| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study is to highlight factors that affect the economic empowerment of
pastoral women in Transmara West, Narok County. The objectives of this study are: to assess
the extent to which culture influences economic empowerment of women in pastoral
communities, to establish the extent to which level of education influences economic
empowerment of women in pastoral communities, determine how political will influences
economic empowerment of women in pastoral communities and ascertain the attitude of
pastoral communities towards women. The significance of the study seeks to increase the
understanding of the need to empower pastoral women, develop a comprehensive approach
of dealing with factors influencing economic empowerment of women and the District
Development office using these findings to fast track economic empowerment of women in
pastoral communities. The basic assumption of the study is that respondents will be willing to
give information honestly as required, and that the information provided will be accurate and
reliable. There will be minimal cases of classified information and cultural barriers shall be
overcome. Funding will be sufficient as well as time to conduct the study. The theoretical
framework of this research is based on Ruth Pearson's framework on gender relations. It is
appropriate for this study since it is consistent with AMREF's (1996:4) perspective which
identifies social differences between men and women that are learned, are changeable over
time and have wide variations between various cultures. It identifies and understands the
roles of women and men within a given context (AMREF,1996:4). It argues that biases of
women and men are affected nearly in all aspects of life such as business, environmental
conservation and development projects. The research methodology in this study involves
descriptive research survey where the researcher gathers useful information, summarizes
data, interprets and presents results. It can be used when collecting information about
people's attitudes, opinions or any of variety of education or social issues (Orodho and
Kombo, 2002). Adults, females and youths will be selected using stratified random sampling
technique. It is advantageous because its results can be generalized to a larger population.
This method also permits the researcher to apply inferential statistics to the data and provides
equal opportunity of selection for each element of the population. All the individuals in the
defined population have an equal and independent chance of being selected as a member of
the sample. An approximate sample size of 300 will be identified for interview using the 95%
confidence level, with a margin error of 5.0%. Data collection instruments will include use of
printed copies of questionnaires. These will be distributed to sampled respondents. Methods
of data analysis will entail collecting raw data. It will be first edited, coded classified and
captured. Statistical packages for social sciences computer programme will be used to
analyse the classified data.
The findings in this study may be useful in developing policies targeting the economic
empowerment of women from pastoral communities. The women Fund, Social Services
Department, Ministry of education, peace committees, District Development Office, and
other development partners may find the study useful in understanding the phenomenon of
women empowerment for further interventions. | en_US |
