Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

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.