Collective Action, Innovation, and Wealth Generation Among Settled Pastoral Women in Northern Kenya

Abstract

Collective action occurs when people join together to tackle problems of common interest. Collective action can be an effective means of group problem solving, especially among poorer residents of densely populated urban areas or farming systems. Few examples have been documented, however, for the lightly populated rangelands, where pastoralists are better known for their social independence and opportunistic behavior. We were therefore surprised to encounter dynamic women's collective-action groups in small settlements throughout north-central Kenya, a pastoral region characterized by high rates of poverty, few public services, recurrent drought, and ethnic conflict. We wanted to understand why groups were created and how they functioned. We used a semistructured questionnaire to interview representatives from 16 groups in February 2006. Results indicated that most groups had formed since the 1990s. They emerged either spontaneously or after encouragement from local developmentagency staff. Founding members were exclusively women who were often illiterate and poor. Groups have elected leaders and are governed under constitutional frameworks with extensive bylaws. Groups form to improve living standards for members, and numerous success stories were noted. Groups undertake activities including microfinance, livelihood diversification, and mitigation of drought effects; they also spearhead and fund community education and health initiatives. A tally of 63 groups created over the previous 25 yr indicated that 2 had collapsed, 47 were thriving, and 14 were failing. Group failure was most attributed to poor leadership and negative interpersonal dynamics among members, but important external threats included drought, poverty, political incitement, illiteracy, and agitation by men. In a region beset by large challenges it is notable that such grassroots innovation can help fortify social, human, and financial capital and this, in turn, can improve risk management and human well-being. Collective action should be recognized as a vital development process in Kenya's rangelands that deserves more policy-level attention.

Tracing innovation pathways in the management of natural and social capital on Laikipia Maasai Group Ranches, Kenya

“…The members have to come together when making a decision concerning their livestock-herding strategies. These attributes promote SES resilience through collective actions (Coppock and Desta 2013).…”

“…Recognising that SESs are complex adaptive systems presupposes that experimentation and learning are necessary for societal learning and enhanced resilience (Biggs et al 2012). Valuable lessons derived from the charcoal-making experiment are that active adaptive management still forms part of this GR's management style (Fazey et al 2005) and that collective action can be an effective means of group problem solving (Coppock and Desta 2013).…”

“…Table banking where women save and loan money to members was taking over gifting/reciprocity as a way to support the recovery of people who had lost their livelihood. Emergence of these networks to promote collective action was not unique to Il Motiok GR and was seen to fortify social and human capital (Coppock and Desta 2013) and thus enhance SES resilience.…”

Cross-Border Interaction Spurs Innovation and Hope Among Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Women of Ethiopia and Kenya

“…The groups engaged in a process called collective action. 2 We asked ourselves if these women provided an example of the risk-management model we sought for PARIMA-namely, a simple mechanism to help diversify livelihoods and improve lives for marginalized populations.…”

Unlacing the entrepreneurial potential : exploring factors influencing entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurship education in emerging economies

“…Thus financial capital refers to monetary assets (Scoones, 1998;Coppock and Desta, 2013). It is assumed that individuals with greater stocks of financial capital have more flexibility to undertake a wider array of strategies to start and manage their businesses (Pena 2002).…”