An Ethnographic Study of Local Institutionalisation of Savings Groups in Malanga, Coast Region

This brief presents findings from ethnographic research in a rural area of Malindi District in Kenya’s Coast region. The study explored the local institutionalisation of savings groups implemented by Catholic Relief Services as part of their Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) programme. The study was commissioned by the Financial Sector Deepening Trust Kenya and Catholic Relief Services as part of a broader research project on mesolevel impacts of savings groups in Malindi District. The ethnographic study sought to understand the extent to which savings groups as institutions were locally embedded and how they were shaped by and, in turn, were shaping the broader political economies of the rural settings in which they are situated.