Buzaa brewing in mathare valley: a case study of the informal sector

·~ • . J

UNITED NATIONS

AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING

DAKAR

52nd SEMINAR ON

' ~Off

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INSTITUTE OF DEVELOP:r<IENT STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX

B.

:a [

G 1:I '!V 0 N

;

-.. STRATEGIES FOR INCREASDfG PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT il~ AFRIC.AN COIDTTRIES DAKAR 1 0 NOVEMBER - 12 .. DE CEMB])R 1_9]2

BUZAA BREvliNG IN MATH.ARE V .ALLE Y : A CASE STUDY OF THE INFORMAL SE CTOR

BY

NICI NELSON

OCTOBER?

1975.

1 ::-:· ''

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Page 1.

BUZAA BREHING IN MATHARE VALLEY : A CASE STUDY OF THE U."TFORHAL SE CTOR

'Purpose of the Paper

'

. , ,·The purpose of this paper is to de scribe one small aspect of the

Informal Sector of Nairobi, Kenya, that is the illegal brewing of maize beer (called buzaa) by the women in a squatter settlement named Mathare Valley. It will be shawn how~ although each brewer operates independently, she depends greatly on the help. and cooperation of .. a net-vrork of ne igh-

bours ·and. fri?nds at every stage of the bre-v;ing, selling, and protection from the police. The use of netw·ork analys is is part·ic1;1.larly appFopriate for anaiysing the b~ewing of .buzaa~ Though· it is a very uncertain busi- ness _activi~y, for reasons that will be pointed out further on, no attempt has been made . to the researcher 's lmowledge t o bre-v1 cooperatively. Each woman · obta~nf?. the necessa::ry assist anc:é and support in times of· cris'is not from _kin, ,_not. from associations but from an ego-centrecl collection of ne:\,ghbolllrs .. and friends that are linked to her by their cornmon interest in bre>ving buz9-a •.

This .paper will describe the way each brewer utilizes the links of this'partfal p(à sonal network for. the ;purpose of brewing, the qornposition of the links i~ her net~iork (i.e. the content, directeclness, clurab.ility,

. . . . . '

intensi ty and freque'ncy ~±~ inter'acition) and the cri teri a by which' the wornan selects other wornen as rnembers of this personal network. This case

··' · .- l ':

. ^' . ..... ;·,:

stucly is one of the few description::= of the wa:y networkS can he utiiized by, self-ernployed people in the informal .Sectorof the economy; though sorne netwo~k studies. have been done in the forrnal sector (Kapferer, B.

1969, ^{for exarnple). It is .. almost} certainly orie of the only case 'studies showing .the opera\iiorJ. of personal networks in an illegal activi ty. '·

/œf3a .of Reseai.ch and :Methodol$Y

The Area of research is a squatter settlement narned Mathare Valley in Nairobi, Kenya. This settlernent has an estimated population of 50 to 60,000 people (Housing Research and Development Survey 1971). ^The

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l ·_;_'

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Valley is divided into 10 ·village·~· which ar~--dist.inct ~:Patially, administra- ti valy and sociologically._ The Reseai::ch has beEm concentr§,ted rnostly in the second village because (a) it is the oldest, thus giving the greatest tirne perspective~ (b) i t is prirnarily Kikuyu, whereas ether villag(as were very rnixed ethnically and the Researcher wanted to keep the ethnie factor

cbnsiiant~ and (c) it had a ·high number of .women·landlÔrds .(private cornrnuni- '. cation wi th HR:b staff).

: ;., . ^·,,

. ,., The method ernpldyed has been that o~. Pa.I'tic:ipant:-obserya:tion •.. · The

"'f!· :.reseéq:'cheJ; ha::) spent

4- 8

hours daily in t.b.e village between ^Mey

1972

and

>\ . , Oct.ob~;r 15H3. She has P9I:ticipated in meetings, discussions, brewing

' - j • •

acti;M~ti~s .of every sor~ (incl~ding .aJ:·riving at daw-n to fry the flour)

. ·'

avoiding p;o;Lice raids, and daily d()rnestic chores. . Caref~l obaervat·ion and

.recording . of. vromen 's personal networks have led to these conclusions about

the₁ ,pripci,p}.~~s of :forrna_..tion~,1 and ·th_e structure and content .à:f the-personal netvrprks. _{.. .} :.· (For . the _. .p.urpose of this_ paper only the Pa.I'·tiaJ.-pe:r;-sona.:!.'.·net- wor~. c:onriectE:ld v!i th bre>üng buz~a will be · discussed). T,he inte;rviewer '•

frequently interviewed key inforrnants inforrnally on many a~pects .of buzaa brewing. Because this aspect of the study is basically descriptive, the re- pré sen tati vene ss · of the ... 8 ample is .. not . an~ important oons id&ra.t ion. . However ~t.h<

:r-C:.'Se':::.rcher wnl? ·d~ful td inolude wornen >rho vrere relatively.'unsuèessful in · brewing as well "as· tliose ;-;ho we're · r ecognized by the comrrninity as very success ful. ••.

1 . ..,1.·,

Women of Mathare ,,

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_In Kenya todey urbanizatio1;1. is taking place at an increasingly rapid

r aty. :..Nai:;r-obi .is groving at a rate of 7. 8"/o or in another word at a :tate

of 6Q,OOO 11dditiqnal inhabitants a year and_ is· likely .totop 2 millions by ^the~ year 2000. The_ process· of urbanisation which has tak:en._ place in Nairobi has two interesting features - f irst, the gradual stabilization cf the male/female r atio

dent (unmarried) _women •

.:' .

and secondly, the tnc:reas;ing nurnbers of ind,epen-

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In 1959 the male/female ratio wa.s 1. 7

(G~gl e ;

^{Nkanga Vol.}

4) ~ .

^By

the 1968 census the ratio had dropped to .1 • 4. Since inde:pëndence inc-reasing numbers _of women have been attracted to the city. Uo;-w6:rk hae been done

~mong women migrants, but preliminàry nnalys~s of the researchex¹s

data makes it clear that vromen · often come 1-rith t he same economie motives as men if they come-independently, but they may often come t o stay ini- tially vrith a husband or a boyfriend.

Naix obi has an increasing number of inde pendent >rdmen. How l arge

·a group is impossible to ascertain because of over-reportirig of marriage to the census takers. The re are two censuses of Hathare which' make

estimates of the number of unrnarried vromen. The Housing Research Develop- ment Unit SJ,U'Vey of 1969/70 ^{in Mathare Valley calculates that ind_ependent}

.•-

women make up 25% of the population there~ A CityGouncil census of 1967

mad.é a· higher estimate of

·45% .

Then there is, of course, tho de.finitional

( _,

problem of marriage (Southhall, Introducti~n 1963). ^{IIere the resee..rcher}

.. -.

prefers t o characterize a woman who is involved in any form of cor;cubinage

J

relationship as independent because of the l ack of stability of the rel a- tionship and the f act that such a woman, though receiving assistance from a series of men, bears ultimate responsibility for supporti~ her-

... ..... '··

self and her children and raising hor children by différent men.

The reasons for this growing number of self-supportif:\'3' women in Nairob-i are various. Many women claim to have beon vrido-wed during the

. :-.· .

emergency. Thè landholding system of in ost Kenyan groups 'is such that a woman only has access to land through her husband. A 1Wman who has not marrie·d or been ùivorced has no 1-ra::l t o support herself in the rural aroas unless she depends on kinsmen. This is an unsupportod assumption, but

it .may be . that as Ken;ya enters moro and more into the monet ary economy,

extended kin groups asf'\ume less and less resp_ons;i.bili-ty for · divorces and

. ether categories of uomen vli thout husbands. New sexcual freedom among

young people has led t o an increasing rate of promarit al pregnancios and the_se girls frequently fail to pe:rsuacie the ir boyfriE?nd~ ·, to t ake res pons ibili ty. for the child.-and marry them.

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This often means that a girl has spoilt her chance for marriage~

es.pecially if, in a desperate attempt to trap another boyfriend, she conceives a, second child. Then the girl is branded as a pros

ti

tu te

, '· _;:a.pd has little chance of regula.rizing her status by becoming. ~ ~ife.

The obvioua choice for a_ woman with no access to land is to go t~/·

a·town.· Here if she has any edùcation she seeks -to. taka a typing': cour se or get a job as a sales girl in a shop. If ·she has no educa- tion, she enters the. c.1t-throat competition for· the limi ted nu!!Jber of jobs as bar girls and house se:rv·ants and if she fails at this she can brew beer for sale illegally and/or obtain money ·from·men either in a strict prostitute customer relationship or 'in a concubine rela- . tionship (M. Gachuhi 1973).

Many of the se women come to Mathare. The older wbmen \<Ne:z::_ 40) are usually divorces_ or widows wi th no education, -vrho came, to Mathare in the early 60's and buil t houses there • If they had chi~dren they -.often still live with them and the grandchildren. They support :them-

selves by brewing buzaa and collecting rents from their houses. A surpris ing number of the houses in old Mathare have be en bui:l:t by women. ,. ,

-Buz aa Bre wing

Three types of drink are manufactured illegally by Mathare resi.:..

dents .for sale. ·A tradition kikuyu honey beer is infrequen:tly made.

"Changa.a", ^~ distilled drink, is produced in village·s III and' IV but not (for historical reas ons) in village IL · In .v:illage I.I .most: :women brew a· fermented maize beer, · imported to Nairobi by peoJ?le· from . Wes.tern Provin·ce, known as buzaa,;,

The basic ingredients are maize flour (unga) and yeast (kimere).

45 kilos of unga are damp~ned, allowed _to ferment and fried on a large

•

(5 foot by 3 foot) pan until browned ( a hot, smqkey an~, from the point

. '

of view of being_ spott_~d by police, dangerous task). This browned unga

:,·,

is added to 4 debes of v<ater (16 gall~ms), left one dey, ·dur~ which yeast is added. On the last d~ when·.-the muddy bJ;dwn mixture .. is "boil!'!'

!Jtlg¹¹ it is strained through a burlap sack to remove the maize fl-oor residue.

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. A number of specializations have arisen to assist the brewers in

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the~ tas k. There are those Hho sell unga and kimere. Thore.· are men who strain buzaa (shs.4 a târik of 16 gallons) and sonie who büy the rnaize residue (mashis.ha)' to sèl l to farmers as feed. And one must not forget the firè1-100d 4ellers (p~ople <cook wi th charco"al but .fry the:j.r unga Wi th firewooci) and "'tltœ

·rtièn

who se·11 debes and mukebis ( 1/2 litre. ·on -:tins,

1 ·t. i.. .. • . . • . ; ' ' ~ ' '

ole aned and prepated for use as glasses to drink buzaa -

50

otp.. ·a :half

· l i tr~:

tin) .

Three salient facts ·ab0ut thé production o:( buzaa maké it a ~ifficul t I';roduct for the brower·to manufacture• Firstiy, the; fermentation period

is difficult tb èstimate with any exactness, so that when one has counted on frying on 'Thùr'sday ·tci have buzaa for sale on .Patl,l.rq.ay .the v.nga may not be read.y. Sec6ndly, the buzàà' spoils and: be com~s undrinf'>:ab)...E3 :tn. 24 to

48

hour~ '(d~'pending on· the weather). Women live .in constant. worry about not selling all the buzaa brewed OT bought wholesale. If they caP~ot

• • ! •

sell i t, thèy will be· foi'cGd to "pour.'' buzaa and lose . money. ·4,s will be explained la ter t'his . is . an important cons id:erat:i:on. in brèwers,. asséssment of the market on the monthly cycle.

Thi:rdly, buzaa brewing is ail illegal activity. Fo~ this "reason

;,ome:n, cie constantly harrassed by police raiçle;:., . A womaii. can los·e a batch of beer (an investment of approximately; Shs. 35) or' Vall,l.able eqùipment in such a raid. If she is very unlucky abe will bè · caught pers6nally •

. . This will oost Shs.40 for

a

bribe to be .let• off, or a fine of Shs.50-150

if ·abe is brought be fore a j~dge ·•

The Situation in which 1-TOmen Mobilize their Pers0nal Network:'i:n, the Brewing of Buzaa

In this section the v arious situations in which yromen brewers of Mathare utilize links in tlieir person~l networks wi'll' be desnribecl.

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The · :first fe'ature of the ·buzaa brewers ¹ cycle . where ne tworks play

~ ·sighificant part· is· in--the process of wholesal.i;ng ancl retailing of the

beer. Though sdrrie ·vromen neverbrew buzaa (tp.ey_only buy ~t by the debe

~h~"lesale)"· most women are wholesalers and retailers of huzaa. The ~e­

sear'ëher: knows-'of no woman who.is sc'Jlely a retailer. ·_.Thefirst group 6f wo'men ·is xelatively · small because the p;rofits of b.l,l,y..ing. buzaa by the

·' . 1 , . . .

·. debe ~hol~sale ârid ·then retailing to the cusiïomers are relatively small.

A woman can only make Shs•4 a debe in this way. Host women prefe.r to sell their own buzaa. But no woman can have her buzaa available every- dey she wishes to sell. ·. For. this reason she must often.buy a_debe whole- sale

to

séll' on the days -when she had more ready herself •. Woman say this is nocessary so as· not to dis appoint .regular._customers. Conversely ₁

· womeri ·who brëw· a· tanlccan .r-are.ly expect to sell r.et.ail all three_ and

a haif debes in the pel'iod of a day or t-vro when the be .. er is good. Sorne- times good brewérs (those with many cust.omers and a good reputatio~) can

·. ( '

do so ·mt· a he avy Saturday ·at the first of the month ( all w_orke:J;.s in Kenya

are· paid m~onthly

h

but usually -a woman lvholesales one or t_wo debe_s from

her:t.ink ànd retails .the remainder herself.

,

The reasons why I'TOmen do not have buzaa ready at all times· are various.

Nè f,[6m~ ·bré.-vn3 everydày. Fermenting unga (flour) is not a predictable pro- .. èess. (as explained before') so no one can guarg.ntee exa~tly when it will be

·· ;.e~y~ · Informants also g-ive .as a reason for irregular brewing the lack of ca:P.ftal nece:ssary · to purchase large quanti ties of unga needed to have one

'lot· ready èveryday. ·In addition~ women claim t~at :bre•dng it very hard

and too difficul t to do everyday. ; T.b have b._. 1,lzaa ready everyday would

' . .

me an one frying and one straining daily which informants fel t would be p:riohibiti~e woxk~ Whix:n.: ente·rs in as we:1.1. Women PFJ:Y frequent visits to

·~ ~~· -:.:.~·:.. ... -. -~·- . . .

relatives in the country or other parts of Nairobi and on thësë· d~s they do not want to brevr. Women do not brew as rouch when

"thé

month is in labour" (i.e ... in the '3rd>reek} and customers are few, brolœ or try;i.ng

•

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to buy on credit... Women vrill roften prefer to buy one .de bE;) · who+esale off per'iod.s rather than risk. ¹¹pouring" a whole tank., R;i..sks of spoilage . ... are ever-present and a successflll brewer . is one vrho c_qn shr~wdl;Y ass.ess

the market and is rarely le ft. wi th excess ta "pour".

...

·-:.

Police :r;aid9 can often interrupt a woman 's brewing cycle for· a week.

It a:n askar;i.. 11

p~s

¹¹ a tank just about ready for str ainir}g.

~d/o~ ~es­

troys her fermenting unga, a woman will be forced. to buy whol~s~~ ~()r nearly a week until new buzaa is ready. Buying a debe of buzaa wholesale -1s· often not .easy;. A woma.>"i_who wants.to.buy one must begin ear+y in the

mornirig. Empty do be in hand she. begins t·he. rounds of all her friends from one· end of the village to the other ta" see who has br.ewed and has. buzaa fors ale~ If tt is a bad time of month it may take her severa_! hou;r.s.- Often ·she mey have to ask her friends if they have heard o.f apyone.with buzaa· available. The obtaining of -buzaa wholesale is do~1e. alp:~qst: qcüely

along· ·friendly networks. ·If a woman cannat find a f:r:iend, w:ho has_ 'b\lzaa, she will talœ a friend along •·rho knows the vrholesal.er· ·in question to

introduce her. Peyment for .the de be is made after the buzaa. -be.en r~,tailed

so

~r'edid must be obtained be fore the woma.n can "carry^{11 .(} ta}ce .away.) , the

· debe. The mutual- frieni introduces the stranger.

Sometimes in case of .default of payment, tho mutual friend may even be asked to .stand surety. In one case an info~mant ,_ J\ria.rgaret~ w~ being

· harassed by her · firend to pay Shs ~ 13 beqause a custoJ1]er Margaret had

,. . .. ^'· .. ^'

introduced to her friend has refused ~o pay. Mggaret ••as berating_ herself

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herself for acting foolishly because she had not known the woman. she had introduced very well and had acted only out of the kindne~s of her he~t': i~ ~

tc:iking

her to the friend. "Kindness los es money'.' she, complained.

· MaJ:-g'à.ret comprofuisèd by paying part of the money ₁ ,t);tus mollifying her

. . ^.

. friend, . bUt she 1vill be. more carèful in the future· ·w:hom .she. takes to her friends for credit~

·.·.

Once a woman has found buzaa, she tastes it and decides if it is good. The keeping of a steady flow of c-ustomers.. Cj.cpe!.lds. onyo:tn.: _having

"sweet:"' bUzaa a.,lways .availabl$. If .. she approves she "cp.rries" a de be.

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Thè next dey-· the sellet will come to her house :to colle ct Shs .1,3. Be-

~weert close· friends the debt cart remain u:ppaid for several weeks. This is' espe cially adva.ritageous whEin a woman io selli,ng buzaa-to customers on

··-

oredit~in the last few·week.s of the··montb. and haà not realized the full Shs. 1~ in ~ash. Thus, each woman stands at the centre of a delicate

. . .

balance Of inCOLÜrlg .artd' .OU.tg"oing credit vThÎch hopefully··reS·ÇÙVeS itself at each end of thé inorith vrhen custorners get paid a.rid. ~oney.b,ircu;J;,at~~

, ..

· freely again in Mathare -~·

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Non pajment for vrholesale bl.,lzaa is an ever

~r e se·n~

^sourc.e.

b·~ : ct~~rels

between those -who'. are wl:+olel;3.aling a.p.d those_{... . .-. -. . ~ - . : :} . who make use of the.ir services. _{., . .} .

If. a woman is unabl~ to .sell all the_~)juzaÇJ.: duè to lack of customers? or

9an

^{only s.ell. for credit, .} she may be unable _to raise -the payment in cash

, right away.

li'

the women are not sufficiently frienQ.ly ~o warrant the

wholesiùérs wai ting for her. paJ!llent, a quarrel breaks out. Thore is no official _. reoou.roe _. that th0 _. ; , .. . wholesaler can take. If she take,s the case to a .Ka.nui official (the normal channel for _one to take. in a

q_~-~~~~)

' : ~--

the official ·can .do no more than adv:ise the defaultor to pay. _{' ! . _.. . . :~} Since the

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women realise that the lavr. of Kenya does not recognise an illegal contraot

. . . . . . ^~-·- L; ^--~-~-. -..· ·.

(and buzaa sel ling is illegal) they know they have no way of_{. . . . • . ! . .} . forcing the _.

··Not ohly do people utilize the i r friends to buy and seli buzaa whole- . sale but they tend to help oach ether in various ways· wi th the actual

production and· sale of buzaa.

1 1 • .- ·. The most common type of cooi>eratioi1.

' is

the sharing or renting of equiprnent. Many vrornen cio not have ali ~he ^capital

.. ..

investrnent necessary to brew - oithor because the Askaris had destroyed

·~ Kenya African Uational:Union - the ::ruli:ng (and only) political paS;-ty •

..

,

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a tank or n frying tin, or because the 1-roman has just been able to put together t h8''!i-eqtÙsite dapi:tal' t o ·purchéise the ·item.: · In which case a woman will borrow or 'reiit fo:r 'à minimal sum the .needed item from a ;frio,nd or ne ig hb our;

Women 't-rill often holp the ir. friends in times of s iclme.ss or trouble.

If a woman is sic~ and .no.t up to the. effort of frying a f:J;ie_nd may do i t

. ' ' .

fo:c, her • In one case, ?- vroman, I'Jlary, E3Vacuated her house precipi tously

. . . . . . .

t · O

^{n,void a} loyer vr.ho

'"as

^{th.r;'eate~~~ her •. She divided up he}r goods among

· · her• friends and. went home . A frie.11d had been given a de be of fermented

unga. T!Jnasked₉ she brewed the beer and saved the profits to give to Mary 1-rhcm she returned. In another case a vroman had to take a seriously ill

'6hh d · t~

·t h e

·hospïtai every morni.ng for sever-al vreeks. Friends fried her

'unga for '·:her d~in[; this periôd. • A I·TOrnân who has .to go on· an unexpected err~d

' or

^journey' will· 'ask

a

^{friend to sel l he}r buzaa for her whil<:) she is gorie. Inviriably 5 she. askS a friend who has: none ' to sel l' that day.

The ' friehd ·who helpS in this way may claim a free mukebi (.ti.l1) of buzaa

to drink

in

^{payment; ' and' or ask à siinilar f} a"\\".our in tho futur?:O'.

f •••

:.··. Roo.m .mfl.tes .w·ill oft~n w.o.r~; .out an arrangment whereby each woman brews

.. a;L te:rnately.r sinru.l·taneous brew.ing croates untold problems. The. 1-romen sell

. ' .. . ·. . . ^' . . ^•

. in:: the ir own_. hquses, and. most: customers may be strgnger s or known to both

• •• ~ ' 1 : ,·.

· .. women.. Tl;J.e re sul ts onp be qu2:.rrels over . who is to sçrve which customers, ahd_ almost invariably -vmstod b'uzaa. .So alternation is the !post eq_uitable

f;~Olut:i,.on. There are !3ven cases where -vron;ten who p.ave a large trade, living close t o one another, find i t more profitable to do al ternate brewings at most times except at the end of the month. If Mary did not have buzaa she would se nd prospect ive ·oustomers across tho passag\3 .. to Wairimu and

·Vice versa.-' This: increases the l ikolihood that they w.ould alwÇ~ys l;lOl l out their 'buzaa.

) ,

~ ..

Room mates usually ngreo t o help each other sell their buzaa when i t is ready. This allo1-rs each woman t o get hor domestio chores done and l ightens the l oa.d on a woman 1-rhcm she is eelling her own buzaa. The

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profits of a day' s sel ling go to tho owner of the buzaa. Unfortunately,

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room mates afton quarrol nnd feel jeal9us .. of one another, especially if one is significantly more successful. The most common reason for

quarrels between woman room me.tes₇ apart from men, is the selling of buzaa. One partner begins not co~operating in selling when it is her room mate'sbuzaa for sale. She may go for the whole dey visiting. She may even go so far as t o walk on the ~oad and tell regular customers not to bother to come today because there' is: ho l;mzaa. This qua.rrel is usti.ally rosolved by spatial separation when the newer occupant of the room "shifts" (ôhanges rooms).

Sometimes women pqol the i r resources and :r:ent "a store ¹¹ (a room used to store equipment and buzaa). This has several advantages. It leaves more room in already crowdod living quarters for fuDniture. It means the incriminating envidenco is not in one ¹s house in case of a r aid by askaris. The women who come together are friends who live

fair.fy close to one another ~ The wa;)'S of forminga ¹¹store ¹¹ renting group are informal and casual. Two friends or tho core and gradually over time various of tho friends₁ and friends of friends, join _apd drop out as financos and living distance pormi t. The evidence is not conclusive but womon who move to another end of the v ill age drop out of. a. group be-

cause one cannat walk too far to one 's store• VTomen who rent a store toge thor t end to co-oper ate together in many are as:- -in brewing, . in cooking, ·ca.ring for children, braiding of hair and shari:ng domestic items ând food~

One extremely important type of co-oper ation bet1veen neighbours is help during Police raids and Police arrest.. First, any woman who hears about the arrival of askaris tells as many people as she sees, and everyone in her housing cluster. Secondly, people help each other

•

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CS/2673-T Page 11. ·

hicling things like tanks and debes of buzaa. A woman will' call :h neigh- bour to help her put

a

he avy de be deep uncler the bed.. Sincc the Police

• • 1

re~~~Ùy began déstroying tanks and drying ·tins, rather thari just "pouring"

tho buzaa, ihe resca.rcher has '1-ratched friends attempting to hide tà.nks in cul verts or put' tanks on rooftops just bcforo ·a raid in the hope thilt they l'l'ill escape the notice of the askaris.

vfhen a woman is a.rrested her naighbours look her house-.to.pr,event theft. They then notify her neares:t relative in Mathare or in the case

of a· vmman ,:,ho has. no close relative n~arbY her closes t ' friend,~ This

indivi<i{ial in .conjuctÎon 'l;rith friends and

n e

^{ighbours raise the} suffi for b~Ü' ~d the' arre.sted indivièlual usualiy 'is ba:iied out the same day.

. . . " ' ' .

Sinoe neighbours wi tnass the arrest, they take the initial steps of noti- fying frhnids and relatives ₉ but unless they are friends as' well as ne~gh­

bours th~ y usually take'' i i ttle' part in the coliection of bail bond tnoney.

'\fhen the arrested vrorrinn is released on bail, if she has the capit<Ù she repays everyone who ha.S contributed to her bail bond. Sometimes s·h.e may not only be unable to pay back the loan 'right away but· also not have enough for her fine.

The first persan a woman will appeal to w'ill be a r elative if she

. 1.

has one. in Math~e or În Nairobi "be cause relatl.ves àre suppose cl to help

. '

each other" explained one woman. In case she ·has no relative, or the relative ca~·mot help her, she tD.rns to a friend or frie'ncls 'and r~:iises the money. When asked if neighbours would r aise money for a 'stral'l8er who· had just move'd to Mathare 9 Jane W. loolœd surprised at the naivete of the question. ''Of course not"₉ she said, "one does not k:now 'if a stranger will "eat" the money". (i.e. tak^{. '} e the money and disappear).

Friendship is the only surGty in Mathare .

Thore are other less common man.ifeétations of co- oper àtion bétween women brewers. A vrotnan who knows she will be 'selling buzaa unti1 very late may sGnd her children to slGep with sorne wonian who has no buzaa to

• 1 • •

CS/2673-7 Page 12.

sell that night or 1-rho may have a separa te sleeping room. Seme times room ma.t0-s -share tho oosts, 1wrk,_ o;nd pr ofits of each buzaa brovri.ng

but -this is· r do ^{and is the rosult of} c.n unusua.l degree, of friendi+

ship. Sometimes women will allow a friend who has a room in Ma-tha:r:e to use her rdom to· 'sel l buzaa on a day when she · is not selling herself.. The friend may help the householder sel l hor own buzaa on another day in thanks.

The ;Buzaa Brewing_ Ne tw·ork

Each >·roman in Mathare ₉ like all individuals in any society, is part of this ~go-centréd ^{:ilehrork of friends,} acquaintances ·and: kin 1-Ti th whom she interacts for varïous purpos~s. This network stretchês into various parts of' Nairobi and one or more rural aroas. For the purposes of this paper we are éoncerned wi th that part of' the network which is concerned 1-1-ith buzaa brc:wing; ••• in ether words an instrumentai "buzaa brewing notï-rork". This· network is largely bound.ed. by the geographical

limi ts of Village II in Iviathare, though the re se archer noted sever al instances of Village II women selling in Village III and · one instance of a woman selling to an aunt in Pumwani.

How is this instrumental ¹¹buzaa brewing network¹¹ made up? The first part of t he network :is tho effective area which is largely synonymous with a residential cluster. Tho :heod to. r0ly intirnately on the members of your residen'tial clustor is closely tied in wi th tbe f acts that:

'

(i) buzaa b~ewing is illegal. The whole complex or warning and assistance in case of police raids has already be en d.escribed. Even·· borr6wing equip- ment from ne ighbours rather than distant friends is pr actical in this regard, because to be caught carrying equipment for buzaa brewing on the road can rnake one subject to

'a

fine ;' 'as has alroady boen emphasiz.ed, highly spoilable. Al ternat ive btewi'ng, as previously described, can insure that all res.idents in a r oom, or a cluster can maximise the ir profits. In both cases proximity is a requirement for cooperat ion. In addition many

common, daily l i t t le types of cooperation arc limited to tbe residential cluster because of convenience ru1d limited time. If one is busy and tied to one 's house selling buzaa~ ono rel ies on a neighbou.r to vratch a pot or a baby, or to sond over a dish of food.

•

^{CS/2673-7 ''}

Page 13 , .- , .

. The links il'l. ,this :part of the notwo:rk are often basod ex.clusively

~ ,· . ·.1 .

P.roxim:Lt;r is not a product 'o:f or a cause

_,

on buz aa br_e W:ing act i vit ie s •

.. _ o ! . f~i~l?-d,linc.: ,ss . - EVe

^ri :pe o:pJ,.e uho

sh~e

rooms did

~ot n~ -ê~ssa.r:lly

· know ea?~ othe+ before they agreed to share to save on rent. r~ ·might be

' ) • . ·,_ .• 1 • ' .• - . • ' . . • •

inter~sting to note that the housing cluster is itself a random and

-~ ·:· · .. '··:· .· : . .. ' . .., ·,_. ·, : ·. . ', . . . . ^{. ·. [·· ' :'} . , ._ .. ·, ' ^{.,. '} '

chém,ging. group of _:people.. The house ovmers reJ?.t t6 the· first comers

r · ~ • · ~ ---· 1 • ;-•• -~-

and _.... in ~any_ ca~es çlisr~gard . any criteria such as •'etl:inicity,' home. are a,

·, . . . . .. . . ' ' . ' . . ; . ^; . . ~ . .

.. ?r.--~~ ,ffrd.;,~~.x whert. renting. Thus anyone whomaves int'o ·a hous.~ cluster

-~ - 1> • j !, ; • • ' ;. •

. , ^i~-- usua_lly a stranger to 9r only a vague acqua._inta.nce of most of ^th~ other

. l : : ~ .. ·, . j . '·

... re.si.dents thore~- . The . ~embershi:p of th.e cluster varies frequently. Though

, ~he - ~nhab~t-~ts

^of

i~I·a~hare ;ho~

^{a rela,tively}

stab'l~

^{;es'id.e.ntial}' :pattern

~ • • ' • ',. • • 1 :"" ' •.Î . '

'·· :Wit:P,,.rega;rd to Xvfathc::.re, (the ayerag~ length of time -~n !VJathare __ is 5 years,

,: ;; ;,i ^{·ljl ~P~~ - :p;~PlE?}

^have

^{· ~pent}

^that

^who~e

^time

^{u; o~e} v.ii·Ï~~')

^t-hey often

. . ·. , .. ^•, . .. -

. .

^{' ' . .} . ^·.

shift _frequçntly wi thi,n .the village unless they ovm the ir own house.

. . . ' ·;. . . ' . . . . '

~a,y:j.ng shifted most. wpmen 148Jco no effort to maintain liÙks with the ir

~ .. .-~ _, . . . . •. ' . . • .. l • • . . . . . . . . ' •.. ! ..: : ' ~=~.

:pr~vious ne;Lghbours •. Morer~yer, few W()men y;r:q<;ln interviewed conèerning

. ' ' . . ^{\• -}' ' . ^.' . . ' . . ' . \ . . : . ' . . "~ . ^-.

. :the:i,+. :per~:wnal friep,ds named eyen or1e neighJ;>our as a close friend. The

. . : . ' . . ' . .., . ^~ .. · ;- i ·:· =:· ..

~- rf3sea.rche:r b,as obs_eryed f=f:eq'Lj.entl;y that intense relationships ar~- not çor,rei.?ted vrith ~ro;x=iln;ity but w.it~ other facto~s.

:. ( .,

This leads us to a discussion of tho second part of a woman¹sbuzaa . brevring ne.t.:work, th~ extendod :part. This includos the links that t ie

. ' L . . . ' . . . ··. ! , ~ ( ·. . . . ': ' : ' •

, q. bre>'rer t.o, Vïll'ious women in different parts of MÇLthare and· which she

• • . • • • • .J; • . '\ ~ • • • . • . . • • • • . • • ' . . i' .

.. utilizes_ to qarry out other buzaa bro:wing related activites. The se

-.

· ~-::>mon do noii l).ave to live near each other and be more than n.cquainted with

... ·: ' . . . . ^{' ~-}. •.,• .

on~ ;an()ther. Thes!3 women .are described as ''friendc" and their memb~rshi:p

: · .• !

in the breWeJ:s ¹ network se ems t o be in c.orrelation wi th the ethnie group,

l . ' . ' _.

home are.a withi? ethnie affiliation (such as

I~~a

Kikuyus),

~g~ -'

educa-

- ^:. . . ^'

tion, gener;ü .sto.tus within the co,rn(llunity qnd 'l~pgth of time in Mathare.

• • - • • • ' • ' • • • ) • 1 ,. _; . • • • :. :. • • • • • '. _; ~ •

Th~ lin,ks bo:t:ween these women, though marked by less frequent contact,

. (thèy mey go;ever al-

~~-e ks ~itho~tseei~ · e ·a~h

otber) are-more

d~-~ble

v > · ' , • • • , _ T ': , •

.~ver t ime, and: m,?:rle ~~tense . There is more friendly vis i ting and sharing

: .:.; .

CS/2673-7 Page 14.

of prec-ious leisure-timo ao-tivi t ics

su

ch as going home to see relatives. The rela.t ionship has more dimensions of caring and s haring friendly .. gossip and ·c ommon interost s. rt· is to these >.;romen that a bre1rer tu.rns for t he three types of buzaa brewing assistance which presuppose a trust relationship: (i) extended hèlp in serious emergencies, .(ii)'buying and selling .buzaa lvholesale, and. (iii) putting up bail and payi!l.g of police fines·. When a woman is in th0 hospital ·for a long t ime, or çalled home 'to care for a sick rel ative, or prevented from brewing by a leg in a cast, neighbours give sorne help and sympathy. But the consis~.

tent, unstinting assistance su~h as da.ily visits, or brewi1~ for a woman for 6 cons'ecutive weeks, can be expected from only a few close friends.

The wh ole saler-ret ailer relationship wi th i ts delicate credit balances i:rwolving large sums of monoy (somotimes as muchas Shs. 100-150 by the end of t-he· Irionth) is obviously one which depends on mutual lmowleclge,

trust, and ;-rillingness ·to w ait for ·payment. Finally, fines and bail involve. ag-ain 'largé sums ~f money' and once agiin ·-it is only close

friendship that ban mot ivate a -vtoman t o -risk paying out such large sums.

A WOI:lan·may nave togo around ,borrowing from her friends and relatives

~o .b.ail _out .another friend and she will be held responsible for r epay- ment..._

Many womori in Mathare survive by bre>-ring buza:a, Most women ~-rhen asked to riame the bost thing about Ma.thare answer "tho ability to inalœ money by brewing buz'~~' evcm when we do not have land or jobs". There

• ^..

has been·no :rëcordod instance of buzaa. brewing in cooporatives in Mat:q.are. This may wel i bo C:Ùie ta the newness of beth Mathare as a community and of bu.zaa dr:knking' in Nairobi a.mong Kikuyus. It mày also be due to constant police 'ral.rls ₁ · >·Ï'hich though ineffGctive -to s top buzaa bre~-r:j.ng al togethci·; may contribute to ·making any large coperative operation im~

practicable bocause t oo visible in terrns of concentrations of eq_uipment,

store~ and quantities of buzaa etc. Nevertheless, the women of Mathare facod by the many hazards and uncertainties of an illE)gal a.ctivity with

CS/2 673-7

Page

15.

a low profit margin make a perhaps marginal adaptation to tho urban environment. They make this economie adaptation by cooperation and assisting each other vri thin these··lnstrumental buzaa bre1üng networks.

Conclus ions .

,' ,·

In c1o'S-ing, i t se.e.ms ·appropria te to say a fe~ word.s.- about buzaa.

: ...

brewihg; as part' of the informa}. soctor~- ·~·For.!Jlany -vroman with few skills

... .,. . :· . - .· . ~

market able in the· f.ormal . .s ector, no. l:msbg.nÇ).f:l a.r;td no ltnfi.~ this self-

... ^{. ...} . . . . . ... ^.·. . . . •·· . -^{~ . -,' . -. . '}

· employment in the informal sector, b!t'E}-wing. bl],z~a · Ù: a simple and prac-

tical means.: of_.sub~i;:>tElnce,. _It.-req~ire~ litt.le inHiaL éapital~ a house with a few seats for ser~ir..g. custom~:rs• .vTomen serve •.. I;t rèquires

l i tt le skill and training.· And i t a;J,l qws p. woman ;~ü th __

many

^small

children td be athome._with.them at ÇLll timo~. Inaddition₁ a woman who is selling all day t _o a str~ng of male_ .customers is' in an iQ.eal position to form liaisons wi th men of varying duration and eootional . intensity, but which are always a source of extra cash. This form of self-ernployment all.ows these wornen t o clothe ₁ house and feed themsolves and their children and to educate thoir childron. Often they can con- tribute something to the upkeep of relatives in the rural areas, and in sorne cases they can save enough to buy land or a plot to build a house on. By participating in this "crime wi thout victim" i t can be said wi th- out exaggeration, most of the se women avoid be ing a drain on the economy 's r esources; and many contribute t o its progress, either indirectly through educating their children or directly by sending money to the rural areas

or building ho'ElSes.

LGt a woman of Mathare have the last ward. Landless₁ jobless, husbandless, proud and clean, supporting 2 children and helping to support a widowed mother and

5

^{younger brothers and s}istcrs, she said s imply t o me ''Buz aa ni sham ba yangu". ''J3uz aa is DY f arm ¹¹ •

' . CS/2673-i Page 16.

:Bibliography

Gachuhi) M. 1973, "Anatomy of ProEJtitution in Kenya", IDS.

- '

Gugler, .i. "Urbanizatiol;'l. _in East Africau, Nk:anga, Vol." 4.·· ... ·· ":·

Housing Resoarch Dev<:Jlopment Unit, 1971, .Mathare Valley;., .' ·~

Ma.ller ₁ A. 1·966 ¹¹Quase grou:ps . in the study of complè,x s.o9.ie~ier:;" in Bé;I.Iltop (ed) : Social ·Ant:Q.:ropolqgy of Complex Socl.2.tio~ •.

M;itchèll,

c.

1966 "Theoretical or'ie:ntations in lûripÇl.n,'UrbWl-)?~~}ldies¹¹

_- ... , l

in '!lanton (ed) Social Anthropolog;v of-Corn,Plex S()cietieEJ_. 1966 Social· Nctworks- in Urban Situat:i.ons·•.

Plontnicov, L. 1967 Strailgers to the City .•

:· .. Reader,' D. 1964 "Mqdels in Socia,J, ·Change¹¹, African Studies3 xxii.

Southal~, .A 1961 Social Change in Modern. Jûrica.

·!..•·

,, ' .

.. ' . ·. r

• • '1

•• Jo