Kenya

Gender in Human Rights and Transitional Justice

Citation:

Lahai, John Idris, and Khanyisela Moyo, ed. 2018. Gender in Human Rights and Transitional Justice. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Authors: John Idriss Lahai, Khanyisela Moyo

Annotation:

Summary:
This volume counters one-sided dominant discursive representations of gender in human rights and transitional justice, and women’s place in the transformations of neoliberal human rights, and contributes a more balanced examination of how transitional justice and human rights institutions, and political institutions impact the lives and experiences of women. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the contributors to this volume theorize and historicize the place of women’s rights (and gender), situating it within contemporary country-specific political, legal, socio-cultural and global contexts. Chapters examine the progress and challenges facing women (and women’s groups) in transitioning countries: from Peru to Argentina, from Kenya to Sierra Leone, and from Bosnia to Sri Lanka, in a variety of contexts, attending especially to the relationships between local and global forces. (Summary from Palgrave Macmillan)
 
Table of Contents:
1. Gender in Human Rights and Transitional Justice
 
2. Feminism during Social and Political Repression in Egypt: Making or Breaking Resistance Through Legal Activism
 
3. Power, Prejudice and Transitional Constitution-Making In Kenya: The Gender of Law and Religious Politics in Reproductive Choice
 
4. Civil Society and the Regulation of Laws Against Gender Violence in Timor-Leste
 
5. Addressing Violence Against Women Through Legislative Reform In States Transitioning From The Arab Spring
 
6. Human Rights Frameworks and Women’s Rights In Post-Transitional Justice Sierra Leone
 
7. Engendering Justice: The Promotion of Women in Post-Conflict and Post-Transitional Criminal Justice Institutions
 
8. Justice and Reparations Policies in Peru and Argentine: Towards The De-legitimization of Sexual Violence
 
9. Women Between War Scylla and Nationalist Charybdis: Legal Interpretations of Sexual Violence in Countries of Former Yugoslavia

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Discourses, Gender-Based Violence, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Rights, Reproductive Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, MENA, East Africa, North Africa, West Africa, Americas, South America, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Balkans, Oceania Countries: Argentina, Egypt, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Yugoslavia (former)

Year: 2018

Women, Land, and Resource Conflicts: Policy Implications and Interventions in Kenya

Citation:

Nyukuri, Elvin. 2006. "Women, Land, and Resource Conflicts: Policy Implications and Interventions in Kenya." Nairobi: Acts Press.

Author: Elvin Nyukuri

Annotation:

Summary:
Environment and conflict research and policy interventions have focused primarily on the linkage between natural resources and acute violence but have paid less attention to the gender dimension of this correlation. Paradoxically women are more active in environmental and resource conservation activities especially land, which are widely documented. The overall objective of this study is to identify and asses the extent to which gender aspects can be of help in identifying the specific pathways involved and hence the entry points for intervention in resolving land and conflicts research and policy. (Summary from AfricaPortal)
 
Table of Contents:
1. Background to the Research Project
 
2. Grievances and Tensions over Land in Kenya
 
3. Gender, Land and Conflicts
 
4. Peace and Policy Interventions

 

Topics: Conflict, Resource Conflict, Environment, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Peace Processes, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2006

Gender and Land Rights in Murang'a District, Kenya

Citation:

Mackenzie, Fiona. 1990. "Gender and Land Rights in Murang'a district, Kenya." The Journal of Peasant Studies 17 (4): 609-43.

Author: Fiona Mackenzie

Abstract:

Conceptualising rights to land in a framework of legal pluralism, this article explores the historical nature of struggles over land by women and men in a situation of increasing land scarcity. It is argued that the manipulation of customary law and state law is instrumental in increasing gender and, more generally, social differentiation.

Topics: Gender, Governance, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 1990

Land Tenure Dynamics in East Africa : Changing Practices and Rights to Land

Citation:

Otto, Opira, Aida Isinika, and Herman Musahara. 2019. Land Tenure Dynamics in East Africa : Changing Practices and Rights to Land. Current African Issues 65.

Authors: Opira Otto, Aida Isinika, Herman Musahara

Abstract:

Agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for most rural people in East Africa. Farming is dominated by smallholders, of whom the majority are women. Their tenure and access to land is important for reducing rural poverty, enhancing food security and stimulating agricultural development. Secure tenure represents one of the most critical challenges to the development of sustainable agriculture in the region. In an effort to understand the land question and its variation across the region, this book analyses the land reforms, their context and dynamics. The book presents recent studies on the dynamics of land tenure and land tenure reforms in East Africa with a focus on Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. By selecting these five countries, the book is able to show the changing practices and variations in the land tenure dynamics and explain how they relate to historical and more contemporary issues. The chapters are written by researchers, policy makers and activists with a diverse background and experience/expertise in relation to the land question. Their contributions offer a multiperspective basis for critical rethinking and reflection on the future of the land question in East Africa. 

Keywords: land tenure, land ownership, land acquisition, farmers, women's rights, agricultural development, urbanization, East Africa

Annotation:

Table of Contents:
Preface

Kjell Havnevik
 
1. Introduction

Opira Otto
 
2. When customary land tenure meets land markets : Sustainability of customary land tenure in Tanzania

Aida C. Isinika, Yefred Myenzi and Elibariki Msuya
 
3. Securing peasants’ land rights through dispossession of the landed rich in Uganda

Fredrick Kisekka-Ntale
 
4. Land matters in South Sudan

Ole Frahm
 
5. Effects of large-scale land acquisitions by local elites on small-holder farmers’ access in Tanzania

Hosea Mpogol
 
6. From male to joint land ownership: The effect on women’s possibilities of using land titles as collateral in Rwanda

Jeannette Bayisenge
 
7. The benefits for women from land commodification – a critical reflection

Mary Ssonko Nabacwa
 
8. Is agriculture a generational problem?: The dynamics of youth engagement in agriculture in northern Uganda

David Ross Olanya
 
9. Legal pluralism and urban poverty in peri-urban Kisumu, Kenya

Leah Onyango
 
10. Crossroads at the Rural–Urban Interface : The Dilemma of Tenure Types and Land Use Controls in Housing provision and Urban Development in Kenyan Cities

Jack Abuya
 
11. Our Inheritance: Impacts of Land Distribution on Geita Communities in Tanzania

Godfrey T. Walalaze
 
12. Land use consolidation and water use in Rwanda: Qualitative reflections on environmental sustainability and inclusion

Theophile Niyonzima, Birasa Nyamulinda, Claude Bizimana and Herman Musahara
 

Topics: Agriculture, Economies, Poverty, Environment, Gender, Women, Land Tenure, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Year: 2019

Influence of Land Tenure on Gender Participation in Management of Water Projects in Njoro Sub-County, Nakuru

Citation:

Wambu, Charles, N. O. Openda, and Lydia Nkatha Kinuthia. 2016. “Influence of Land Tenure on Gender Participation in Management of Water Projects in Njoro Sub-County, Nakuru.” Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 6 (20): 61- 70.

Authors: Charles Wambu, N. O. Openda, Lydia Nkatha Kinuthia

Abstract:

Most water projects in Kenya, account for women having fewer opportunities in decision making committees than the men counter parts. In Njoro sub-county there are different ethnic groups who utilize land and water differently as a result of difference in socio-cultural backgrounds which in-turn affect gender participation in management. Kenya as a country has made great efforts to entrench gender issues in management of water projects but have been affected by socio-cultural factors such as land tenure which derail realisation of gender equality and equity in water management. Administration of water users association projects have been decentralised by the government through enactment of water Act 2002, which advocates for gender equity and equality in participation but this, has not been fully translated into practice in water and sanitation projects. In Njoro sub-county there are several water users’ association projects in which men and women perform different function in management as a result of different socio-cultural backgrounds. Despite the role played by women and men in management of water as a resource, and the efforts that the government has made in enhancing women’s participation in management of water resources, there appears to be an existing gender gap between policy and practice. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the influence of land tenure on gender participation in the management of water projects in Njoro Sub-county.

Keywords: land tenure, gender participation, management, water projects

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Land Tenure, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2016

An Equal Right to Inherit? Women’s Land Rights, Customary Law and Constitutional Reform in Tanzania

Citation:

Dancer, Helen. 2017. “An Equal Right to Inherit? Women’s Land Rights, Customary Law and Constitutional Reform in Tanzania.” Social & Legal Studies 26 (3): 291–310.

Author: Helen Dancer

Abstract:

This article explores contemporary contestations surrounding women’s inheritance of land in Africa. Legal activism has gained momentum, both in agendas for law reform and in test case litigation, which reached the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in ES and SC v. United Republic of Tanzania. Comparing the approach of Tanzania to that of its neighbours, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda, this article explores patterns of resistance and omission towards enshrining an equal right to inherit in land and succession laws. It identifies two main reasons: neoliberal drivers for land law reform of the 1990s and sociopolitical sensitivity surrounding inheritance of land. It argues that a progressive approach to constitutional and law reform on women’s land rights requires understanding of the realities of claims to family land based on kinship relations. It calls for a holistic approach to land, marriage and inheritance law reform underpinned with constitutional rights to equality and progressive interpretations of living customary law.

Keywords: Africa, CEDAW, Constitution, customary law, Gender, inheritance, land, Tanzania, women

Annotation:

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Year: 2017

Gendered Reporting of Household Dynamics in the Kenyan Dairy Sector: Trends and Implications for Low Emissions Dairy Development

Citation:

Tavenner, Katie, Simon Fraval, Immaculate Omondi, and Todd A. Crane. 2018. “Gendered Reporting of Household Dynamics in the Kenyan Dairy Sector: Trends and Implications for Low Emissions Dairy Development.” Gender, Technology and Development 22 (1): 1-19.

Authors: Katie Tavenner, Simon Fraval, Immaculate Omondi, Todd A. Crane

Abstract:

Within the Kenyan dairy sector, climate change mitigation interventions are striving to sustainably intensify milk production while addressing the gender dynamics that mediate farmers’ ability to effectively participate in, and benefit from, low emissions development. In order to better understand these gender dynamics, household surveys were deployed by the East African Dairy Development (EADD) program to collect information on current practices of decision-making, resources, and labor dynamics within dairy farm households. Using the EADD survey results as secondary data, this study analyzes emergent patterns in these domains among cattle-keeping households in Bomet, Nandi, Uasin Gishu, and Kericho counties in Western Kenya. In analyzing these patterns, paired sample tests revealed statistically significant differences in results based on the gender of the respondent. While there were some categories that women and men reported on similarly, other areas were hotly contested. These results provide important challenges, both methodologically and programmatically, in interpreting gender dynamics across these domains. This paper reflects on the challenges and the opportunities of these data for informing gender-equitable low emissions development in the Kenyan dairy sector.

Keywords: Gender, dairy, household survey, low emissions development, livestock, Kenya

Topics: Development, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2018

Feminist Political Ecology and the Economics of Care: In Search of Economic Alternatives

Citation:

Bauhardt, Christine, and Wendy Harcourt, eds. 2018. Feminist Political Ecology and the Economics of Care: In Search of Economic Alternatives. New York: Routledge. 

Authors: Christine Bauhardt, Wendy Harcourt

Annotation:

Summary:
This book envisages a different form of our economies where care work and care-full relationships are central to social and cultural life. It sets out a feminist vision of a caring economy and asks what needs to change economically and ecologically in our conceptual approaches and our daily lives as we learn to care for each other and non-human others.
 
Bringing together authors from 11 countries (also representing institutions from 8 countries), this edited collection sets out the challenges for gender aware economies based on an ethics of care for people and the environment in an original and engaging way. The book aims to break down the assumed inseparability of economic growth and social prosperity, and natural resource exploitation, while not romanticising social-material relations to nature. The authors explore diverse understandings of care through a range of analytical approaches, contexts and case studies and pays particular attention to the complicated nexus between re/productivity, nature, womanhood and care. It includes strong contributions on community economies, everyday practices of care, the politics of place and care of non-human others, as well as an engagement on concepts such as wealth, sustainability, food sovereignty, body politics, naturecultures and technoscience.
 
Feminist Political Ecology and the Economics of Care is aimed at all those interested in what feminist theory and practice brings to today’s major political economic and environmental debates around sustainability, alternatives to economic development and gender power relations. (Summary from Routledge)

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Conversations on Care in Feminist Political Economy and Ecology
Wendy Harcourt and Christine Bauhardt
 
2. Nature, Care and Gender: Feminist Dilemmas
Christine Bauhardt 
 
3. White Settler Colonial Scientific Fabulations on Otherwise Narratives of Care
Wendy Harcourt 
 
4. Environmental Feminisms: A Story of Different Encounters
Karijn Van Den Berg
 
5. Climate Change, Natural Disasters and the Spillover Effects of Unpaid Care: The Case of Super-typhoon Haiyan
Maria S. Floro and Georgia Poyatzis
 
6. Care-full Community Economies
Kelly Dombroski, Stephen Healy and Katharine McKinnon 
 
7. Care as Wellth: Internalising Care by Democratising Money
Mary Mellor 
 
8. Diverse Ethics for Diverse Economies: Considering the Ethics of Embodiment, Difference and Inter-corporeality at Kufunda
Pamela Richardson-Ngwenya and Andrea J. Nightingale 
 
9. Striving Towards What We Do Not Know Yet: Living Feminist Political Ecology in Toronto’s Food Network
Carla Wember 
 
10. ‘The Garden has Improved My Life’: Agency and Food Sovereignty of Women in Urban Agriculture in Nairobi
Joyce-Ann Syhre and Meike Brückner 
 
11. Transnational Reconfigurations of Re/Production and the Female Body: Bioeconomics, Motherhoods and the Case of Surrogacy in India
Christa Wichterich
 
12. Menstrual Politics in Argentina and Diverse Assemblages of Care
Jacqueline Gaybor 
 
13. Bodies, Aspirations and the Politics of Place: Learning from the Women Brickmakers of La Ladrillera Azucena
Gollaz Morán 
 
14. Towards an Urban Agenda from a Feminist Political Ecology and Care Perspective

Time Spent on Household Chores (Fetching Water) and the Alternatives Forgone for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Kenya

Citation:

Agesa, Richard U., and Jacqueline Agesa. 2019. “Time Spent on Household Chores (Fetching Water) and the Alternatives Forgone for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Kenya.” The Journal of Developing Areas 53 (2): 29-42.

Authors: Richard U. Agesa, Jacqueline Agesa

Abstract:

Due to a lack of piped water, household members in sub-Saharan Africa, typically girls, fetch water from sources outside the home. We offer the first econometric study that considers a fetching water/schooling time tradeoff as a possible and partial explanation for the relatively high dropout rate for girls in school. Our empirical technique fist estimates a baseline probit where the dependent variable is one if the individual is enrolled in school and zero if the individual is not enrolled. The covariates are factors which may influence school attendance. However, such a specification may be vulnerable to omitted variable bias. To account for this possibility, we estimate the average treatment effect by augmenting the probit model with instruments which may induce 'treatment' of time spent fetching water i.e. whether the individual resides in a household connected to electricity. Our data is drawn from the 2004/2005 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey. Our findings shed new light. In particular, we find that the interaction between the female dummy variable and time spent fetching water is negative and statically significant suggesting that the incidence of not attending school, due to fetching water, is relatively higher for females. This finding is further reinforced by the coefficient on the female dummy variable which is negative and statistically significant, suggesting that being female in Kenya, and in much of SSA, reduces the probability of enrolling and spending time in school. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the notion, and provide evidence for the anecdotal view in the literature that the high dropout rate for girls in school may in part be explained by a fetching water/schooling time tradeoff. To reduce the time individuals spend fetching water from sources outside the home, we suggest that a policy prescription that offers a requisite infrastructure, typically provided for through public means, may reduce the cost for households of connecting piped water to their homes. Importantly, such a policy action would be effective in reducing the time spent fetching water not only for females but for males as well.

Keywords: fetching-water, schooling, Gender, Kenya, Africa

Topics: Development, Economies, Poverty, Education, Gender, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2019

'Just Women’ Is Not Enough: Towards a Gender-Relational Approach to Water and Peacebuilding

Citation:

Schilling, Janpeter, Rebecca Froese, and Jana Naujoks. 2018. “‘Just Women’ Is Not Enough: Towards a Gender-Relational Approach to Water and Peacebuilding.” In Water Security Across the Gender Divide, edited by Christiane Fröhlich, Giovanna Gioli, Roger Cremades, and Henri Myrttinen, 173–96. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Authors: Janpeter Schilling, Rebecca Froese, Jana Naujoks

Abstract:

Gender is a topic that every large development and peacebuilding organisation mainstreams in its programming. However, often “gender” implies a focus on women. We argue that this is not enough to utilise the full potential of a meaningful and effective integration of gender in specific projects, particularly in the peacebuilding and the water sector. The aim of this chapter is therefore to develop a first gender-relational approach to water and peacebuilding that will help researchers, practitioners and policy makers to better understand and integrate the multiple dimensions of gender. To achieve this aim, we first explore the main trends in and connections between gender on the one side and peacebuilding and the water sector on the other side, before we identify key gaps and crosscutting themes. Against this background, we develop a gender-relational approach based on questions to guide the integration of gender into water and peacebuilding. Our main method is a comprehensive review of the relevant academic literature and reports by key donors, and international development and peacebuilding organisations. Further, we draw on examples from Kenya and Nepal to conclude that a gender-relational approach to water and peacebuilding needs to go beyond a focus on “just women”. There is a need to incorporate heterosexual women and men, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons (LGBTI), explore the relations within and between these groups and include other identity markers in the analysis in order to generate a nuanced understanding of complex situations, and to develop effective programming in peacebuilding and the water sector.

Keywords: Gender, water, peacebuilding, approach, Kenya, Nepal

Topics: Gender, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, LGBTQ, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, East Africa, Asia, South Asia Countries: Kenya, Nepal

Year: 2018

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