How Women’s Financial Exclusion is Affecting Gender Equity in Tea Farming in Singorwet Ward, Bomet County

Abstract

Access to finance by women within communities is key to ensuring improved economies and better livelihoods. Having money at hand means women can purchase/ access quality seeds, good farm equipment and efficient technologies. Indeed, money will help women improve their own life style and that of their families (FAO, 2019) The research objectives were to examine the extent of financial exclusion of women in tea farming from the farm all the way to accessing benefits from tea and how it’s affecting gender equity. A cross sectional study design was used and a sample size of 532 tea farmers’ respondents (comprising of 431 male tea farmers and 101 female tea farmers), 2 directors and 10 farm labourers were involved in this study. Purposive sampling was used to pick two director zones in Singorwet ward and stratified random sampling to pick five tea buying centres within Singorwet Zone and Mugango Zone. Questionnaire, interviews and observation schedule were used for data collection. From the findings, it is evident that women though the majority in the tea farming workforce; are the minority in tea farm monthly pay and bonuses. The study recommends a detailed and close to communities’ financial literacy that presents information on owning a tea farm, having a bank account, savings and getting credit from credible sources.