In Kenya 🇰🇪, in Kilifi County, there’s this Kiriba solidarity group, comprising 16 women and 2 men. Farming is their main source of food and income. A few of the group members also run small businesses selling goods and services.
Members regularly support one another in house construction, land preparation, harvesting, digging pit latrines, and so on. This mutual support and solidatity has reduced individual labour costs already. Now this groups takes the next courageous step: a basic income for all.
How? Well, the group started to pool all their commitments – supported by the Sarafu Network – which strengthens their cooperation. Beyond mutual support, members grow their knowledge in ecosystem stewardship and restoration. Compost making, for example. In this way members have already applied these practices on their farms with positive results. It illustrates the power of collaboration, but goes beyond that. It also extends mutual support opportunities far beyond the members of this group or community.
Their commitment pooling offers an opportunity for external supportive partners to step in and contribute, for example with cash. Like FairSpirit did, they supports the Kiriba Chama community by contributing a dollar amount per member per month into the community pool. This added support strengthens the pool and helps members make more frequent and reliable exchanges, resulting in a pool based basic income for all members. Ultimately, improving resilience and wellbeing of the larger community.
Read more about FairSpirit’s pooled basic income support. Or have a look at the Kiriba community commitment pool.Â
This Kiriba group demonstrates how partners and communities can come together to jointly solve problems, growing our shared prosperity. It shows how everybody has something in abundance to share. May this spark your imagination what one solidarity group can do. Why wait to start this in your community? Or to offer your mutual support.
Photo credits go to FairSpirit