Contributions Of Self-Help Groups To Sustainability Of Household Livelihoods In Nyakach Sub-County, Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

There has been a surge in interest in the past few decades by development scholars and interventionists on the potential of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in promoting development at local, national, regional and global levels. In Nyakach sub-county, majority of the population belong to one or more SHGs in order to maximize achievement of their livelihoods. Despite this evidence, there is limited knowledge on how SHGs influence household livelihoods, and most studies have focused on women groups and asset acquisition. This study sought to examine the contributions of SHGs to the sustainability of livelihoods of households in Nyakach sub-county, Kisumu County, Kenya. Specific objectives of the study were: to examine how Self-help group’s structures contributed to the sustainability of households’ livelihoods; to assess how the drivers to participation in SHGs contributed to sustainability of household livelihoods, to evaluate how strategies pursued by households in self-help groups contributed to the sustainability of livelihoods and to examine how barriers to participation in self-help groups contributed to the sustainability of households’ livelihoods. The study was guided by the theory of Symbolic Interactionism, Collective Action and Sustainable Livelihood Approach and adopted mixed method design with a descriptive approach on a target population of 630 SHGs comprising 9450 members and three Sub-County Social Services Officers (SCSSOs). Yamane’s formula was used to derive a sample size of 384 respondents while census was used to include all the SCSSOs. Questionnaire was used to collect data from SHG members; key informant interview schedule was used on SCSSOs, while Focus Group Discussion (FGD) guide was used to collect data from SHG officials and observation guide on the activities of SHG members. Instrument validity was ensured by conducting face, content and constructs validity through consultation of experts, triangulation and calculation of Content Validity Index (CVI), where a CVI of 0.80 was obtained. Reliability was enhanced through test retest on a randomly sampled 38 SHG members of the neighboring Nyando Sub-County during a pilot study. Findings were that SHG participation had moderately improved the livelihood status of the households. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics of frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation whereas inferential statistics using Pearson Correlation to show the relationship between the variables. Qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis. The study found a significant but low relationship (r = .427; p < 0.05) between SHG structure and sustainability of livelihoods of households. Similarly, high and significant relationships (r=0.674; n=384; p<0.05) were found between drivers to SHG participation and sustainability of livelihood of households. Significant (p=0.007) and high relationships (r=0.782; n=384; p<0.05) were found between strategies pursued and the sustainability of households’ livelihoods whereas significant (p=0.014) but low relationships (r=0.418; n=384; p<0.05) were found between barriers to participation in SHGs and sustainability of livelihood of households. In conclusion, SHGs had moderately contributed to household’s livelihoods, structure and socio-economic characteristics of members moderately contributed to household’s livelihoods, drivers to SHG participation had moderate but significant contribution to household livelihoods while strategies for improving participation had high and significant contribution to household livelihoods and barriers to SHG participation had moderate but low and significant contribution to the livelihood of households in Nyakach sub-county. The study recommends that there is need for diversification of income streams, training and education of group leadership and membership and the government designing flexible policies to ensure survival of these groups.