The Rockefeller Effect - How aid affected rural women's groups in Kenya

Publication date: Sunday 21 August 2005

Many argue that organizations of the disadvantaged create positive externalities, and in
particular strengthen the position of these groups in society. A natural inference is that
these organizations should be subsidized. We argue that the benefits of expanding the
operations of these groups must be set against the potential costs of weakening the role of
the disadvantaged in these organizations.

A prospective, randomized evaluation of a
development program targeted at strengthening rural women’s groups in western Kenya
suggests that the program did not improve group strength or functioning as measured by
participation rates, assistance to members, and assistance to other community projects.
The funding did, however, change the very characteristics of the groups that made them
attractive to funders in the first place. Younger, more educated women and women
employed in the formal sector joined the groups, and men and better-educated and
wealthier women moved into key leadership positions.