies aimed

at providing overall direction on matters of gender and social

development. Social development policies in community

development, older persons and persons with disabilities

(PWDs) have continued to provide frameworks for Kenya’s

legal and programmatic interventions on addressing the

poverty of the most vulnerable families.

Under the community mobilization and development func-

tion, the department has spearheaded a successful self-help

movement. It has cumulatively facilitated the mobilization

and registration of over 1 million community groups with an

estimated membership of over 20 million individuals, partici-

pating in socioeconomic activities that include interventions

in education, health, agriculture, water and financial services.

These interventions are strengthened by the concept that the

potential for poverty alleviation at household level lies in the

ability of members to participate effectively in development

processes and interventions at the community level.

Studies have shown that poor people are often left out

of development initiatives either because they are not

able to meet requirements for participation, or they lack

the confidence and self-esteem to be part of development

ventures. This curtails their opportunities to benefit from the

development intervention and denies them an opening for

building capacity for future participation, thus keeping them

in poverty from one generation to the next. Efforts by the

department to promote community mobilization and group

formation, and build the capacity development of group

members, were seen as a way of providing the poor with

an opportunity to pool their resources and build the ability