A gender and decent work analysis of cassava production and on-farm processing, in Kuria west sub-county, Kenya

In Kenya, cassava (Manihot esculenta) is one of the strategic crops with the ability to withstand adverse climatic conditions. It thrives well in areas with little rainfall such as Kuria west sub-county. It is an important food security crop for resource poor households and has a high potential for value addition. With limited range of crop and livestock farm enterprises that can be raised, cassava production engages all gender and age groups within the household. However, the level of men and women involvement in cassava production and on-farm processes and whether this constitutes decent work as defined by International Labour Organization (ILO) has not been evaluated.  Data was collected from 224 systematically selected farmers drawn from four wards where cassava farming and processing activities are evenly distributed. A sampling frame was established from the sub-county farmers’ list. The first farmer was selected using lottery method and then the subsequent respondent was selected using a calculated sampling interval until the sample size was reached. Descriptive statistics and ordinary least square (OLS) econometric analysis were used to analyze the data. Likert results showed that women were more involved than men in the production and on-farm processing with means of 2.6 and 1.4 respectively on a 4 point scale. OLS results showed that age, extension contacts, credit access and experience significantly affected the level of involvement of both women and men at 95% confidence level. Some 68 and 92% were not aware of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) respectively. About 65% used protective gear during work and the hourly wage earned was 44% higher than the minimum set by the government of Kenya. More civic education needs to be done to improve the participation by men and the decent work status in the Kuria west sub county.    Key words: Cassava, involvement, decent work, processing, production, men, women.