Skip to main content
Log in

An Exploratory study of Dairying Intensification, Women’s Decision Making, and Time Use and Implications for Child Nutrition in Kenya

  • Original Article
  • Published:
The European Journal of Development Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Dairy intensification as a development strategy is expected to improve household nutrition, yet the pathways by which this occurs are not well understood. This article examines how women’s time use and decision-making patterns related to dairy income and consumption are associated with dairy intensification, as a way of exploring the links between intensification and nutrition. Results from our mixed methods study conducted with households representing low, medium and high levels of dairy intensification in rural Kenya indicated that children in high-intensity households received more milk than children in medium-intensity households. While women seemed to be gaining control over evening milk sales decisions, men seemed to be increasingly controlling total dairy income, a trend countered by the increase in reported joint decision making. Women from medium-intensity households reported spending more time on dairy activities than women from high-intensity households. More research on how dairy interventions affect women is needed.

Abstract

L’intensification de la laiterie comme stratégie en matière de développement est censé d’améliorer la nutrition des ménages, mais comment ça se passe n’est pas encore bien compris. Cet article examine comment l’emploi du temps des femmes et leurs modelés de prise des décisions, en matière de revenu et consommation laitière, sont associes a l’intensification de la laiterie, et à travers ça on explore aussi les liens entre cette intensification et la nutrition. Les résultats de notre étude, conduit avec des ménages à bas, moyen, et hauts niveaux de intensification laitière au Kenya, démontrent que les enfants appartenant à des ménages en haute intensification reçoivent plus de lait que les enfants appartenant à des ménages à moyen intensification. Il parait que les femmes sont en train de gagner plus de contrôle sur les décisions de la vente du lait recueilli au but du jour; et que les hommes contrôlent de plus en plus le revenu laitier total. Cette tendance est cependant contrée par la croissance signalée dans la prise de décisions communes dans les ménages. Chez les ménages à moyenne intensification laitière, les femmes signalent qu’elles passent plus de temps en activités relationés à la laiterie, comparés aux femmes chez les ménages à haute intensification laitière. Il faut plus de recherche sur comment les interventions affectent les femmes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agarwal, B. (1997) Bargaining and gender relations: Within and beyond the household. Feminist Economics 3(1): 1–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akre, J. (1989) Physiological development of the infant and its implications for complementary feeding. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation 67(6): 55–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, L.H. (1993) The nutrition CRSP. What is marginal malnutrition, and how does it affect human function? Nutrition Review 51(9): 255–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, L.H. (2013) Comparing the value of protein sources for maternal and child nutrition. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 34(2): 263–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arimond, M. and Ruel, M.T. (2004) Dietary diversity is associated with child nutritional status: Evidence from 11 demographic and health surveys. The Journal of Nutrition 134(10): 2579–2585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begum, J.M. (1994) The impact of dairy development on protein and calorie intake of pre-school children. Indian Journal of Medical Sciences 48(3): 61–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berti, P.R., Krasevec, J. and FitzGerald, S. (2004) A review of the effectiveness of agriculture interventions in improving nutrition outcomes. Public Health Nutrition 7(5): 599–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhutta, Z.A. et al (2008) What works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survival. The Lancet 371(9610): 417–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, R.E. et al (2008) Maternal and child undernutrition: Global and regional exposures and health consequences. The Lancet 371(9608): 243–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M.M. (1989) Marital status and reproductive performance in Kipsigis women: Re‐evaluating the polygyny‐fertility hypothesis. Population Studies 43(2): 285–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curry, J. (1996) Gender and livestock in African production systems: An introduction. Human Ecology 24(2): 149–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, K. (2003) Guiding Principles for Complementary Feeding of the Breastfed Child. Washington DC: PAHO and WHO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dror, D.K. and Allen, L.H. (2011) The importance of milk and other animal-source foods for children in low-income countries. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 32(3): 227–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engle, P.L. (1991) Maternal work and child‐care strategies in peri‐urban Guatemala: Nutritional effects. Child Development 62(5): 954–965.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engle, P.L., Bently, M. and Pelto, G. (2000) The role of care in nutrition programmes: Current research and a research agenda. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 59(1): 25–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engle, P.L., Menon, P. and Haddad, L. (1997) Care and Nutrition: Concepts and Measurements. Washington DC: IFPRI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (2008) Guidelines for Measuring Household and Individual Dietary Diversity, Version 4. Rome: FAO.

  • Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (2011) The State of Food and Agriculture – Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development. Rome: FAO.

  • Gewa, C.A., Oguttu, M. and Savaglio, L. (2011) Determinants of early child-feeding practices among HIV infected and noninfected mothers in rural Kenya. Journal of Human Lactation 27(3): 239–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, S., Harris, J. and Kadiyala, S. (2012) The Agriculture-nutrition Disconnect in India, What Do We Know? Washington DC: IFPRI. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01187.

  • Haddad, L.J. (2000) A conceptual framework for assessing agriculture-nutrition linkages. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 21(4): 367–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herforth, A. and Harris, J. (forthcoming) Improving Nutrition through Agriculture: Understanding and Applying Key Pathways and Principles. Washington DC: USAID-SPRING Technical Brief #1, in press.

  • Huss-Ashmore, R. (1996) Livestock, nutrition, and intrahousehold resource control in Uasin Gishu District, Kenya. Human Ecology 24(2): 191–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenya National Bureau of Statistics & ICF Macro (2010) Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 2008 2009. Calverton, MD: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and ICF Macro.

  • Kimani-Murage, E.W. et al (2011) Patterns and determinants of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices in urban informal settlements, Nairobi Kenya. BMC Public Health 11(1): 396–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristjanson, P. et al (2010) Livestock and Women’s Livelihoods: A Review of the Recent Evidence. Nairobi: ILRI. ILRI Discussion Paper No. 20.

  • Leroy, J.L. and Frongillo, E.A. (2007) Can interventions to promote animal production ameliorate undernutrition? The Journal of Nutrition 137(10): 2311–2316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, J.K., Murphy, S.P., Weiss, R.E., Nyerere, S., Bwibo, N.O. and Neumann, C.G. (2011) Meat and milk intakes and toddler growth: A comparison feeding intervention of animal-source foods in rural Kenya. Public Health Nutrition 15(6): 1100–1107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzen‐Dick, R. et al (2010) Engendering Agricultural Research. Washington DC: IFPRI. IFPRI Discussion Paper 00973.

  • Montagne, J.F., Engle, P.L. and Zeitlin, M.F. (1998) Maternal employment, childcare and nutritional status of 12–18 month‐old children in Managua, Nicaragua. Social Science and Medicine 46(3): 403–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullins, G., Wahome, L., Tsangari, P. and Maarse, L. (1996) Impacts of intensive dairy production on smallholder farm women in coastal Kenya. Human Ecology 24(2): 231–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mutinda, G. and Baltenweck, I. (2013) Tackling gender blindness in EADD. New Agriculturist Magazine Online at http://www.newag.info/en/focus/focusItem.php?a=2927&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&um_campaign=Feed%3A+ilrimedia+%28ILRI+in+the+media%29.

  • Ngigi, M. (2005) The Case of Smallholder Dairying in Eastern Africa. Washington DC: IFPRI. IFPRI EPT Discussion Paper 131.

  • Nicholson, C.F., Mwangi, L., Staal, S.J. and Thornton, P.K. (2003) Dairy cow ownership and child nutritional status. Paper presented at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association conference. Montreal, Quebec.

  • Nicholson, C.F., Thornton, P.K. and Muinga, R.W. (2004) Household-level impacts of dairy cow ownership in coastal Kenya. Journal of Agricultural Economics 55(2): 175–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nor, B., Ahlberg, B.M., Doherty, T., Zembe, Y., Jackson, D. and Ekstrom, E.C. (2011) Mother’s perceptions and experiences of infant feeding within a community-based peer counselling intervention in South Africa. Maternal and Child Nutrition 8(4): 448–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randolph, T.F. et al (2007) Invited review: Role of livestock in human nutrition and health for poverty reduction in developing countries. Journal of Animal Science 85(11): 2788–2800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruel, M.T. (2003) Operationalizing dietary diversity: A review of measurement issues and research priorities. The Journal of Nutrition 133(11): 3911S–3926S.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shreenath, S. et al (2011) Exploratory Assessment of the Relationship between Dairy Intensification, Gender and Child Nutrition among Smallholder Farmers in Buret and Kipkelion Districts, Kenya. Nairobi: ILRI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, L.C., Ramakrishnan, U., Ndiya, A., Haddad, L. and Martorell, R. (2003) The Importance of Women’s Status for Child Nutrition in Developing Countries. Washington DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staal, S.J., Pratt, A.N. and Jabbar, M. (2008) Dairy Development for the Resource Poor, Part 1: A Comparison of Dairy Policies and Development in South Asia and East Africa. Rome: FAO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swindale, A. and Bilinsky, P. (2006) Household Dietary Diversity Score for Measurement of Household Food Access: Indicator Guide (v. 2). Washington DC: Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project and Academy for Educational Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • TechnoServe Kenya (2008) The dairy value chain in Kenya. Nairobi: TechnoServe Kenya and East Africa Dairy Development Project. (Available from (http://www.eadairy.org/inside.php?articleid=8).

  • United Nations Children’s Fund, Statistics and Monitoring Section/Policy and Practice (2012) Country profile – Kenya maternal, newborn, and child survival. New York: UNICEF. Accessed from http://www.childinfo.org/files/maternal/DI%20Profile%20-%20Kenya.pdf.

  • Von Bulow, D. (1992) Bigger than men? Gender relations and their changing meaning in Kipsigis society, Kenya. Journal of the International African Institute 62(4): 523–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walton, C., Taylor, J., VanLeeuwen, J., Yeudall, F. and Mbugua, S. (2014) Associations of diet quality with dairy group membership, membership duration and non-membership for Kenyan farm women and children: A comparative study. Public Health Nutrition 17(2): 307–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb Girard, A., Cherobon, A., Mbugua, S., Kamau-Mbuthia, E., Amin, A. and Sellen, D.W. (2012) Food insecurity is associated with attitudes towards exclusive breastfeeding among women in urban Kenya. Maternal and Child Nutrition 8(2): 199–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whaley, S.E. et al (2003) The impact of dietary intervention on the cognitive development of Kenyan school children. The Journal of Nutrition 133(11): 3965S–3971S.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Food Programme, Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping Branch (2008) Food Consumption Analysis – Calculation and Use of the Food Consumption score in Food Security Analysis. Rome: WFP.

  • World Health Organisation (2000) Complementary Feeding – Family Foods for Breastfed Children. Geneva: WHO.

  • World Health Organisation (2010) Indicators for Assessing Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices Part 2: Measurement. Geneva: WHO.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Micere Njuki, J., Wyatt, A., Baltenweck, I. et al. An Exploratory study of Dairying Intensification, Women’s Decision Making, and Time Use and Implications for Child Nutrition in Kenya. Eur J Dev Res 28, 722–740 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2015.22

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2015.22

Keywords

Navigation