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The expansion of financial access has been promoted as a method to promote financial development for structural transformation. However, the linkages between expansion of financial access, financial development and financial stability are under-researched. The thesis seeks to contribute to research on these relationships using a mixed methodology with quantitative analysis of the balance sheet structures of institutions and interpretative fieldwork material from Kenya. It finds that as financial access has expanded there have been increases in credit, liquidity and foreign exchange risk at institutions and increasing systemic risks. Private capital inflows have encouraged these trends. There is limited mitigation of these risks through improved institutional capacity and financial architecture. Increased deposit mobilization has been achieved but it is not clear that it is incremental. Credit expansion has increased but has been developmentally suboptimal because of increased consumption lending. Interviews with the poor in urban and rural areas in Kenya found that barriers continue to the use of formal financial services but they are primarily 'voluntary'. The implications of the thesis are that alternative policy approaches need to be developed including macroprudential regulation, capital controls and cooperative banking. The thesis finds that the balance sheet approach offers a promising framework for further research, including developing a structuralist approach to financial development.

This thesis presents a critical reflection on what is meant by a 'Green Revolution' within the current, narrow 'productivity-technology fix' paradigm. It shows the current focus on productivity is creating a limited view of technology as the principal means to address food insecurity in Africa, as opposed to a more comprehensive view that takes into account economic, social and political factors. The research combines a socio-technical systems approach with an actor-oriented analysis to examine two input-support programmes in Kenya. It focuses on input-support programmes due to the current interest in subsidies as the mechanism to address food insecurity and deliver agricultural technologies to smallholder farmers. It examines the political, social and institutional factors that influence the creation, design and implementation of these programmes. A multi-level approach (global, national and local) is used to map out the key narratives and actor networks operating in and across the different levels to highlight the dynamic interactions as they come together through these programmes. The thesis demonstrates how intermediary factors (institutions, policy and social networks) significantly affect programme outcomes. The two case studies show that policy and practice often diverge through changing actors, networks and funding flows. Each programme implementation is mediated through socially differentiated beneficiaries, creating interactions that unfold in numerous ways due to distinct social, political and economic factors, as well as to unique institutional and delivery mechanisms. The evidence suggests that technology-based programmes that fail to take account of these critical factors will encounter difficulties in uptake. Therefore, policymakers must consider context-specific approaches that appreciate the diversity of local conditions and the importance of socio-economic, institutional and political factors. The underlying message is that the impact of agricultural technologies on the practices and perceptions of smallholder farmers cannot be understood in isolation; end users constantly adapt technologies through complex social interpretations, local institutions and political processes.