“Water is Life”: Influences of Women’s Economic Empowerment in Samburu Communities of Northern Kenya Restricted; Files Only
Bendit, Olivia (Spring 2024)
Abstract
Background: Women's empowerment, specifically women's economic empowerment, is a
process in which women can gain and utilize power to improve their economic standing and
well-being. Since 2015, when the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals were released
women's economic empowerment has come to the forefront of development practice. Women's
economic empowerment is not only a human right but has been shown to improve women's
health outcomes, decrease gender-based violence, and positively impact the Gross Domestic
Product. Even with initiatives to improve women's economic empowerment progress is slow.
Research is already being conducted to learn more about facilitators and barriers to women's
economic empowerment. Known influences on economic empowerment include discriminatory
gender norms, market characteristics, policies, education, access to quality paid work, unpaid
care burdens, social protection, and collective action and leadership. However, many
development practitioners feel additional research needs to be conducted to identify context specific
influences on women's economic empowerment, given these may vary across countries
and communities.
Objectives: The current study aims to determine the context-specific influences of women's
economic empowerment that women in Samburu communities of Northern Kenya face. Both
patriarchal norms of the Samburu communities and the current drought in the area were
predicted to be significant influences on women's economic empowerment.
Methods: Using Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews, qualitative data of
both men and women over 18 was collected from 6 different Samburu communities in the
Wamba and Oldinyiro-Isiolo areas of Kenya over the summer of 2023. After data collection, data
was analyzed to identify critical themes on facilitators and barriers to women's economic
engagement.
Results: Results from the study indicated that the most crucial barrier to women's economic
engagement is the current drought. Women responsible for collecting water have faced many
additional burdens and difficulties related to their limited access to water. Additionally, gender
and cultural norms, remoteness of the communities and lack of infrastructure have all restricted
women's economic empowerment. Many of the findings, including the impact of gender norms
and the burden of water collection on women, were consistent with prior literature.
Conclusion: With the added knowledge this study has brought to the specific influences of
women's economic empowerment, interventions can be tailored to increase Samburu's women's
ability to engage in more economic activities that will improve their lives and generations to
come.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: Literature Review ....................................................................................................................................13
2.1 Empowerment ....................................................................................................................................................13
2.2 Women’s Economic Empowerment .................................................................................................................14
2.3 Theory ................................................................................................................................................................16
2.4 History of Women’s Economic Empowerment ................................................................................................18
2.5 Benefits of Women’s Economic Empowerment ...............................................................................................20
2.6 Facilitators of Women’s Economic Empowerment .........................................................................................22
2.7 Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment ...............................................................................................23
2.8 Gap in Literature ...............................................................................................................................................29
Chapter 3: Methods ....................................................................................................................................................30
3.1 Study Design and Setting ..................................................................................................................................30
3.2 Study Population and Eligibility .......................................................................................................................32
3.3 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................................................34
3.4 Data Management and Analysis .......................................................................................................................36
3.5 Ethics and Informed Consent ...........................................................................................................................38
Chapter 4: Results ......................................................................................................................................................39
4.1 Demographic Data ............................................................................................................................................39
4.2 Types of Economic Activities Conducted in Samburu Communities ..............................................................41
4.3 Roadmap of the Conceptual Model (Figure 1) ................................................................................................43
4.4 Physical Environment .......................................................................................................................................45
4.4.1 Drought .......................................................................................................................................................45
4.4.2 Physical Environment - Water Quality ......................................................................................................45
4.4.3 Location ......................................................................................................................................................46
4.5 Societal Level .....................................................................................................................................................47
4.5.1 Government and NGO Support ..................................................................................................................47
4.5.2 Policy ..........................................................................................................................................................48
4.5.3 Inflation ......................................................................................................................................................48
4.6 Community Level ..............................................................................................................................................50
4.6.1 Cultural and Gender Norms .......................................................................................................................50
4.6.2 Collective Action: Savings and Loan Groups ............................................................................................50
4.6.3 Market Characteristics ................................................................................................................................51
4.6.4 Demand and Competition ...........................................................................................................................52
4.6.5 Community-Level Infrastructure ................................................................................................................53
4.6.6 Water Impact ..............................................................................................................................................53
4.7 Interpersonal Level ...........................................................................................................................................55
4.7.1 Decision-making Power .............................................................................................................................55
4.7.2 Perceptions of Cultural Norms ...................................................................................................................56
4.7.3 Interpersonal Support .................................................................................................................................57
4.8 Individual Level .................................................................................................................................................58
4.8.1 Impact of Water ..........................................................................................................................................58
4.8.2 Unpaid Work ..............................................................................................................................................59
4.8.3 Childcare ....................................................................................................................................................59
4.8.4 Knowledge and Self-Efficacy ....................................................................................................................60
Chapter 5: Discussion .................................................................................................................................................61
Strengths and Limitations .......................................................................................................................................66
Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................................................67
References ....................................................................................................................................................................69
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