Self-help and rural development in Kenya

One of the main emphases of the Special Rural Development Programme in Kenya was supposed to be the involvement of local communities in economic development efforts. Self-help activity in the past has been strongly preoccupied with projects which absorb, rather than produce resources. In this paper the six S.R.D.P. areas are examined in terms of the intensity of socalled 'economic' or 'economy developing' self-help activity versus the 'social/domestic' or 'welfare' variety, and a comparison is made with selected non-S.R.D.P. areas. It is found that the preponderance of 'welfare' projects is as strong or stronger in the S.R.D.P. areas as elsewhere. Various means for promoting self-help along more economically productive lines are then discussed, along with the existing approaches and structures, and some alternatives are suggested.