Global project 930-0078 · 1983–1986 · social policies, regulations and systems · Population Council

A 3-year research project focused on four women's groups connected with Tototo Home Industries, a local voluntary organization in Kenya's Coast Province, in order to determine the effect of income generation (IG) projects on participants' incomes and their attitudes toward family planning (FP). Key findings of the research are as follows. (1) Projects which reproduce existing processes of capital accumulation in the local community and which thus require less outside assistance are more likely to succeed. (2) Groups that work free of the peasant economy tend to come under the control of members with favored backgrounds and greater expertise and to exclude women who are economically the least fortunate. (3) Although group enterprises seldom generate substantial profits, the income they provide does make a considerable difference to members. (4) IG by women does not automatically enhance their independence and status; the four cases indicate that a great number of variables affect intrahousehold income distribution. (5) Likewise, IG does not automatically alter women's attitudes towards FP, as children are an inextricable part of economic activity and welfare. Resistance to FP

Source: DEC abstract, PN-AAW-573 (1986). The source's own text.