There has been broad agreement in recent years that decentralization is key in achieving democracy at local level. Examining the successes, failures, possibilities and limitations of efforts across rural Kenya, this book analyses the socioeconomic and institutional prerequisites for successful decentralization, and the role of community groups and producer organizations in reducing poverty and promoting empowerment.Original empirical studies explore the fundamental elements of coherent, inclusive and ultimately effective decentralization, and how these can be applied to efforts across the African continent and beyond.
Researchers and students in social sciences and development studies; policy makers in international aid agencies, non-governmental development organizations and government ministries.
CH. 1) Decentralization and the Social Economics of Development: An Overview of Concepts and Evidence from Kenya, C B Barrett, A G Mude and J M Omiti
PART I: SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF DECENTRALIZATION IN RURAL KENYA
CH. 2) A Qualitative Analysis of Success and Failure Factors of Agricultural Cooperatives in Central Kenya, J K Nyoro and I Komo Ngugi, both Egerton University, Kenya
CH. 3) Institutional Incompatibility and Deregulation: Explaining the Dismal Performance of Kenya's Coffee Cooperatives, A G Mude
CH. 4) Decentralization, Community-Based Organizations and Access to Agricultural Extension Services in Eastern Kenya, G L Mugunieri, Kenya Agricultural Research Inst. (KARI), and J M Omiti
CH. 5) Access to and Willingness to Pay for Agricultural Extension in Western Kenya, E Nambiro, University of Bonn, Germany, and J M Omiti
CH. 6) Decentralization of Pastoral Resources Management and its Effects on Environmental Degradation and Poverty, Experience from Northern Kenya, K Munyao, World Vision, Canada and C B Barrett
PART II: SOCIOECONOMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL PRECONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL DECENTRALIZATION
CH. 7) Linkages Between Community, Environmental, and Conflict Management: Experiences from Northern Kenya, G O Haro, GTZ/GEF Indigenous Vegetation Project, Kenya; G J Doyo, Arid Lands Resources Management Project, Kenya; and J G McPeak, Syracuse University, USA
CH. 8) The Unfulfilled Promise of Microfinance in Kenya: The KDA Experience, S M Osterloh, Edgewood College, USA; and C B Barrett
CH. 9) The Effects of Farmer Community Group Participation on Rural Livelihoods in Kenya, D M Amudavi, Egerton University and International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Kenya
CH. 10) On Economic Transfers through Social Networks in Kenya's Smallholder Sector, H Hogset, Molde University College, Norway