The Role Of Multi-purpose Cooperatives In Village Developlvient: A Case Study Of Participation In The Kawangware Cooperative Society
Abstract
The Kawangware Cooperative Society is a multipurpose,
multi-commodity society with the goal of
economic development of Kawangware , The society is
part of a larger community development project
Local participation has been named as an
important factor in the success of development projects.
The goal of this research was to identify the variables
which influenced participation in the Kawangware
Cooperative Society. Participation was considered as
membership, or the act of joining, and level of
participation, or the degree of activity within the
Kawangware Cooperative Society. The variables, which
'were base d on: (1) social exchange theory, (2) systemic
theory, and (3) structural theory, were: (1) stability,
(2) social position and status, (3) development
attitude, (4) community participation, (5) informal
social tjy8S, (6) satisfaction with the Kawangware
Cooperative Society, and (7) structural opportunities.
Data was collected by conducting a questionnaire
survey, creating a comparative analysis between Kawangware
Cooperative Society members and non-member resident s of
Kawangware and between high and low scorers in a
participation scale
The major findings were as follows:
(1) stability has to be considered in both past years
in the community and expected future years in the
community. "Individuals who plan to live longer in the
community are not necessarily the same as those who have
spent the most time there, but are the individuals most
likely to participate in community activities.
(2) There are certain people more inclined to participate
in all community activities (3) These people are most
often the established, middle-range or middle-class,
excluding the unemployed and the wealthiest residents.
(4) Participation docs depend on the structural
opportunities given to the individuals. (5) It could
not be clearly shown that development attitudes, informal
social ties or satisfaction influence participation.
Citation
Master of Arts in the University of Nairobi, 1978Publisher
University of Nairobi, Faculty of Arts, university of Nairobi