The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya

Purpose Women’s empowerment remains a key development challenge in Kenya. The purpose of this study is to attempt to understand the status of women’s empowerment and the key contributors to their disempowerment in Kenya’s aquaculture sector. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey wa...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Adam, Rahma, Subian, Farha, Njogu, Lucy
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Emerald Publishing Limited 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/135168
_version_ 1855519677247127552
author Adam, Rahma
Subian, Farha
Njogu, Lucy
author_browse Adam, Rahma
Njogu, Lucy
Subian, Farha
author_facet Adam, Rahma
Subian, Farha
Njogu, Lucy
author_sort Adam, Rahma
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Purpose Women’s empowerment remains a key development challenge in Kenya. The purpose of this study is to attempt to understand the status of women’s empowerment and the key contributors to their disempowerment in Kenya’s aquaculture sector. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 534 male and female fish farmers from 300 households drawn from six counties in Kenya (Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Kiambu, Meru and Nyeri). The Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) was adapted to Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Fisheries and Aquaculture Index (A-WEFI) to suit the aquaculture and fisheries sub-sector. The adapted A-WEFI was then used to estimate and the status of women’s and men’s using five domains of empowerment (5DE) and a gender parity index (GPI). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cramer’s V and sensitivity analysis as test statistics. Findings About 86% of the men and 80% of the women were classified as empowered. The mean score of the 5DE was 0.93 and 0.95 for women and men, respectively. In addition, 82% of the households achieved gender parity, suggesting that for such households, empowerment of men was no greater than that of women. Overall, the results suggest no major differences between the empowerment of women and men. Findings suggest areas of improvement in empowerment: when observed separately, women report lack of agency in production, resource, time-use and allocation and leadership. Originality/value This paper adapts the A-WEAI to the fisheries and aquaculture context, in bid to bridge the gap in standard women’s empowerment measurement methods in this area. Also, there are limited empirical studies on the multifaceted empowerment of women in aquaculture in Kenya. The findings are meant to serve as a point of reference for policymakers, as they develop gender-responsive intervention programmes, and in implementing gender mainstreaming in Kenya.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace135168
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher Emerald Publishing Limited
publisherStr Emerald Publishing Limited
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1351682025-12-08T10:29:22Z The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya Adam, Rahma Subian, Farha Njogu, Lucy aquaculture kenya gender equality women’s empowerment fish agency Purpose Women’s empowerment remains a key development challenge in Kenya. The purpose of this study is to attempt to understand the status of women’s empowerment and the key contributors to their disempowerment in Kenya’s aquaculture sector. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 534 male and female fish farmers from 300 households drawn from six counties in Kenya (Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Kiambu, Meru and Nyeri). The Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) was adapted to Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Fisheries and Aquaculture Index (A-WEFI) to suit the aquaculture and fisheries sub-sector. The adapted A-WEFI was then used to estimate and the status of women’s and men’s using five domains of empowerment (5DE) and a gender parity index (GPI). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cramer’s V and sensitivity analysis as test statistics. Findings About 86% of the men and 80% of the women were classified as empowered. The mean score of the 5DE was 0.93 and 0.95 for women and men, respectively. In addition, 82% of the households achieved gender parity, suggesting that for such households, empowerment of men was no greater than that of women. Overall, the results suggest no major differences between the empowerment of women and men. Findings suggest areas of improvement in empowerment: when observed separately, women report lack of agency in production, resource, time-use and allocation and leadership. Originality/value This paper adapts the A-WEAI to the fisheries and aquaculture context, in bid to bridge the gap in standard women’s empowerment measurement methods in this area. Also, there are limited empirical studies on the multifaceted empowerment of women in aquaculture in Kenya. The findings are meant to serve as a point of reference for policymakers, as they develop gender-responsive intervention programmes, and in implementing gender mainstreaming in Kenya. 2024-03-21 2023-12-10T21:20:55Z 2023-12-10T21:20:55Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/135168 en Open Access application/pdf Emerald Publishing Limited Rahma Adam, Farha Subian, Lucy Njogu. (30/11/2023). The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya. International Journal of Development Issues.
spellingShingle aquaculture
kenya
gender equality
women’s empowerment
fish
agency
Adam, Rahma
Subian, Farha
Njogu, Lucy
The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya
title The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya
title_full The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya
title_fullStr The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya
title_short The status of women’s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in Kenya
title_sort status of women s empowerment in the aquaculture sector in kenya
topic aquaculture
kenya
gender equality
women’s empowerment
fish
agency
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/135168
work_keys_str_mv AT adamrahma thestatusofwomensempowermentintheaquaculturesectorinkenya
AT subianfarha thestatusofwomensempowermentintheaquaculturesectorinkenya
AT njogulucy thestatusofwomensempowermentintheaquaculturesectorinkenya
AT adamrahma statusofwomensempowermentintheaquaculturesectorinkenya
AT subianfarha statusofwomensempowermentintheaquaculturesectorinkenya
AT njogulucy statusofwomensempowermentintheaquaculturesectorinkenya