Social Welfare in a Kenyan Town: Policy and Practice, 1902-1985

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Periodical article

Title:	Social Welfare in a Kenyan Town: Policy and Practice, 1902-1985
Author:	Seeley, Janet
Year:	1987
Periodical:	African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:	86
Issue:	345
Period:	October
Pages:	541-566
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	social policy social services colonialism Health and Nutrition Politics and Government
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/722669
Abstract:	This article examines the background to social welfare services in urban Kenya, the environment in which formal services were first implemented, and the effect of independence and increasing international intervention upon the nature of 'social welfare'. Case material is drawn from the town of Eldoret, the headquarters of Uasin Gishu District in Rift Valley Province. The analysis reveals that the complex array of services existing in Eldoret represents a mixture of past and present welfare practices. The basic structure established by the Municipal Board and the voluntary agencies during the colonial administration remains largely unchanged. However, the areas where significant change has taken place are in international aid and the growth of self-help groups. These two areas are not unconnected; international funding has enabled, and in some cases dictated, various forms of self-help activity in the town. The expansion of women's groups is a case in point. Notes, ref.