Impact of Covid-19 and gender responsiveness of recovery interventions in agricultural cooperatives in Kiambu County,Kenya

Abstract

Emerging data from global COVID-19 recovery operations show a detrimental, gender-specific impact on all sectors, particularly agriculture. Despite efforts to promote women's involvement in agricultural cooperatives, understanding the pandemic's effects on different social groups is crucial for creating effective recovery plans. Since the initial outbreak, COVID-19 has posed significant challenges in Kenya, especially for women and girls. Identifying and addressing gender disparities is essential for implementing inclusive and fair policies to advance gender equality. This study investigated COVID-19's impact on agricultural cooperatives in Kiambu County and the gender-responsiveness of recovery interventions. It examined gender inclusion, the gendered impact of COVID-19, and interventions' responsiveness in Kiambu agricultural cooperatives. Erik Erikson's Social-Ecological Model and Feminist Political Ecology theories guided the study. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was utilized, enabling the researcher to collect both qualitative and quantitative data to effectively address each of the research objectives. The target population for this study was 18,963 individuals affiliated with dairy and coffee agricultural cooperatives in Kiambu County. Key informants were drawn from cooperative development officers, managers of agricultural cooperatives, while the focus group discussion participants were drawn from management committees. A stratified simple random sampling method was employed to select a sample of 303 respondents. Additionally, purposive sampling was utilized to identify key informants and participants for the focus group discussions. Data was collected using household questionnaires for members and focus groups discussion guides for committee members while in-depth interviews and key informant interviews managers and county cooperative officers. 35 respondents were selected for the pilot study from agricultural cooperatives in Kiambu County that were not part of the main study. Validity was ensured by seeking expert opinions from the Department of Community Development and Environmental Management. Reliability was established by pretesting the data collection tools with 10% of the study sample size (30 participants) drawn from dairy and coffee cooperatives excluded from the main study. Cronbach formulae was used to calculate the reliability which was found to be 0.81 indicating that the tools were reliable. Quantitative data was analysed using STATA software while qualitative data was analysed using N-Vivo and presented in themes. The study results found men predominantly held management board positions, with 49% and women 32%. Women were the majority of cooperative employees by 63%. The supervisory committee showed a more balanced representation, with 42% indicating men and 35% indicating women. Cultural norms (54%) were the main barrier to women's leadership participation. Women bore the majority of COVID-19's burden. For instance, women (61%) and men (49%) experienced a change in safety in their homes, and women (61%) and men (30%) reported instances of sexual harassment. During the pandemic, efforts to curb COVID-19 spread were prioritized, often ignoring gender concerns. The distribution of genders throughout the various levels of cooperative governance revealed a generally noteworthy underrepresentation of women in positions involving important decision-making. The study concluded that addressing gender disparities is essential for fostering inclusive and equitable leadership in agricultural cooperatives. It recommended adopting tailored strategies to enhance gender inclusivity, mitigate COVID-19 impacts, and improve cooperative interventions.