dc.description.abstract | Beekeeping is an important activity that helps rural communities to raise additional income to
improve their livelihoods. Often, among rural beekeeping households, it has been widely adopted as
an income diversification strategy. In addition, it is a sustainable form of agriculture beneficial to the
environment. An intervention conducted by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and
Ecology (ICIPE), introduced modern hives such as the Langstroth and the stingless beehive through
the Commercial Insect Programme (CIP) of the institute. Trainings given to the community were for
the development of a value chain and hence the formation of farmer groups that aided in marketing of
honey and other beekeeping products. Furthermore, the introduction of stingless beekeeping that is
friendly was to encourage more women to participate in beekeeping. Owing to these interventions,
beekeeping had now become an important income generating activity for both men and women in
Kitui County. However, how beekeeping and commercialization of beekeeping products had
influenced gender roles at the household level and factors influencing participation of households in
CIP as well as women empowerment remain unknown. In this study, the gender analysis framework
was used to identify gender roles, while beekeeping value chain analysis gave the study a structure
and was useful in identifying actors along the value chain. Principal component analysis (PCA) was
used to construct a composite index of Women empowerment. Indicators used to proxy women
empowerment were drawn from five key areas; entrepreneurship or management of the apiary and
other farm enterprises; labour use; acquisition and disposal of apiary; household and farm assets;
children schooling decisions as well as acquisition and use of credit. A total sample of 498 household
beekeepers comprising 251 CIP beneficiaries and 247 non-beneficiaries (NCIP) were interviewed
during the study. Data were collected though the use of a semi-structured questionnaire and analysed
using descriptive statistics and the Heckman sample selection model. The findings of the study
indicated that among the CIP households, women performed significantly more beekeeping activities
for honey production compared to those in the NCIP households. Results also revealed that CIP
women participated significantly more in making key decisions regarding beekeeping enterprise
compared to NCIP women. This indicated that participation in beekeeping through the CIP led to a
positive change in gender roles. Further, the study revealed that positive and significant factors
influencing households’ participation in CIP were dependency ratio, number of income sources, age
of the household head, experience in beekeeping, quantity of honey harvested and access to credit by
the household head. In addition, significant factors influencing women empowerment index (WEI)
positively were gender of household head, number of income sources and beehive types used while
dependency ratio was negatively associated with WEI. Finally, the difference in WEI was statistically
significant when comparing CIP and non-CIP beneficiaries. The study concluded that, adoption of
modern technologies among rural households such as modern hives contributed significantly to
changes in gender roles, increased women participation and empowerment among beekeepers. The
study provides evidence that income diversification and use of modern beehives are likely to improve
women empowerment. In addition, championing of income diversification through introduction of
modern technologies by governmental and non-governmental agencies and consideration of gender
mainstreaming may contribute to income and food security among rural households. | en_US |