Maindi, Catherine NyambuneNgare, Lucy Wangare2023-07-192023-07-192021Maindi Catherine Nyambune, et. al. “The Exclusion Dilemma: How Women and the Poor are excluded from Collective Action and Implications for Development Policy.” IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science (IOSR-JAVS), 14(5), 2021, pp. 22-35.DOI: 10.9790/2380-1405012235http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/26323articleThis paper focuses on the drivers of participation of smallholder avocado farmers in collective action initiatives. Collective action holds a vast potential to deliver food security and poverty reduction objectives because it enables the farmers to access benefits they would not otherwise get if they were acting individually. The study utilized primary data collected from 130 households randomly selected from both members and non-members of avocado producer and marketing groups in Murang’a County, Kenya. The findings reveal that membership in collective action was highly influenced by the scale of production, farming experience, resource endowment, access to information and gender. On the other hand, market price, group attributes including size, age, membership homogeneity, trust, and decision making influenced the intensity of participation in groups. These results point to the dilemma that those who need the benefits of collectives more-the poor and the women-are excluded from their participation, a trend that works against poverty eradication and women empowerment goals. The pro-poor policies need to create an enabling environment for the survival of collectives as well as foster inclusion of disadvantaged groups, such as the poor, youth and women.enCollective actioncollectivesproducer and marketing groupsexclusionArticle