Date of Award
3-2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in International Development and Social Change (IDSC)
Department
International Development, Community and Environment
Chief Instructor
Professor Cynthia Caron
Second Reader
Professor Jude Fernando
Third Reader
Professor Denise Humphreys Bebbington
Keywords
Endogeneity, Endogenous Development, Self Help Groups, SHGs, Ethiopian Legal Framework
Abstract
The future of an estimated 20,000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Ethiopia is uncertain because they lack legal status and, therefore, are unable to access funds and service for their members. The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) does not recognize the SHGs as unique development groups, but only offers to register them as Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) or cooperative societies, which are solely economic entities that serve more narrow functions than SHGs do. There has not been any coherent explanation for why the SHGs need a formal status, but should not register as anything but SHGs. From May to August 2015, I examined 181 SHGs organized by the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church in Jimma, Hawassa, and Adama towns. My mixed research method approach finds that the SHG approach is an endogenous development model. As endogenous development groups, the SHGs need a legal status in order to mobilize resources towards their development. Were SHGS to register as MSEs or cooperatives, as recommended by the GoE, they would compromise their endogenous development principles. Therefore, Ethiopian policy makers should expand the existing registration framework to recognize SHGs’ endogeneity, which would permit them to operate freely without compromising their endogenous features. This study has implications for SHG-related research and implementation by locating SHG within a coherent theoretical framework.
Recommended Citation
Kabeta, Bisrat, "How Endogeneity Matters in Framing Legalization: A Case Study of Urban Self Help Groups in Ethiopia" (2016). Sustainability and Social Justice. 50.
https://commons.clarku.edu/idce_masters_papers/50
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