WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN KENYA

Abstract

The main aim of the article is to assess women empowerment in the agricultural production in Kenya. The agricultural sector has a unique potential for empowering women and providing diverse opportunities. Almost 80% of the world’s food is produced on small-scale farms. However, in some country’s women farmers are the majority. In eastern Africa, over half of farmers are women. Women farmers are not only being held back because they are women, but they also faced the challenges felt by all small-scale farmers. For starters, they have less access to land, loans and machinery than men do. They also carry the famous “double-burden” of paid work and unpaid childcare/home labour. Growth in small-scale agriculture is two to four times more effective at reducing hunger and poverty than any other sector, and women farmers are playing a central role. Women’s empowerment is widely perceived to be a key factor in closing gender gaps in agricultural productivity. we find that having the power to make important decisions about agricultural production to be the most important driver of agricultural productivity. women’s empowerment impacts positively on agricultural productivity and suggests a great scope of possible interventions, ranging from financial inclusion mechanisms such as digital savings accounts, affordable mobile-money-based credit schemes and asset-building mechanisms, to programmes facilitating the formation of strong community associations for women. Women specific-training programs are needed to build women’s capacity to participate in organic and sustainable farming. Attention should be paid to achieving substantive women’s equality. A tickbox approach, for example in counting the percentage of women in a committee, or the number of female toilets, is not sufficient and can indeed disguise a lack of women’s agency. A positive and determined choice for women’s empowerment needs to be made.