use as collateral. Joint title between husbands and wives or legally recognized user rights could expand women's access to formal credit that requires land as collateral. Other efforts include trying to shift from land title-based collateral to group lending as a means of pooling resources for collateral and sharing both the risks and benefits of borrowing; incorporating the advantages of informal credit systems into more formal schemes (innovative collateral requirements, reduced paperwork, female administrators); and broader dissemination of information about credit facilities (World Bank, 1989; African Development and Economic Consultants, 1.986).

The Government of Kenya has expressed interest in the group approach modeled along the lines of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Under this scheme, small amounts of money are lent to individuals (who are assetless) within groups. The group members discuss the potential loan and are able to borre# in turn. This program currently has a 95 percent repayment rate (World Bank, 1989). This kind of approach that does not require land title as collateral, but instead relies on peer support and emphasizes group members' ability to pay could be undertaken through local cooperatives, banks and other financial institutions (World Bank, 1989).

Although still going through some troubled start-up times and aimed primarily at urban women who are already engaged in business enterprises, the Kenya Women's Finance Trust (KWFT) is attempting to reach women by guaranteeing loans to them through other banks. Eventually, these services may be more available to poorer women in rural areas.

# 4. Improving access to and control over income

The "nutritional-efficiency of resources in the household" depends on a number of inter-related factors including income control and the allocation of resources within the household (McGuire and Popkin, 1988). Because of women's predominant role in providing food for the family, their access to and control over income is critical to their roles in assuring household food security. In addition to the fact that women's income tends to be spent along more nutritionally-advantageous lines, women's increased participation in incomeproducing activities can improve their influence and stature within the household.

The issue of control over income is a delicate one since it is often related to access to land and can impinge upon deep-seated cultural mores and traditions. But it has been shown that the ability to control income affects peoples' willingness to provide labor input and be more productive (Collier, 1989). This has significance for women who have a critical role in feeding the family and assuring household level food security. For example, in certain outgrower cash crop areas, where the bulk of income is derived from those crops, but where the income is controlled by men and perceived as men's income, companies should be encouraged to listed the contract in both the husband's and wife's name. This might allow women to have at least some control over the income and a greater say about expenditures aad therefore on nurturing activities which have an observable nutritional benefit (Kennedy, 1988).

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