The Red African & Gender Inequality

Some people joke with me here and say if I am not careful I will become a Red African. Now they don’t mean some relative of the Red Indian, as they call the first nations people of North America, but rather a person living in Africa with red skin from too much sun exposure. So, I am dutifully putting on SPF 30 a couple times a day when I am in the heat of the sun, which has been often lately. I missed a spot on the back of my arm today so noticed I am becoming a patchy Red African.

The other way I have discovered to make me a ‘Red African’ is to sit me on the back of a motorbike for the better part of a day and drive along packed-red earth roads in the dry season (ie now). My bones are a bit rattled and my pants have a distinct reddish tinge to them, but this morning was absolutely fabulous so all the ground in dust in my pores is worth it. I rode with a man called Dickson Nandi (Nandi is the name of a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin) who is better known simply as ‘pastor’ in these parts. He preaches at the radio station here on the ICM campus where I am staying but also works as an extension officer with the Agroforestry Project in town. It was through him that the connection was made for me to go there. I am used to stares from people, but boy I got a lot of them today - it is not too often people around here see a white women wearing trousers, and riding a motorbike!

We visited first a farmer who has been practicing agroforestry for six years. Previously he was growing only maize on his 1 ½ acre plot. Now he has passionfruits (I tasted some- they are absolutely divine), mango, banana, peppers, tomatoes, sunflowers, various firewood, fodder, and green-manure trees/ shrubs, and even a tree specially planted in order to be cut down and used as a propping pole for the banana stalks which threaten to fall down when laden with fruit. Talk about diversified farming! He now has income all year round- and a lot more of it with just a little more effort! His farm was only mildly sloping but he has created terraces with ditches on the downward side to catch all the water that will run down his fields when the rains come . A shrub is planted on the upward side of the ditches to stabilize the bank, and banana trees are planted on the other side to take advantage of all the moisture.

The second place we went was to an area meeting of some Sabaot farmers by the village of Koi Koi. As we approached the place (completely void of any car, motorbike, or bicycle- everyone must have walked there- so different than any North American meeting!) it was obvious that it was primarily men gathered in the shade of some banana and mango trees, seated on an assortment of chairs, stools, even a couch from what ever houses were around. Women sat on the other side of the road on the ground with children around them. Some women were seated near the men, but none were on chairs- only one- or should I say two- because I was also given a seat- and the other woman was the wife of the area chief.

(As a disclaimer I would like to add that this is not a common practice in Kenya- in fact in some places it is the women seated on chairs and men on the ground. Customs are customs. ?!?)

The purpose of the meeting was to educate and encourage the farmers to take part in agroforestry projects, and also to encourage the farmers to think of farming as a business, not just as a habit, necessity, or way to spend time. Before the first speaker even introduced himself, he berated the crowd of about 50 men as to why the women were seated so far away and none were given seats to sit on. “Don’t these women do most of the farm work? Don’t they cook your meals every day? Aren’t they full of good ideas? Then why don’t you let them sit among you and listen and speak together?” The women seated on the ground next to the men said it was out of respect that the other women sat so far away. This is an example of some of the gender issues/ attitudes that this particular project is trying to address and change. The women do the majority of the farm work, but the men make the majority of the decisions. It’s a bit unbalanced!