Influence of Women’s Collective Action in the Informal Hospitality Services on Socioeconomic Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study from Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/ijhss.3809Keywords:
Socio-Economic Wellbeing of Women, Informal Hospitality Services, Collective Action of WomenAbstract
Purpose: This study's primary goal was to investigate the extent to which collective behaviour of women providing hospitality services affects their socioeconomic well-being in in selected counties in Kenya. Specifically, the study establishes the role of collective action among women in informal hospitability services; and analyses the socioeconomic wellbeing of women in informal hospitality services
Methodology: Basing on the social capital theory, the study adopted a qualitative research approach in which data was collected and analysed qualitatively. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews were used to collect data from women entrepreneurs providing informal hospitality services in four selected counties namely Muranga, Kisumu, Kakamega and Nakuru. Purposive sampling was used to select 8 discussants for interviews and 8 participants for FGD. Data from the interviews and FGDs were analysed using framework analysis.
Findings: The study results showed that, women were able to improve their socioeconomic wellbeing in various aspects. Specifically, collective action of women enabled them improve their decision-making ability; marketing of their business and getting referrals among others. Even though government policy on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enabled them to obtain credit, cases of many and high taxes in both the national and county governments remained unresolved which affected their hospitality businesses negatively.
Unique Contribution to Policy, Theory and Practice: The study provides scholarly information for women led informal hospitality services and women led collective actions in the context of social capital theory. It offers a framework for the Kenyan government's SMEs program, especially for women's organisations, to plan and develop strategies for providing structured cost-effective hospitality services.
Downloads
References
Avornyo, R. (2013). Rural women’s role in the socio-economic growth and well-being of Ghana: a case study of women operating within the informal sector. Journal of Global Initiatives, 8(1), 103–120.
Bryman, A. (2004). Social Research Methods (2nded.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Christensen, L. B., Johnson, R. B., & Turner, L. A. (2015). Research Methods, Design, and Analysis 12 ed. Édimbourg. Pearson.
Cypress, B. S. (2017). Rigor or reliability and validity in qualitative research: Perspectives, strategies, reconceptualization, and recommendations. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 36(4), 253–263. https://doi.org/10.1097/DCC.0000000000000253
Dawson, A., Daniels, J., & Clapham, K. F. (2014). The contribution of focus group discussions to Aboriginal Australian health service research: a content analysis of practice and experience.
Engel, T. (2017). Exploring the relationship between socioeconomic status and health, as it affects men and women.
Fitsum, A. (2017). The Role of Affirmative Action on Empowering Women’s, in the Case of L/HaHale. Journal of Civil & Legal Sciences.
Gaetano, A. M. (2015). Out to work: Migration, gender, and the changing lives of rural women in contemporary China. Hong Kong University Press.
Hässler, T., Ullrich, J., Bernardino, M., Shnabel, N., Laar, C. V., Valdenegro, D., … & Ugarte, L. M. (2020). A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(4), 380-386.
Kaya, O. (2024). Collective Action as a Precursor to Social Change: Causes, Risks, and Consequences, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), VIII(VIII), 1314-1322. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.808098
Liliane, U. K., & Mbabazi, P. (2015). The impact of women economic empowerment projects on their socio-economic development in Rwanda: The case of agaseke project. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 4(06), 59–87.
Mansuri, G., & Rao, V. (2013). Can participation be induced? Some evidence from developing countries. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 16(2), 284–304.
McMullin, C. (2021). Transcription and Qualitative Methods: Implications for Third Sector Research. Voluntas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00400-3
Narrod, C., Roy, D., Okello, J., Avendaño, B., Rich, K., & Thorat, A. (2009). Public–private partnerships and collective action in high value fruit and vegetable supply chains. Food Policy, 34(1), 8–15.
Nesa, M. (2015). Economic Empowerment of Women through Entrepreneurship: A Study on Women SME Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Dictus Publishing: Dhaka.
Ngelechei, R. J. (2014). Influence of women enterprise fund on socio-economic empowerment of rural women of Moiben sub-county, Uasin Gishu county, Kenya.
Nikina, A., Shelton, L.M., & LeLoarne, S. (2015). An examination of how husbands, as key stakeholders, impact the success of women entrepreneurs, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 22(1), 1-42.
Pineda, E. R. (2021). Seeing like an activist: Civil disobedience and the civil rights movement. Oxford University Press, USA.
Pope, C., Ziebland, S., & Mays, N. (2000). Qualitative research in health care: Analysing qualitative data. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 320(7227), 114.
Reimer, N. K., Becker, J. C., Benz, A., Christ, O., Dhont, K., Klocke, U., … & Hewstone, M. (2017). Intergroup contact and social change: Implications of negative and positive contact for collective action in advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(1), 121-136.
Torre, J., Hernandez-Velasco, A., Rivera-Melo, F. F., Lopez, J., & Espinosa-Romero, M. J. (2019). Women’s empowerment, collective actions, and sustainable fisheries: lessons from Mexico. Maritime Studies, 18(3), 373–384.
Tsounis, A.& Xanthopoulou, D. (2026) Social Capital Theory: A review. In S. Papagiannidis (Ed), TheoryHub Book. Available at https://open.ncl.ac.uk/ISBN:9781739604400
Urio, E. A. (2016). Contribution of entrepreneurship on women’s well-being in Tanzania: a case of Arumeru District. Sokoine University of Agriculture.
Wong, L. P. (2008). Focus group discussion: a tool for health and medical research. Singapore Med J, 49(3), 256–260.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Lynette Akinyi Ogada Onyando
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
