Gender relations in access to micro finance resources among women in Kiharu constituency, Murang’a County, Kenya
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Date
2014
Authors
Kamau, P.W.
Kimani, Elishiba
Wamue-Ngare, G.N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Prime Research on Education
Abstract
This paper explores gender relations in access and control of microfinance resources. Focusing on women in
Kiharu Constituency, Murang’a County in Kenya, the paper argues that micro finance resources play an
important role in economic development and reduction of poverty globally. They target the poor, a majority of
who are women, through provision of credit services. In Kenya, microfinance institutions contribute 80% Gross
Domestic Product (GOK, 2010). This shows the sector has an important role to play in economic growth of the
country with the capacity to address financial needs of the poor population. However, in spite of the high
contribution of the sector to country’s economy, the number of women accessing and controlling these
resources is still low. The reasons for these are varied, among them gender relations between men and women,
in a complex household situation in Kenya. These include age, women’s marital status, the level of formal
education and number of children depending on women the division of labour, gender based violence,
perceptions of men and women and religion also influence gender relations control of resources among women
who have accessed resources. Again, societies in Kenya are patriarchal, and as such, men are considered as
power ‘brokers’ in households. This means thatgender relations at household level impinge on economic
outcomes in multiple ways. Using case study, this paper set the overall objective as to explore gender relations
in access to micro finance resources among women in Kiharu Constituency, Murang’a County
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Citation
Prime journal Vol. 4(5), pp. 717-722, August, 2014