This study examined the extent of women’s empowerment in agriculture as a catalyst for sustainable land use management practices among small-scale farmers in Njoro Sub-County, Nakuru County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to: (i) assess the level of women’s empowerment using the Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI); (ii) determine the extent to which women farmers have adopted sustainable land use management practices (SLUMP); and (iii) evaluate the influence of women’s empowerment on the uptake of these practices. An ex-post facto research design was employed. A multi-stage sampling approach was used to identify three locations, from which a stratified random sample of 243 women farmers was drawn from a sampling frame of 659 households. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings indicated that women’s empowerment in agriculture was generally low (M = .439, SD = .196) on a 0–1 scale. Adoption of sustainable land use management practices was moderate (M = 11.16, SD = 5.98) on a scale ranging from 0 to 20, with significant variation across Njoro, Kihingo, and Nessuit locations (p < .001). Regression analysis revealed that women’s empowerment had a significant positive contribution to sustainable land use management practices (β = .144, t = 2.25, p < .001). The results demonstrate that the WEAI is an effective tool for assessing the empowerment of women farmers and for understanding its role in promoting sustainable land use decisions.
| Published in | International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (Volume 11, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11 |
| Page(s) | 143-156 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Njoro Sub-County, Women Empowerment Index in Agriculture, Adoption, Women Action, Environmental Conservation
Category | Frequency | Percent |
|---|---|---|
Location of the Farm | ||
Kihingo | 136 | 56.0 |
Nessuit | 62 | 25.5 |
Njoro | 45 | 18.5 |
Age Categories | ||
20-30 | 39 | 16.0 |
31-40 | 92 | 37.9 |
41-50 | 54 | 22.2 |
51-60 | 27 | 11.1 |
61-70 | 22 | 9.1 |
71-80 | 9 | 3.7 |
Level of Formal Education Attained | ||
Never Went to School (illiterate) | 12 | 4.9 |
Lower Primary (1-4) | 22 | 9.1 |
Upper Primary (5-8) | 156 | 64.2 |
Secondary (Form 4) | 47 | 19.3 |
College (Diploma) | 4 | 1.6 |
Master and above | 2 | 0.8 |
Number of People living in the household | ||
1.00 | 5 | 2.1 |
2.00 | 19 | 7.8 |
3.00 | 18 | 7.4 |
4.00 | 39 | 16.0 |
5.00 | 40 | 16.5 |
6.00 | 16 | 6.6 |
7.00 | 36 | 14.8 |
8.00 | 21 | 8.6 |
9.00 | 25 | 10.3 |
10.00 and above | 24 | 9.9 |
No | Domains | Indicators | Descriptive statistics of the farmers rating | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Mean | SD | α | |||
1 | Household resources | Ownership of resources | 87 | .360 | .345 | |
Transactions of land and assets | 78 | .321 | .444 | |||
Decision on Credit | 88 | .362 | .441 | |||
Women resources | 84 | .348 | .401 | .864 | ||
2 | Agricultural production | Decision on Production | 103 | .426 | .414 | |
Extent of Decision Making | 407 | 1.67 | .895 | |||
Personal Ability and Motivation | 180 | .741 | .299 | |||
Agricultural production | 231 | .948 | .374 | .801 | ||
3 | Household Income | Use of income generated from farm production | 87 | .358 | .480 | |
Use of income from employment | 97 | .399 | .490 | |||
Use of income from income generating activities (IGA) | 95 | .390 | .498 | |||
Income Decision Making | 93 | .382 | .463 | .798 | ||
4 | Leadership/Agency | Women membership to groups | 147 | .607 | .287 | |
Speaking in public | 24 | .099 | .206 | |||
Index of Ease of Public Speaking | 24 | .099 | .206 | |||
Women Leadership (Agency) | 85 | .269 | .167 | .802 | ||
5 | Time allocation | Time allocated to work in a 24hr day | 209.8 | .86 | 2.41 | |
Adequacy of workload (below 10.5 hrs. /day) | 35 | .44 | .351 | |||
Leisure related activities | 87 | .358 | .157 | |||
Time allocation | 81 | .251 | .184 | |||
WEAI for Njoro farmers | 106 | .439 | .196 | .761 | ||
Categories | Description | Observed N | Expected N | Residual | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.01- .10 | Extremely low | 4 | 24.3 | -20.3 | χ2=234.65 |
.11- .20 | Very low | 12 | 24.3 | -12.3 | df=9 |
.21- .30 | Low | 38 | 24.3 | 13.7 | p<.001 |
.31- .40 | 88 | 24.3 | 63.7 | ||
.41- .50 | Medium | 22 | 24.3 | -2.3 | |
.51- .60 | 20 | 24.3 | -4.3 | ||
.61- .70 | 21 | 24.3 | -3.3 | ||
.71- .80 | High | 30 | 24.3 | 5.7 | |
.81- .90 | Very High | 5 | 24.3 | -19.3 | |
.91- 1.0 | Extremely high | 3 | 24.3 | -21.3 | |
Total | 243 |
Sustainable Land Use Management Practices | Descriptive Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sum | Mean | Std. dev | ||
1 | Manure compositing and application | 184 | .757 | .429 |
17 | Rain water harvesting (roof catchment) | 184 | .757 | .429 |
2 | Intercropping | 183 | .753 | .432 |
3 | Minimum tillage | 178 | .732 | .443 |
4 | Use of cover crops (legumes, clover) | 169 | .695 | .461 |
5 | Grassed fallows | 154 | .633 | .482 |
6 | Grazing management / controlled grazing | 152 | .625 | .484 |
7 | Crop rotation | 151 | .621 | .486 |
8 | Fodder plots (enclosures) | 151 | .621 | .486 |
9 | Mulching | 149 | .613 | .488 |
10 | Restoration/revegetation on bare areas | 147 | .604 | .489 |
11 | Planting on contours | 146 | .648 | .478 |
12 | Drip irrigation | 141 | .580 | .494 |
13 | Agroforestry practices | 136 | .633 | .490 |
14 | Grass strips or trash lines on cropland | 133 | .547 | .498 |
15 | Zero grazing / stall feeding | 125 | .514 | .500 |
16 | Rain water harvesting (surface water) | 123 | .506 | .500 |
18 | Cut off drains | 109 | .484 | .500 |
19 | Contour furrows | 91 | .404 | .491 |
20 | Terraces on farms | 68 | .279 | .449 |
Index Categories | Observed N | Expected N | Residual | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0-2 | 35 | 34.7 | .3 | χ2=45.03 |
3-5 | 11 | 34.7 | -23.7 | df=6 |
6-8 | 30 | 34.7 | -4.7 | p<.001 |
9-11 | 28 | 34.7 | -6.7 | |
12-14 | 59 | 34.7 | 24.3 | |
15-17 | 52 | 34.7 | 17.3 | |
18-20 | 28 | 34.7 | -6.7 | |
Total | 243 |
n | Mean | Standard. Deviation | Std. Error | Minimum | Maximum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Njoro | 45 | 14.02 | 4.73 | .705 | .00 | 20.00 |
Kihingo | 136 | 9.47 | 6.31 | .541 | .00 | 20.00 |
Nessuit | 62 | 12.82 | 4.72 | .600 | 6.00 | 20.00 |
Total | 243 | 11.16 | 5.98 | .383 | .00 | 20.00 |
(I) Locality | (J) Locality | Mean Difference (I-J) | Std. Error | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Njoro | Kihingo | 4.55 | .975 | .001 |
Nessuit | 1.19 | 1.111 | .528 |
Unstandardized Coefficients | Standardized Coefficients | t | p. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B | Std. Error | Beta | |||
(Constant) | 9.249 | .933 | 9.917 | .001 | |
WEAI | 4.364 | 1.936 | .144 | 2.254 | .025 |
WEAI | Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index |
SLUMP | Sustainable Land Use Management Practices |
SLUM | Sustainable Land Use Management |
SLMPs | Sustainable Land Management Practices |
SDGs | Sustainable Development Goals |
WEF | Women Enterprise Fund |
5DE | Five Domains of Empowerment |
SPSS | Statistical Package for the Social Sciences |
IBM | International Business Machines |
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APA Style
Mohamed, H. A., Ndunda, E. M., Mutinda, M. N. (2026). Women’s Agricultural Empowerment as a Catalyst for Sustainable Land Use Management Among Small-scale Farmers in Njoro, Kenya. International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, 11(4), 143-156. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11
ACS Style
Mohamed, H. A.; Ndunda, E. M.; Mutinda, M. N. Women’s Agricultural Empowerment as a Catalyst for Sustainable Land Use Management Among Small-scale Farmers in Njoro, Kenya. Int. J. Nat. Resour. Ecol. Manag. 2026, 11(4), 143-156. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11
@article{10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11,
author = {Hafsa Ahmed Mohamed and Elizabeth Mumbi Ndunda and Mark Ndunda Mutinda},
title = {Women’s Agricultural Empowerment as a Catalyst for Sustainable Land Use Management Among Small-scale Farmers in Njoro, Kenya},
journal = {International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management},
volume = {11},
number = {4},
pages = {143-156},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnrem.20261104.11},
abstract = {This study examined the extent of women’s empowerment in agriculture as a catalyst for sustainable land use management practices among small-scale farmers in Njoro Sub-County, Nakuru County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to: (i) assess the level of women’s empowerment using the Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI); (ii) determine the extent to which women farmers have adopted sustainable land use management practices (SLUMP); and (iii) evaluate the influence of women’s empowerment on the uptake of these practices. An ex-post facto research design was employed. A multi-stage sampling approach was used to identify three locations, from which a stratified random sample of 243 women farmers was drawn from a sampling frame of 659 households. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings indicated that women’s empowerment in agriculture was generally low (M = .439, SD = .196) on a 0–1 scale. Adoption of sustainable land use management practices was moderate (M = 11.16, SD = 5.98) on a scale ranging from 0 to 20, with significant variation across Njoro, Kihingo, and Nessuit locations (p < .001). Regression analysis revealed that women’s empowerment had a significant positive contribution to sustainable land use management practices (β = .144, t = 2.25, p < .001). The results demonstrate that the WEAI is an effective tool for assessing the empowerment of women farmers and for understanding its role in promoting sustainable land use decisions.},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Women’s Agricultural Empowerment as a Catalyst for Sustainable Land Use Management Among Small-scale Farmers in Njoro, Kenya AU - Hafsa Ahmed Mohamed AU - Elizabeth Mumbi Ndunda AU - Mark Ndunda Mutinda Y1 - 2026/10/14 PY - 2026 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11 T2 - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management JF - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management JO - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management SP - 143 EP - 156 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-3061 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20261104.11 AB - This study examined the extent of women’s empowerment in agriculture as a catalyst for sustainable land use management practices among small-scale farmers in Njoro Sub-County, Nakuru County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to: (i) assess the level of women’s empowerment using the Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI); (ii) determine the extent to which women farmers have adopted sustainable land use management practices (SLUMP); and (iii) evaluate the influence of women’s empowerment on the uptake of these practices. An ex-post facto research design was employed. A multi-stage sampling approach was used to identify three locations, from which a stratified random sample of 243 women farmers was drawn from a sampling frame of 659 households. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings indicated that women’s empowerment in agriculture was generally low (M = .439, SD = .196) on a 0–1 scale. Adoption of sustainable land use management practices was moderate (M = 11.16, SD = 5.98) on a scale ranging from 0 to 20, with significant variation across Njoro, Kihingo, and Nessuit locations (p < .001). Regression analysis revealed that women’s empowerment had a significant positive contribution to sustainable land use management practices (β = .144, t = 2.25, p < .001). The results demonstrate that the WEAI is an effective tool for assessing the empowerment of women farmers and for understanding its role in promoting sustainable land use decisions. VL - 11 IS - 4 ER -