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‘I'm only allowed to sell milk and eggs’: Gender aspects of urban livestock keeping in Eldoret, Kenya*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2013

Robert Romborah Simiyu  and
Dick Foeken
Robert Romborah Simiyu*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Moi University, P.O Box 3900, Eldoret, Kenya
Dick Foeken*
Affiliation:
African Studies Centre, P.O Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, the Netherlands
*
Email: rrsimiyu@yahoo.com
Email: dfoeken@ascleiden.nl
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Abstract

This paper deals with the gender aspects of urban livestock keeping in Eldoret, Kenya. It shows that men and women play different but complementary roles in livestock keeping. Men show greater preference for and are more involved – in terms of decision-making and responsibility taking – with large livestock and where income is the primary motive for livestock keeping, and perform tasks of an outdoor nature and/or which require considerable technical knowledge. On the other hand, women prefer and exercise greater control over small livestock, make the most decisions about consumption use of livestock products, and perform home-based routine tasks. However, there are instances where men and women cross gender boundaries, for instance where labour of the opposite gender is absent in the household, or as a strategy to control benefits accruing to the livestock. In terms of livelihood outcomes, women's role in livestock keeping is geared more towards improving household nutritional and food security status, while men's role is motivated more by personal benefits.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , November 2013 , pp. 577 - 603
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

The authors are grateful to the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research – WOTRO Science for Global Development, which funded the study on which this article is based. The authors also wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and insights on the draft of the manuscript.

References

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Interviews

Eldoret Municipal Council Chief Public Health Officer, 26 July 2007.

Eldoret Municipal Council Director of Environment, 4 July 2007.