Social Cultural Factors that Constraint Gender Mainstreaming in Agriculture Extension

Abstract

Agricultural development has been a major concern to most developing countries within the last two decades. It represents a cluster of six related but separate concepts: agricultural expansion, increased production per acre of cropped land or per head of livestock, agricultural growth, a situation characterized with agricultural products per agricultural worker, rising income per person employed and agricultural transformation. Agriculture is considered the mainstay of economy in most of the African countries and Kenya in particular,employing more than 70% of the population. Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer’s education. Agricultural extension services can potentially be provided by three main sources namely: the public, the private non-profit sector, and the private for-profit sector. The role of women comes into sharp focus when discussing extension as a means of dissemination of agricultural technology to the farming household. This is because women have been sidelined and denied control over productive resources necessary for their livelihood activities and impact on the entire society. Gender is the range of physical, biological, mental and behavioural characteristics pertaining to differentiating between masculinity and femininity. It can also be defined as a culturally specific set of characteristics that identifies the social behavior of women and men and the relationship between them, i.e. it is a socially constructed relationships men and women. To mainstream gender is to integrate gender concerns into every aspect of an organization’s priorities and procedures or the process of assessing the implications of men or women of any planned action including legislation, policies or programs in all areas and at all levels. Empowering women is empowering the entire community. This paper therefore explores the social cultural factors that constraints gender mains streaming in agricultural extension.