Survival strategies among the poor slum women: a case study of Mukuru slum, Nairobi

Abstract

The need to improve the status of women in Kenya has been a major strategy of the government of Kenya. Towards this end comprehensive information on the situation of women and men have an important role to play in gender sensitive planning. The paper reflects the situation of the sampled respondents in Mukuru slums based on primary data collected through administration of questionnaires. The pro bit model of analysis is used to explain poverty, and the multinomial logit models used to assess the main activity choice.The paper established that women are on average more prone to poverty and that poverty status is the main determinant of occupational choice in the study area. The results further show that the unavailability of credit, either formal or informal determines the choice of coping activities in the area. The main poverty determinant amongst women is low levels of education. Therefore the main policy strategy arising from the study is the continued promotion and support of the education of women and the availing of cheap finance to these women to enable them set up higher profitability business ventures. Also an important empirical result established was that the occupations of the sampled individuals were predominantly for coping with poverty. To support the major findings of this study, it is anticipated that the discussed issues will hopefully sensitise the policy makers and other users to the need of bridging the disparities between women and men in Kenya, through improved standards of living.