The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya

In developing countries, producer organizations (POs) are important for achieving women empowerment mainly through promoting women's access to the organization's resources and services. However, by improving access to markets and technologies, household membership in POs often results in commerciali...

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Autores principales: Mwambi, M., Bijman, J., Galiè, Alessandra
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113978
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author Mwambi, M.
Bijman, J.
Galiè, Alessandra
author_browse Bijman, J.
Galiè, Alessandra
Mwambi, M.
author_facet Mwambi, M.
Bijman, J.
Galiè, Alessandra
author_sort Mwambi, M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In developing countries, producer organizations (POs) are important for achieving women empowerment mainly through promoting women's access to the organization's resources and services. However, by improving access to markets and technologies, household membership in POs often results in commercialization of smallholder farming, leading to women disempowerment as men take over control of the farm. We use data from dairy smallholders in Kenya to explore the impact of membership in bargaining and processing POs on women empowerment. Applying the Women Empowerment Livestock Index, we capture six domains of empowerment: production; nutrition; resources; income; opportunities; and workload. We find that when a household joins any PO, regardless of whether the man or the woman in the household is the registered member, women achieve a higher control over production decisions, buying and selling of land and cows, use of loans and receiving dairy income. Distinguishing by gender of membership, there is stronger women empowerment when the woman in the household is a member. We also find that woman membership in bargaining POs results in greater empowerment, in terms of ownership of cows, than woman membership in processing POs. The paper suggests that women empowerment is affected by the functional characteristics of POs.
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spelling CGSpace1139782025-08-15T13:22:06Z The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya Mwambi, M. Bijman, J. Galiè, Alessandra women empowerment livestock smallholders gender In developing countries, producer organizations (POs) are important for achieving women empowerment mainly through promoting women's access to the organization's resources and services. However, by improving access to markets and technologies, household membership in POs often results in commercialization of smallholder farming, leading to women disempowerment as men take over control of the farm. We use data from dairy smallholders in Kenya to explore the impact of membership in bargaining and processing POs on women empowerment. Applying the Women Empowerment Livestock Index, we capture six domains of empowerment: production; nutrition; resources; income; opportunities; and workload. We find that when a household joins any PO, regardless of whether the man or the woman in the household is the registered member, women achieve a higher control over production decisions, buying and selling of land and cows, use of loans and receiving dairy income. Distinguishing by gender of membership, there is stronger women empowerment when the woman in the household is a member. We also find that woman membership in bargaining POs results in greater empowerment, in terms of ownership of cows, than woman membership in processing POs. The paper suggests that women empowerment is affected by the functional characteristics of POs. 2021-07 2021-06-16T11:09:50Z 2021-06-16T11:09:50Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113978 en Open Access Elsevier Mwambi, M., Bijman, J. and Galiè, A. 2021. The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya. Women's Studies International Forum 87:102492.
spellingShingle women
empowerment
livestock
smallholders
gender
Mwambi, M.
Bijman, J.
Galiè, Alessandra
The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya
title The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya
title_full The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya
title_fullStr The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya
title_full_unstemmed The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya
title_short The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya
title_sort effect of membership in producer organizations on women s empowerment evidence from kenya
topic women
empowerment
livestock
smallholders
gender
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113978
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