Engendering cooperatives to address structural violence among the Maasai of Kajiado Central Sub-county, Kenya.

Authors

  • Faith Mbulwa WAMBUA Kisii University
  • Linnet Hamasi Kenyatta University, Nairobi. Kenya.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58547/1.v4iI.12

Keywords:

Engendering, cooperatives, milk cooperatives, structural violence

Abstract

Structural violence in the form of gender inequalities is reproduced by well-meaning cooperatives that fail to consider resource access and ownership dynamics in communities. In many patriarchal communities resources are gendered, creating boundaries for these genders that give them power. Among the Maasai, milk and its products belong to women as the cattle belong to the men. Rapid urbanization and climate change, seems to have led to loss of men’s ability to fulfil their provider societal expectation, as their herds had become smaller and could not be sold with ease as they provided a constant income from milk sales in cooperatives. This study sought to answer the question of how engendered cooperatives address structural violence in Kajiado Central Sub-county. The study utilized descriptive survey research design which allowed for the use of mixed methods approach. The milk cooperatives were purposively sampled while the respondents were randomly and purposively sampled to describe and compare the benefits derived from cooperative membership and nonmembership. It was established that women’s space in the livestock production industry had improved tremendously with the introduction of the cooperatives. Women were earning a steady income from sale of milk. However, the change in the power relations between Maasai men and women resulted in vulnerable Maasai men who indirectly engaged in the milk business considered a female domain to mitigate their societal expectations. Those who felt that they could not be engaged in that space, became physically violent, neglected their duties or divorced and separated from their spouses. In conclusion, cooperatives are critical empowerment tools that need to comprehensively empower all. Engendering cooperatives should move beyond tokenism to critically reviewing gender identities, power relations and roles. This would, expose diverse agencies and vulnerabilities hence a comprehensive empowerment.

Author Biographies

Faith Mbulwa WAMBUA, Kisii University

Postgraduate student at Department of Peace and Conflict, Kisii University, Kenya.

Linnet Hamasi, Kenyatta University, Nairobi. Kenya.

Faculty member at Department of International Relations, Conflict and Strategic Studies, Kenyatta University, Kenya

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Published

2019-12-03

How to Cite

WAMBUA, F. M., & Hamasi, L. (2019). Engendering cooperatives to address structural violence among the Maasai of Kajiado Central Sub-county, Kenya. African Journal of Co-Operative Development and Technology, 4(I), 48–55. https://doi.org/10.58547/1.v4iI.12