Family Futures

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onfronting

amily

overty

Food security: 39%

Food security: 8%

Others: 1%

Support to members: 36%

Promote savings and credit: 4%

Income generation: 51%

Employment creation: 4%

Others: 2%

Promotion of IGAs: 55%

Objectives

Activities

The objectives and activities of community groups in Kenya

Source: Impact assessment of grants to self-help groups and communities objectives

to participate in development processes. Most of those that

form groups are from the lower income quintile. Through

this intervention, the poorer populations have been able

to build infrastructure to access basic needs such as health

services, education, water, clothing and so on.

The concept of community mobilization and development,

popularly referred to as ‘harambee’ (‘pooling together’), was

a slogan adopted in early independence. It has evolved from

traditional organizations, mainly formed from neighbour-

hood associations where poorer members of the community

came together to support each other in tilling their land,

harvesting or building living units. Through this philosophy,

rural communities formed community-level movements that

saw the building of schools, dispensaries, water projects,

housing units and even the purchase of water tanks. Efforts

that helped the family meet its basic needs included raising

school fees, meeting hospital bills and managing burial

arrangements. In present day Kenya, community-supported

schools, water projects and health centres continue to provide

basic services to community members with much lower and

affordable arrangements than those purely built by govern-

ment or other interventions, as households are seen to own

some form of shareholding. This enables an assurance that

poor families can access services and have opportunities to

build their own capacity to participate, build confidence and

self-esteem, and have a shot at breaking the poverty cycle.

Belonging to community groups has helped many families

pull out of poverty. Findings from a recent internal evaluation

undertaken by the Community Development Division in the

department reinforce the role of groups as largely forming to

provide support to their members, initiate income-generating

activities and basically address matters, such as food security,

that contribute to family well-being.

Over the years, recognition of the role of community

mobilization and development in helping the poor transit

from poverty has guided development support, forming the

entry point for government and donor support to commu-

nities. Between 1995 and 2005 the department, through

support under the Danish International Development

Agency (DANIDA), implemented a community-level

programme. This initially started as a community-based

nutrition programme, offering skills on basic nutrition to

mothers and their families. It then expanded to a commu-

nity capacity support programme (CCSP) that recognized

the ability of communities to identify their needs and come

up with strategies to mobilize resources and sustain mech-

anisms to intervene on their poverty at household level.

Through DANIDA, the department facilitated the forma-

tion of village-level committees popularly known as Village

Development Committees (VDCs). These led the process

of participatory community-level appraisals and came up

with village community action plans across 13 geographical

district administrative units, with at least 12 VDCs in each

unit. Through this programme, communities initiated and

implemented a wide range of development initiatives that

have seen many of their members access services for clean

water, irrigation, health and education, and thus improve

their livelihoods.

Similar interventions have been undertaken under

programmes supported by the International Fund for

Agricultural Development (IFAD), in which the department

played a central role in the mobilization of communities to

participate in development. Through IFAD, the formation

of Focal Area Development Committees saw community

groups overseeing the development of larger area initiatives,

leading to access to piped water and irrigation schemes at