Gender, soil and water conservation in Machakos district, Kenya

Abstract

Gender mainstreaming is crucial in soil and water conservation initiatives. The existing technologies though, as designed, are expected to be gender neutral, lead to gender differences at the adoption stage. This was confirmed during a study conducte d in Kathekakai settlement scheme, Machakos district where despite both men and women participating in soil and water conservation initiatives, women’s efforts to adopt the recommended technologies were hampered by their limited access to authoritative infor ma-

tion and lack of control over land. Women though playing major roles as farmers (64.6%), could not make key decisions on land u se. Previous reports indicate that the women in Machakos district contributed significantly to soil and water conservation efforts in the mid 1980’s leading to terracing of over 70% of the district. Gender mainstreaming efforts need to be enhanced for achievement o f sustainable and effective soil and water conservation for improved agricultural production and livelihoods