Enhancing women's participation in development is essential not only for achieving social justice but also for reducing poverty. Worldwide experience shows that supporting a stronger role for women contributes to economic growth, improves child survival and overall family health, and it reduces fertility, thus helping to slow population growth rates. In short, investing in women is central to sustainable development. This study sought to find out the social and economic impacts brought about by women participation in agricultural projects. The economic impact of women participation which was measured using income and assets acquired, income was analysed using t-test, mean and mode and it was found out that participation of women in agricultural projects does indeed increase their income. The social impact of women participation in agricultural projects was measured through access to healthcare, children education, nutrition, and shelter; they were analysed using chi-square and frequencies. The findings were that participation does improve social development or wellbeing of the women and their families. The research study targeted women in Kigumo Sub-County in Murang’a County. The research used a descriptive research design. Stratified sampling method was used to select women farmers who participate in agricultural projects in Kigumo Sub-County. The researcher used personal interviews and structured questionnaires as data collection tools. Data was analyzed through the use of descriptive frequencies, Mode, Mean, chi-square and t-test.
Baden, S. (1998). Gender Issues in Agricultural Liberalization. Brighton: Institute of
Development Studie (IDS).
Bamber. (1986). The Role of Community Participation in Development. Washington DC: World
Bank
Bangose.O, K. M. (2002). Participation of Rural Women in Development. A case study
of Tsheng, Thintwa and Makhalaneng villages,South Africa. Journalof international women studies , Volume 4.
Brager. G.et al. (1996). Community Organisation; Community Development. New York:
Columbia University press
Burkey, S. (1993). People First: A Guide to Self-Reliant, Participatory Rural Development.
London: Zed Press.
Buvnic, M. L. (1997). Women and Poverty in the Third World. USA: The John Hopkins
University Press.
Carney, J. A. (1992). ‘Peasant Women and Economic Transformation in the Gambia’. Journal of
Development and Change.
Curry, J. K. (1999). Institutionalising Gender in Agricultural Research: Experience from Kenya.
Nairobi. Nairobi: Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).
David, A. (2011). Impact of Gender Based Abuse on Women Economic Wellbeing
and Participation in Public life in Abeokuta Metropolis in Ogun state, Nigeria. International multi-Displinary Journal, volume 5.
FAO. (1995). A Fairer Future for Rural Women. Rome: Author.
FAO. (1984). Women in Food Production and Food Security in Africa. Harare: Author.
FAO/IFAD/ILO. (2010b). Gender Dimensions of Agriculture and Rural Employment:
Differentiated Pathways out of Poverty: Status, Trends and Gaps. Rome: Author.
Government of Kenya. (1997). Kenya Welfare Monitoring Survey 111. Nairobi: Central Bureau
of Statistics, Ministry of planning and National Development.
Government of Kenya. (2000a). National Policy on Gender and Development. Nairobi: Central
Bureau of Statistics.
Government of Kenya. (2000b). Second Report on Poverty in Kenya, Vol 11. Nairobi:
Government Printers.
Holt, S. a. (2001). Developing Financial Institutions for the Poor and Reducing Barriers to
Access for Women. Washington D.C: World Bank.
King, E. A. (2003). Women's Education in Developing countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Le Vine, R. A. (2004). Influences of Women Schooling on Maternal Behaviour in the Third
World. In G. K. Elliott, Women Education in the Third World. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York.
Mwangi, J. (2013). Kigumo Tops List of Mungiki Recruits. The star
Project, H. (2000). The African Women Food Farmer Initiative: Exclusion from Development
Policy and Programmig Equation. New york.
Project, H. (1999). The Status of Women is the Major Causative Factor in the Persistence of
Hunger. New York.
Republic of Kenya . (2004a). Strategy to Revitalize Agriculture. Nairobi: Government Printer.
Republic of Kenya. (2007). Kenya Vision 2030. Nairobi: Ministry of Planning and National
Development and the National Economic and Social Council (NESC).
Sabo, E. (2006). Participatory Assessment of the Impact of Women in Agriculture
Programme of Borno State, Nigeria. Journal of Tropical Agriculture , 52-56.
Snyder, C. A. (2005). African Women and Development. South Africa: Witwatersrand University
Press.
The World Bank. (2007). Agriculture for Development. World Development Report. Washington
DC: Author.
UNECA. (1972). Women the Neglected Human Resource for African Development. Canadian
Journal of African Studies , 359-370.
UNIFEM .(2000). Women and Economic Empowerement. New York: UN.
Van Rooyen.J. (2003). Agricultural Change, the Farm Sector and the Land Issue in South
Africa. View point Development South Africa , 127-130.
World Bank. (1995). Participation Source Book. Washington DC: Author
Zondo, N. (2005). Rural Women Pessimistic. Agenda , 22-24.
Copyright: © 2014 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode