GENDER AND THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT
OF DROUGHT ON THE RESIDENTS OF TURKANA
DISTRICT IN KENYA
Abstract: The study seeks to assess the adaptive strategies employed by men and women within their respective social and economic backgrounds to cope with challenges in the drought-stricken Turkana District.
The study utilizes qualitative research methods to exhaustively and effectively explore the famine situation in the district. Consequently, purposive sampling was used to select three locations with varying climatic and social conditions within the district. These are: the dry purely pastoralist Kapua area, the pastoralist agricultural area near Turkwell River and the Kalokol area near Lake Turkana, where fishing is done. Key informant interviews were used to obtain data from village elders, government officials and men and women living in the district. Focussed group discussions were used with officials working with the Catholic Christian Fund, a non-governmental organization working in the district to alleviate the effects of drought. Direct observations of the social environment and document analysis of related literature from various sources were also used. The data analysis tools included content analysis and simple statistical methods to complement the qualitative data.
Although both men and women play important roles in the pastoral economies, women’s roles were found to be more taxing and crucial since women were responsible for cultural reproduction in addition to domestic chores and livestock production activities.
It was found that drought affected the performance of gender roles due to the scarcity of basic resources for both humans and animals. The greatest challenge faced by men was the reduction in their authority as household heads and breadwinners since women were in charge of the famine relief food. The challenges women faced constituted lack of time and energy to perform their gender roles under the strenuous drought conditions.
The adaptive strategies employed by both men and women were noted to be creative and practical, centring on the physical and social environment and on gender roles. They included pastoral supportive activities such as agriculture and fishing, migration, use of wild fruits and dried plants as human and animal food, herd splitting, food preservation and water conservation methods, assistance from charitable organizations, formation of youth/women groups, and other economic activities. The study has identified gender as the main determinant of how well the residents coped with drought. However, gender was complemented and affected by factors such as proximity to urban centres, the lake and the river; socio-economic status; and availability of social networks.
1.1 Background
African countries, especially those south of the Sahara, are repeatedly affected by desertification resulting from severe droughts that cause loss of human life and large-scale displacement of populations (United Nations 1984). In Kenya, for example, drought has hit most parts of the country since the short rains failed in 1998. During this period, marginal agricultural lands lost at least 80% of their maize crop. The same trend continued through 1999 with the long rains, which were below average and poorly distributed in most parts of the country (Daily Nation, 2nd December 1999). At present, the drought has spread to most parts of the country except for a few areas in the western and coastal districts. Districts hit most by the drought include Marsabit, Tana River, Garrissa, Samburu Kajiado, Mwingi, Makueni, Kitui, Machakos, Mbere and Tharaka (Daily Nation, 9th February 2000). However, the worst hit is Turkana District, where food donations have continuously been made to save the people from starving to death (Daily Nation, 9th February 2000).
Turkana District is the largest in the country. However, despite its size, it is the least developed district in the country (GOK 1998). This can be partly explained by the harsh climatic conditions inherent in the area. Turkana, which is situated in the arid and semi-arid lands, experiences low rainfall and high temperatures that hinder any significant agricultural development. Livestock production is, therefore, the main economic activity that occurs under a pastoralistic culture. Within this culture, men and women perform different tasks to sustain the households. Men basically do the herding, while it is the responsibility of women to build the houses and fences; clean the animal sheds; and milk the cattle and goats, take care of their feeding and provide water for them. In addition, women also skin animals and sell the hides. All these tasks performed by women are in addition to their “normal” domestic chores that include fetching drinking water and firewood, cooking and child rearing (UNICEF/GOK 1998; Anderson and Brouch 1999).
Over the years, drought has had adverse effects on the lives of people living within Turkana District. It has led to widespread loss of livestock, pasture and browse. Therefore, since these people rely on their livestock for survival, starvation and even death have been reported because of the drought (Daily Nation, 2nd December 1999). Other effects of the drought include malnutrition especially among children, school dropout especially among girls and an increase in human and animal diseases (Gorham 1980; Daily Nation, 29th January 2000). The effects of drought and the resultant famine pose challenges to both men and women in Turkana District. However, as a result of the prolonged stay in this harsh environment, these people have devised coping strategies. The nature of the challenges faced and the coping strategies employed vary depending on the gender roles within the pastoralist setting. For example, men and women have to walk long distances in search of pasture and water, respectively. However, women have to combine this with their domestic chores, compounding their situation. Women have, therefore, to look for ways of preserving food and purifying drinking water for human consumption.
Similarly, whether it is amongst men or women, there exist differences in terms of age, marital status, educational level, economic capacity and societal connections. These factors also affect the nature of the problems and challenges they face and the coping strategies they have adapted in the famine situation. Thus, the study sets out to examine the gender-differentiated problems and challenges faced by both men and women in the drought situation and the adaptive strategies they employ. The study also aims at determining the differentiated strategies designated by both men and women amongst the varying social and economic categories within each gender.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Although drought normally affects only the semi-arid and arid lands in Kenya, it has over the years spread to almost all parts of the country. The rain patterns have been erratic and this has resulted in the failure of most crops. People in most parts of the country have had to go for long periods without food and water. However, Turkana District has been affected the most by this drought, leading to loss of animals and even human life. Yet, people living within this semi-arid district have had to survive these harsh climatic conditions for years. Both men and women have faced the problems and challenges of looking for water and pasture for their livestock – their only source of livelihood. But with the drought now affecting many other parts of the country, there is so much that can be learned from these pastoral people who have made adaptations to a difficult environment for years. For example, we can borrow from them the indigenous and improved systems of water delivery and discovery and use these in the present drought situation affecting other parts of the country.
Further, valuable additional knowledge can be obtained from pastoral women who have multiple gender roles to play within this harsh environment. For example, a lot can be learned in terms of the methods they employ to process and purify water. Also, with the loss of livestock, the pastoral people (both men and women) have had to take up other economic activities to survive (UNICEF/GOK 1998; Anderson and Brouch 1999). The study intends to explore these activities and their implications to the pastoral social structure.
Similarly, in view of the heterogeneity inherent in all societies, the study intends to examine other factors that interact with gender to influence the nature of adaptive strategies employed by both men and women in the district.
1.3 Study Objectives
The purpose of the study is to examine the gender-differentiated problems and challenges in the drought situation in Turkana District. In addition, the study endeavours to find out the differentiated adaptive strategies employed by both men and women, depending on the socio-economic backgrounds.
Specifically, the study sets out to:
• Identify the nature of the problems facing men and women in the district;
• Examine the differences between the problems and challenges faced by men and women in the district;
• Determine how gender interacts with social and economic factors in influencing the problems and challenges faced by women in the district; and
• Determine the coping strategies employed by men and women within their respective socio-economic backgrounds in the district.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The results of the study will add to the pool of knowledge on the fairly under-researched area of the role of women in pastoral economies by highlighting the contributions made by both men and women in the district. Similarly, the results will serve as an empirical basis for future policy-making in Kenya in the area of food policy especially for Turkana District and other districts affected by drought.
Finally, the results will offer valuable insights to planners in NGOs and the government regarding the types of projects to initiate in pastoralist communities and other areas affected by drought.
1.5 Theoretical Framework
The study makes a gender analysis of the District based on a theoretical framework of the Marxist/socialist feminist theory. Marxist or socialist feminist theory advocated mainly in Britain asserts the co-existence of both class and gender oppression in explaining the subordination of women in society (Bulbeck 1998). This orientation was developed among others by Friendrich Engels through the article: “The origin of the family, private property and the state in 1884”. Adopted from the Marxist concept of capitalist production which explains how capitalists appropriated the labour and power of the workers, it adopts notions such as “the domestic mode of production”. It was used to explain how husbands appropriated the labour of housewives without paying its full worth. Similarly, women’s unpaid domestic labour also benefits capitalists who can hire workers at lower wages than would otherwise be possible.
The Marxist/socialist feminism criticizes both liberal and radical feminism for neglecting the class dimension in women’s oppression. The proponents discuss the fact that working class women are more exploited than middle class women and that middle class women sometimes exploit or benefit from the exploitation of the working class women (Bulbeck 1998). However, they share with radical feminists the commitment to politicize the private and public spheres of operation by arguing that women are held in the trap of a patriarchal system of relations that hampers their autonomy. Patriarchy creates immutable sexual differences within the family and a sexual division of labour in the work place (Whelehan 1995). With respect to the present study, patriarchy undervalues the role played by women in pastoralist production especially during difficult periods like the drought season when their roles become more difficult to accomplish. Similarly, the Social/Marxist Orientation provides a background for the present study by arguing that “the roots of women’s oppression must be sought not only within the sphere of production but also in social and cultural structures, and that women’s loss of status in the course of economic development must be conceived in the context of an interweaving of class relations and gender relation” (Beneria 1981, 279).
Consequently, the present study analyses gender relations in the drought situation in the context of class, economic and other social factors inherent in the pastoralist society under study.
