Migration of Husbands, Remittances and Agricultural Production: Impacts when Wives Head Households in Rural Kenya

This paper uses data collected from migrants' wives in the Nyeri district of Kenya. The main objective is to determine whether migration and remittances contribute to the development of agriculture. Our results suggest that most migrants are pushed out of rural areas, belong to the group of low-paid workers in urban areas, send little and irregular remittances to their wives back in rural areas and that these remittances are mainly used for consumption purposes and do not contribute to any significant development in agriculture. Our results also indicate that altruism or social obligation might be the main reason for migrants sending remittances back to their rural wives

Commercial agriculture, marital status and other influences on food availability: A Kenyan case study

This article examines the relationship between agricultural commercialization, marital status and other factors that affect per capita food availability by means of a case study in the Nyeri district in Kenya. It was found that cash cropping has a negative influence on per capita food availability in the male-headed households. This negative influence is not apparent in the female-headed households and in fact, per capita food availability rises with increased agricultural commercialization. Households of married women seem to suffer more in terms of reduced food availability than households headed by females. Husbands have control over cash income and, therefore, influence food purchases. They are less likely than females to use the cash for food purchases and tend to spend the cash on themselves, thus reducing food availability to family members. This suggests that in some patriarchal societies, caution should be displayed in encouraging cash cropping, especially in male-headed households. Cash cropping under such circumstances is unwise from both a food availability and food security point of view because it can result in reduced crop diversification hence increasing the risks of income food deficits for families. Other factors found to have an influence on per capita food availability are employment of women outside households, educational level of the women and the quality of land

Gender Inequality and Poverty: The Kenyan Case

Socio-economic conditions in Kenya are deteriorating, and poverty rates are on the rise. This article finds that a significant and rising incidence of absolute poverty exists in Kenya and women suffer from poverty more often than men. This is more pronounced in female-headed households. The high poverty rates among women can be linked to their unequal situation in the labour market, their lack of voice and participation in decision-making in the family/household and other institutions and because gender disparities persist in access and control of human, economic and social reforms. The female/male ratios in Kenyan decision-making institutions are highly skewed against women and they experience unfavourable enrolment ratios in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. The share of income earned by women is much lower than men's share. The GDI and GEM, their weaknesses not withstanding, also show that gender inequality exists in Kenya

Female participation in decision making in agricultural households in Kenya: Empirical findings

Survey data for this paper were collected in a rural district in Kenya between December 2000 and January 2001. The main objective was to identify the factors determining female participation in household decision making. Our results suggest that bargaining models and resource theory cannot be applied in a society where customarily determined sex and social stratification systems place males higher than females and determine that only men make major decisions. Our results support the hypothesis that cultural theory is more significant than bargaining models or resource theories in determining women's participation in decision making in rural Kenya