| dc.description.abstract | Despite the cross-cultural variations and the gradual but significant changes in
gender roles and cultural systems that are found in Kenya today, there is no
question that in many rural communities some tasks are still nearly always
performed by men whereas others are predominantly the responsibility of women.
This pattern is evident in the area of environmental conservation where the labour
investment is still largely differentiated along gender lines. Although a great deal of
attention has been paid to environmental protection in Kenya in recent years, the
way a population exploits its habitat has a lot to do with the local circumstances and
institutional norms, the cultural context, gender-power relationships within
households and the material conditions of life. All these factors interact in complex
ways to produce an overall pattern of gender division of labour, resource allocation
and decision making in environmental management. Women in these cultures do
not have a great deal of control in making major decisions about suitable
environmental management practices or the allocation of public, productive and
culturally valuable resources.
This paper discusses the results of a cross-cultural baseline study on gender
participation in environmental conservation in Kericho and Nyando districts. It also
compares the widespread environmental conservation patterns and practices found
in the two districts and some of the cultural beliefs and ideas associated with these
variations. Cultures vary in the importance they attach to land, forests, mountains,
rivers, female labour and other resources. This study shows how these variations
are reflected in the different kinds of environmental conservation practices in the
catchment area, particularly those conservation techniques which are considered
more appropriate, suitable and sustainable under the prevailing local circumstances | en |
