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The role of Self-Help Groups’ Structures in Uplifting the Livelihoods of Households in Nyakach Sub County of Kisumu County, Kenya
... Self-help groups have been operational in continental Africa since the mid-twentieth century, particularly among the rural poor, with credit cooperatives in East African nations such as Kenya and Uganda, Stockvel in Southern Africa, and Rotating Savings and Credit Associations in West Africa [5]. In a similar study to determine the livelihood strategies employed by SHGs, Atieno et al [6]; [7] discovered significant relationships between education, business training, and the choice of a business venture in a study conducted in Kenya. Notably, participation in SHGs has resulted in a variety of approaches to achieving the nature of sustainable livelihood strategies. ...
... Crucially, the research focuses on how group behaviour encourages the creation of businesses to diversify revenue streams and investment funds and credit programs that enhance living circumstances. The idea of collective action seeks to understand how people might work together to overcome socioeconomic obstacles Atieno et al [6]; [7]. ...
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) adopt joint liability lending schemes to access the poor financial resources. Among the rural poor households, access to SHG micro-credit enables households acquire assets of social and economic importance. Members build social and economic capital as well benefit group synergy. Notwithstanding, poverty levels in some regions in Kenya, especially the Nyakach Sub-County remains high despite several SHGs. Approximately 800 registered SHGs were in Nyakach Sub-County by 2023 engaging in different social and economic endeavours. Food insecurity, poverty, environmental degradation, poor technology and general insecurity manifest in the sub county. It contrasts evidence of other developed countries across the globe, especially parts of Asia and Europe that self-help groups have positively influenced the overall development of society. The study explored the contributions of strategies to SHGs’ participation influence the livelihoods of households in Nyakach Sub County, Kenya. By using Questionnaires, gathered quantitative data from the respondents was analysed and presented in descriptive statistics while Pearson Correlation Analysis measured the relationship between the variables. The study found that strategies like education and entrepreneurial training, group lending and partnerships, networks and SHG-facilitated bookkeeping and business skills influenced the members’ active participation for enhanced livelihoods. Improving participation in SHGs was found to have a high and significant influence on the sustainability of the livelihood of members’ households. The study recommends to the government for development of legislative regulations on participation and protection of SHGs from operational and performance risks.
Women bear an unequal share of the burden of
poverty globally, due to societal and structural
barriers to equality. One way that governments,
development agencies and grassroots women’s
groups have tried to address these inequalities is
through women’s self-help groups (SHGs). However,
it is not clear whether and to what extent these
groups empower women.
The systematic review focuses on the impacts of
economic SHGs with a broad range of collective
finance, enterprise and livelihood components on
women’s political, economic, social and
psychological empowerment. The review
synthesises evidence on the effectiveness of
women’s economic SHGs in stimulating women’s
individual empowerment in low- and middle-income
countries. It integrates evidence from rigorous
impact evaluations, analysing the effects of
economic SHG programmes on empowerment,
and high-quality qualitative studies that examine
the empowerment experiences of women
participating in economic SHGs.
The evidence indicates that SHGs have positive
effects on three dimensions of women’s
empowerment. On average, women were more
economically empowered – that is, they had better
access to, ownership of and control over
resources – as a result of participation in SHGs than
non-participants. Female participants also showed
higher mobility, so were more socially empowered
than non-participants. In addition, SHG members
were more able to exert control over decision-making
about the family size of the household, but only if the
SHGs included a training component. Female SHG
members were also more able to participate in
decision-making focused on access to resources,
rights and entitlements within communities, hence
were more politically empowered.
While women in pastoralist communities are key stakeholders in the production of milk and dairy products for income generation, they are largely ignored in other areas of development such as health. The need to involve women self-help groups, in pastoralist areas in both animal health and human health development programmes, is essential, particularly given the high incidence of zoonotic diseases in these communities (Maudlin I, Eisler MC and Welburn SC, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1530):2777-2787, 2009). Understanding the process and impact of social networks on livelihoods is essential for any development programme that aims to prevent and control zoonotic diseases. This study examines the roles and responsibilities of women self-help groups in Kachia Grazing Reserve and Bokkos, Jos Plateau, Nigeria. The findings show that groups promoting social, physical and psychological health strongly motivated women’s involvement in self-help groups. Self-help activities showed commitment to effect a change in their livelihoods, despite constraining environmental, cultural and social factors. Engagement of women’s self-help groups in livestock development programmes offers a powerful instrument for driving forward the One Health practice in pastoralist communities, promoting human, animal and environmental health and well-being.
Women in rural India are still struggling for the sustainable future. This experiment is just a step to help few of them. This was done under the research work of All India coordinated research project in Home Science (child development). A SHG of 20 young mothers was started with a small saving of Rs. 20/-per month by each member of the group. After depositing their monthly savings in a bank account regularly from March 2010, the group started interloaning among themselves as well as an entrepreneurial activity of sailing salt in collaboration with an NGO. As a result the group has earned a good amount of profit and now they have a valuable amount in their account. This success has also increased their confidence and enthusiasm for initiating more activities in the group to make it sustainable in the future also.
Microfinance is a revolutionary movement targeted to provide credit to the poor. Self Help Group's (SHGs) have had a record of success, but they are gradually losing their significance as a source of loans to the poor. This paper analyses the reasons for the decline of SHGs as a source of funds to the poor. It is based on a case study of 30 SHGs in Gurgaon district. The study suggests that the SHGs in Gurgaon lack cohesion; the membership of the groups is non –homogenous in terms of caste, income and occupational background. Our analysis also suggests that the SHGs do not conform to the guidelines laid out by NABARD. Some of the problems associated with the SHGs could be mitigated with much more active and elaborate involvement of the NGOs than that appears to be the case.
Women’s empowerment is a process in which women challenge the existing norms and culture in efforts to promote their well being. This paper analyses the significance and effect of programmes by Self Help Groups (SHGs) by comparing empowerment levels before and after three years of programme intervention based on a survey conducted the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The SHGs in Chennai operate under Mahallir Thittam, a state government programme funded by the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women (TNCDW). The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) empowerment indices are used to study levels of empowerment. Quantitative methodology is adopted using the self-reporting method. A three-stage stratified random sampling method was employed for data collection. The first stage involved the NGOs, the second stage focused on the SHGs and the third stage dealt with SHG members on the basis of demographics. Average and percentage were calculated to draw meaningful interpretation on the Empowerment Indicators using IFAD Model. Friedman test, Chi Square test and Anova followed by a DMRT test were used to measure the relationship between observed variables. The study revealed that levels of self-confidence and self-esteem of women increased indicating positive changes. The women in SHGs emerged as more assertive of their rights, in particular when dealing with the local community and on social matters. © 2015, Faculty of Economics and Administration. All rights reserved.
The study identifies socio-economic determinants of livelihood choices of rural households in Bangladesh (4,195 households from 139 villages) by applying a multinomial logit model of occupational choice and a multivariate Tobit model that allows for jointness in decision making. Results reveal that households choose multiple livelihood options. A number of socio-economic factors and resources at the household level as well as the state of rural infrastructure significantly determine households’ livelihood choice. Overall, resource-rich and educated households engage in diversified livelihoods and rural infrastructure promotes such diversification. Female-headed households fail to participate in any of the livelihood categories and consequently earn significantly lower income. Policy implications include investment in rural infrastructure, irrigation, rural electrification, education, livestock resources, as well as targeting of female-headed households, for example, creation of a hired labour market and skills/education programmes for females.
Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely acknowledged, yet widely used qualitative analytic method within psychology. In this paper, we argue that it offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. We outline what thematic analysis is, locating it in relation to other qualitative analytic methods that search for themes or patterns, and in relation to different epistemological and ontological positions. We then provide clear guidelines to those wanting to start thematic analysis, or conduct it in a more deliberate and rigorous way, and consider potential pitfalls in conducting thematic analysis. Finally, we outline the disadvantages and advantages of thematic analysis. We conclude by advocating thematic analysis as a useful and flexible method for qualitative research in and beyond psychology.
Livelihoods perspectives have been central to rural development thinking and practice in the past decade. But where do such perspectives come from, what are their conceptual roots, and what influences have shaped the way they have emerged? This paper offers an historical review of key moments in debates about rural livelihoods, identifying the tensions, ambiguities and challenges of such approaches. A number of core challenges are identified, centred on the need to inject a more thorough-going political analysis into the centre of livelihoods perspectives. This will enhance the capacity of livelihoods perspectives to address key lacunae in recent discussions, including questions of knowledge, politics, scale and dynamics.
Microfinance through self-help groups (SHGs) has evolved as a mechanism for social inclusion of the rural poor. This paper has identified the factors that influence the repayment performance of the SHGs in India, by conducting a study on a sample of 120 SHG members from 60 dairy SHGs and 60 non-members selected from the state of Haryana. Results of Tobit regression have shown that peer monitoring, group size and female percentage have positive influence, whereas homogeneity and loan amount have negative influence on the repayment performance of the SHGs. The study has concluded that if the essence of self-help and cooperation is fostered and monitored properly, the poor can also repay.
This paper investigated the determinants of loan repayment performance among women self-help groups in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to gather information from one hundred and twelve (112) women farmers from eight communities within the States, using the multistage sampling technique. The study revealed that credit was available for agricultural production, processing and petty trading among women farmers. The mean amount of loan disbursed to farmers was N18,147.3 while the mean amount of N15,000 was repaid. Loan repayment percentage was determined to be 83.73% while percentage default was 17.27%. The estimated regression model indicated that women as household heads (X2), interest rate (X3) and household size (X4), negatively and significantly affected the loan repayment performance of women farmers while price stability of farm proceeds (X5) and commitment to self help groups (X6), positively and significantly affected the loan repayment of women farmers in self help groups in the area. It was therefore recommended that more self help credit/saving groups be established in the state and that financial institutions within the state should form a linkage with this groups for efficient loan scheme.
Scale developers often provide evidence of content validity by computing a content validity index (CVI), using ratings of item relevance by content experts. We analyzed how nurse researchers have defined and calculated the CVI, and found considerable consistency for item-level CVIs (I-CVIs). However, there are two alternative, but unacknowledged, methods of computing the scale-level index (S-CVI). One method requires universal agreement among experts, but a less conservative method averages the item-level CVIs. Using backward inference with a purposive sample of scale development studies, we found that both methods are being used by nurse researchers, although it was not always possible to infer the calculation method. The two approaches can lead to different values, making it risky to draw conclusions about content validity. Scale developers should indicate which method was used to provide readers with interpretable content validity information.
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