ABSTRACT
In Kenya women's associations have constituted a significant response to important socio-economic changes in the environment - both needs and opportunities - and to a specific national and international political climate. Self-help in Kenya has led not only to community projects but also to the emergence of a variety of groups oriented toward development. The Ministry of Housing and Social Services estimates that there are approximately 5,000 women's associations functioning primarily in the settled, agricultural areas of Kenya. The Ministry of Housing and Social Services responded to the opportunities and pressures by reassessing and restructuring its efforts to organize and assist rural women. Women noted that their relatives approved of their participation in a group because the group was providing individual and community benefits. In 80 per cent of the groups interviewed there had been no change in the persons occupying the leadership positions since the groups were formed.
