Institute for Development, University of Nairobi

Complementary to the study of individual business ventures run by Nakuru women in part 1 (I.D.S. WP 189), this paper focuses on groups and co-operatives formed by women in an attempt to collectively advance themselves economically. A range of informal and formal groups are described and one detailed case history of a successful co-operative society is presented. Questions of why women form groups, what objectives they choose and the problems and dilemmas faced by those groups are discussed.