Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya

In Kenya, women contribute significantly to the dairy sector. While their role may differ, common for most of them is that they all lack access to productive resources, in comparison with men farmers. The sector is severely underperforming and has been in decline during several decades. The devel...

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Autor principal: Braimok, Tania
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development 2017
Materias:
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author Braimok, Tania
author_browse Braimok, Tania
author_facet Braimok, Tania
author_sort Braimok, Tania
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description In Kenya, women contribute significantly to the dairy sector. While their role may differ, common for most of them is that they all lack access to productive resources, in comparison with men farmers. The sector is severely underperforming and has been in decline during several decades. The development of the sector relies on the empowerment of women and the achievement of gender equality to turn this trend. By using the qualitative research methods of focus group discussions and individual interviews in Nakuru County, this study examined the influence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on 24 women and men engaged in dairy farming. The study aimed on contributing to our understanding of how ICTs can be used as a tool for empowering women in agriculture and close decades of gender gaps. The collected data were analysed through the three concepts of Assets, Mobility and Empowerment. The findings showed that the women farmers in this study were making constructive use of mobile phones and radios, but not of the TVs or computer related ICTs, such as the Internet, due to either associated with high costs, not finding it relevant or useful for their survival needs and in to some extent unaware of the possibilities. Furthermore, the women in this study have been self-empowered to some extent through the use of ICTs by expanding on their assets and capabilities. But ICTs alone do not empower and are inadequate for significant benefits to rise or emerge, not because they do not find them to be useful, but rather because they are firstly fighting on a day-to-day basis for their and their families’ survival.
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institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
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spelling RepoSLU127892017-10-24T06:39:05Z Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya Braimok, Tania Kenya dairy sector women’s empowerment ICT access and usage In Kenya, women contribute significantly to the dairy sector. While their role may differ, common for most of them is that they all lack access to productive resources, in comparison with men farmers. The sector is severely underperforming and has been in decline during several decades. The development of the sector relies on the empowerment of women and the achievement of gender equality to turn this trend. By using the qualitative research methods of focus group discussions and individual interviews in Nakuru County, this study examined the influence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on 24 women and men engaged in dairy farming. The study aimed on contributing to our understanding of how ICTs can be used as a tool for empowering women in agriculture and close decades of gender gaps. The collected data were analysed through the three concepts of Assets, Mobility and Empowerment. The findings showed that the women farmers in this study were making constructive use of mobile phones and radios, but not of the TVs or computer related ICTs, such as the Internet, due to either associated with high costs, not finding it relevant or useful for their survival needs and in to some extent unaware of the possibilities. Furthermore, the women in this study have been self-empowered to some extent through the use of ICTs by expanding on their assets and capabilities. But ICTs alone do not empower and are inadequate for significant benefits to rise or emerge, not because they do not find them to be useful, but rather because they are firstly fighting on a day-to-day basis for their and their families’ survival. SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development 2017 H2 eng https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/12789/
spellingShingle Kenya
dairy sector
women’s empowerment
ICT access and usage
Braimok, Tania
Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya
title Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya
title_full Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya
title_fullStr Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya
title_short Exploring the opportunities and challenges of ICTs for women farmers in Kenya
title_sort exploring the opportunities and challenges of icts for women farmers in kenya
topic Kenya
dairy sector
women’s empowerment
ICT access and usage