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Household strategies for adaptation and change: participation in Kenyan rural women’s associations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Barbara P. Thomas
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Extract

Recent literature on Third World households suggests that the household is a critical unit of analysis in decision-making and economic organisation for development (Smith, Wallerstein and Evers, 1984; Netting, Wilk and Arnould, 1984). Increasingly, this literature is addressing intra-household behaviour, the ways in which households relate to other institutions and the degree to which they are autonomous or embedded in more comprehensive social structures (Guyer and Peters, 1984; Folbre, 1985; Moock, 1986). Indeed, the household focus requires not only close examination of the household's internal dynamics, but also its external context. That context includes the physical setting, international as well as national political and economic structures, and the local political economic and social systems.

Résumé

Stratégies ménagères vers l'adaptation et le changement: Participation aux Associations Féminines dans le Kenya rural

Au Kenya, beaucoup de femmes des régions rurales participent aux associations feminines comme moyen de tenter de faire face à la pénurie d'argent et de travail dans les ménages ainsi que pour obtenir des produits publics pour les membres de leur famille. Cette étude est basée sur des données provenant de deux communités de la région de Murang au Kenya pour considérer (a) les modèles de coopération, de réciprocité et d'échange facilités par ces associations; (b) l'impact de cette stratégie sur l'accès des femmes et des autres membres de leur famille aux ressources productives; et (c) les effets de cette stratégie sur les décisions prises à l'intérieur des ménages et l'utilisation des ressources. Les témoignages suggèrent que les associations féminines donnent accès aux ressources critiques et rares—le travail et les capitaux—ainsi qu'aux produits publics. La nature de cet accès varie selon la base de ressources de la communité et selon la position socio-économique du ménage. Les associations féminines sont particulièrement utiles aux femmes appartenant aux groupes à revenu très modeste et aux femmes qui sont seules à la tête du ménage, leur apportant de nouvelles opportunités de gagner, d’épargner et d'investir et leur offrant un certain contrôle sur leurs revenus en argent.

Type
Women at work
Information
Africa , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , October 1988 , pp. 401 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1988

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