Thesis:

Women empowerment and community development projects in Migori County, Kenya

Studies reveal that while women empowerment positively influences their participation and the success of community development projects, efforts to empower women remain limited. In contrast, in countries where women are empowered, they play a key role in driving development initiatives. It is in this realization that this study was carried. The main objective of the study was to look on women empowerment and community development projects in Migori County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the influence of women’s control of resources on community development projects in Migori County, to examine the influence of women’s leadership in community development projects in Migori County, to examine the influence of women’s access to job opportunities on community development projects in Migori county and to identify strategies for enhancing women’s empowerment for community development. Kabeer’s framework of women's empowerment and Sen's and Nussbaum's capabilities approach served as the study's guiding principles. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methodology. This study adopted a descriptive case study design. The total target population of the study was 279,109 respondents. Using stratified random selection technique 384 women respondents were selected for the study. 16 County officials, 2 from each of the 8 sub-counties, were purposely selected to aid in the study. The tools of primary data collection were a guided questionnaire for women respondents and an interview schedule for the county government officials. To establish the validity of the research tools, the researcher sought guidance by consulting with the study supervisor and research specialists at Mount Kenya University regarding the content of the instruments. In order to assess the reliability of the tools, a pilot study was conducted in which the questionnaires and interview guides were pre-tested to evaluate how effectively they gathered the intended information. The collected quantitative data was subjected to descriptive analysis, employing measures such as frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Additionally, Pearson’s correlation was applied to examine the relationship between the study variables. Qualitative data was thematically analyzed and presented in narrative formats. The study found that women's empowerment is a critical factor in the success of community development projects. It was found out that women’s access to job opportunities on community development projects, women’s leadership and decision-making on community development projects, women’s access to job opportunities on community development projects and strategies for enhancing women’s empowerment for community development projects in Migori County enhance community development projects. From the qualitative data, it was found that women’s empowerment improves community development projects in Migori County. There was a strong positive correlation between women empowerment and the success of community development projects statistically significant at p<0.05. Based on the findings, the study recommends that stakeholders should implement mentorship programs to equip women with employable skills, implement policies that support women’s leadership and decision-making processes, ensure women have a role in managing community resources and increase public awareness on women’s rights through community sensitization programs.