The Rhetoric and Reality of Beneficiary Participation in Client Based Microfinance Institutions in Kenya: The Case of Faulu Kenya

While much criticism has been labelled against participatory approach (PA) to development, much of it is based on the wide diversity of people and organizations calling what they do participatory but I think what Participation is, is not important but why Participation is what is important (Pratt 2001). Transformative participation has the ability to reveal certain understanding of poverty from the poor people’s point of view, as well as deeper understanding of poverty. It has the capacity to provide sophisticated insights into their own predicaments as well as point to solutions to their own problems (Brocklesby and Jeremy September 1998). For this reason therefore, it becomes necessary to include the voice of the poor in decision making processes of issues that affect them and more so in poverty alleviation efforts because the poor have deep and complex understanding of their situation. If client based MFIs have to make a lasting impact in poverty alleviation field, they must embrace the principles of transformative participation in their operations because whenever the poor are involved in a positive manner, they become a vital source of local insight and illuminate crucial aspects of our understanding of poverty in ways which other people or methods do not (Brocklesby and Jeremy September 1998). Failure to do this, may lead to such programs either directly or indirectly propagating exploitation of the very poor they set out to redeem.