Migration and changing divisions of labour: gender relations and economic change in Koguta, western Kenya

Abstract

A case study from western Kenya is used to explore the links between labour migration, rural economic decline and changes in key domestic relationships. Twentieth-century transformations in the regional political economy, together with processes of differentiation, have been closely bound up with changes, and continuities, in relationships within households, and in the ideologies which justify them. A central concept in the analysis is that of divisions of labour, which covers the division of tasks, divisions of spheres of responsibility and authority and contributions to the reproduction of the household. Changes in all these have shaped, and have been shaped, by the trajectory of economic decline in the region. Changing divisions of labour have been slow, piecemeal, non-uniform and non-linear. They have been the subject of intense conflicts within households which have centred on questions of access to and control over resources and in which, as well as power relations, ideas about rights and responsibilities have been crucially important.

“She mixes her business”: HIV transmission and acquisition risks among female migrants in western Kenya

“…These gendered patterns of migration may be changing: while in the mid 1990s it was estimated that 87 percent of all females and 54 percent of all males resided in rural areas (Agesa & Agesa, 1999), our analysis of 2009 Kenya census data suggest the proportion of females living in rural areas had declined to 68 percent, and of males had risen to 67 percent (National Bureau of Statistics, 2010). This finding is also consistent with prior research documenting the reverse migration in men in Kenya (Francis, 1995), in concert with the male ‘counter-urbanization’ trends observed in Zambia (Potts, 2005) and South Africa (Collinson et al, 2007) since the 1980s.…”

Nile perch and the hungry of Lake Victoria: Gender, status and food in an East African fishery

“…It represents women's struggles to obtain some share of their husbands' incomes, and men's struggles to maintain traditional positions of dominance and privileged access to income-generating resources (cf. Francis, 1995). The kinds of income-generating niches that women are allowed to exploit are limited and their access to resources often curbed by competition with men, the strictures of tra- ditional gender roles and the limited assets available to women to establish businesses.…”

“…Quisumbing, 2003a), as does literature focussing on these issues closer to the lake's shores (cf. Whyte and Kariuki, 1991;Francis, 1995). In this respect, it is surprising that anti-export proponents have not picked up on this extensive literature.…”

Individual- and Family-Level Psychosocial Correlates of HIV Risk Behavior Among Youth in Rural Kenya

“…The well-documented concerns regarding transactional sex in fishing communities, referred to as “fish-for-sex,” likely contribute to the increased prevalence among both adults and youth in these areas, in part by affecting social norms regarding sexual activity [8]. Youth in Muhuru face additional unique challenges to avoiding behaviors and lifestyles that place them at risk for exposure to HIV, as they are faced with limited access to education, entrenched traditions of gender inequality and early marriage, and high poverty rates [9, 10]. Thus, the success of prevention programs in Muhuru and other similar areas of Kenya will depend on achieving a better understanding of the context in which youth initiate and continue high-risk sexual activity.…”