| dc.description.abstract | Although achieving seed security is quite
different from attaining food security, the crisis
of food insecurity can be traced to seed
insecurity. A discussion of food security,
without paying attention to seed security is,
therefore, incomplete. It is even more
incomplete without revisiting the key role of
women’s knowledge in ensuring seed security
and consequently, food security. The decision
on the type of seed to conserve falls upon the
woman who knows what characteristics of the
crop are most useful to the household. This
study presents the findings of a survey that
investigated women’s indigenous knowledge in
household food security in Mulîlîî sub-location,
Makuenî County. It is informed by the Asset
Based Community Development (ABCD)
theory and the research design was both
qualitative and quantitative. The targeted
population comprised the rural women
farmers. By use of purposive and simple
random sampling, 3 elderly women (>60
years) and 56 women farmers (>18 and <60
years) were selected respectively. Data
was collected through an intervieweradministered
structured questionnaire and an
in-depth interview guide. One focus group
discussion was held and analyses
were carried out using the Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPSS) for the quantitative
data and by thematic analysis for the
qualitative data. Findings revealed that despite
the existence of vast scientific knowledge on
seed and food production, women farmers still
rely heavily on their traditional knowledge in
ensuring seed security and consequently, food
security. Faced with new and challenging
realities, they not only rely on their
community’s passed down practices but have
also devised new methods as they innovate
and experiment on the locally available
materials. The study recommends revisiting
this knowledge and practices with a view of not
only integrating and building on the same but
also for the purpose of scientifically validating
and authenticating such practices. | en_US |
