Labour In Kenya Research Articles

Causes of Gender Disparities in Kenyan Organizations and the Respective Trade Unions

Gender disparities continue to be reported in various dimensions of industrial occupations in Kenya and other parts of the world. This is despite the efforts by various stakeholders, including the enactment of the various gender-responsive labour laws and the inclusion of the industrial relations provision in the Kenyan constitution. Currently, according to the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics, women's representation in formal wage employment in Kenya is below 27 per cent. The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the institutional factors that influence gender disparities at selected organizations and the respective trade unions in Kenya. A descriptive survey research design was used to obtain data from selected companies in Kenya. Primary data were obtained using questionnaires and interviews, while secondary data was sourced from company records. The data collected were coded and converted to numerical codes, which represent the attributes of the various variables of the proposed study. Data were summarized using percentages, ratios, frequencies and the measures of central tendency. The study findings indicated that gender disparities continue to be experienced at the various levels of organizational and trade union hierarchies. Margins of gender disparities tended to be higher at the top management compared to the operational levels of the organizations. Disparities, too, tend to be higher in manufacturing organizations compared to service sector organizations. The institutional factors that were observed to cause gender disparities included the recruitment practices and procedures, lack of inspection by the ministry in charge of labour in Kenya, and lack of provisions for appeal in the recruitment and promotion policies of the studied organizations. In the right of these findings, the study recommended that there should be strict measures by the government to ensure the implementation of the two-thirds rule at all organizational levels. Both the government and the trade unions must engage in regular labour inspections as a way of enforcing labour laws.

Comparing adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes in primary caesarean delivery during first versus second-stage of labour in Kenya: An institution-based cohort study.

As caesarean delivery rates continue to increase globally, so are the number of second-stage caesarean deliveries. Second-stage caesareans may carry additional risk of complications for both the mother and fetus owing to fetal head impaction into the maternal pelvis and manipulations required for delivery. So far, data on this procedure's outcomes from low resource countries are limited. To compare adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes between second-stage and first-stage of labour intrapartum primary caesarean deliveries over 12 months at a tertiary referral obstetric hospital in Kenya. In a hospital-based cohort study, 222 women with singleton, cephalic presenting fetuses at term gestation who had intrapartum primary caesarean delivery during active labour were recruited post-partum. Second-stage caesarean deliveries (73) were compared to 149 first-stage caesarean deliveries. The proportion of caesarean deliveries in the second-stage of labour was estimated and the adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes were compared. The study was conducted from August 2021 to July 2022 at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret. The proportion of second-stage caesarean deliveries among intrapartum primary caesarean deliveries was 4.3% [95% CI: 2.9% - 4.7%]. Compared to first-stage caesarean deliveries, second-stage caesarean deliveries had a significantly higher risk of adverse maternal outcomes (RR 3.272, 95% CI 2.28-4.71, P < 0.001), including intraoperative trauma, atony, blood transfusion, and a postoperative hospital stay of more than three days. Additionally, there was a higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes (RR 2.748, 95% CI 2.45-4.50, P < 0.001), including increased risk of a 5-min APGAR ≤3, admission to NBU, and neonatal death. An increased risk of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes is associated with primary second-stage caesarean deliveries compared to primary first-stage caesarean deliveries.

'Our hands are bound': Pathways to community health labour in Kenya

An ideal model of Community Health Worker (CHW) selection has existed since long before Alma Ata catalysed the community health approach, dating to late colonial times. In this model, a willing, trusted, relatively well-educated and secure member of the community with proven aptitude is openly elected by their leadership, peers or relevant committee. Their participation is entirely voluntary and that voluntarism is symbolic of their community's participation as a whole. While this imagery is long-embedded in CHW storytelling, such practice is rare. While elements of this ‘model pathway’ exist, a myriad of structural and agential factors shape who becomes a CHW, how and why. Through life history interviews over twelve months 2022–2023 with 68 CHWs in Isiolo, northern Kenya (known as CHVs), we explore predominant pathways to community health labour as told through stories. We articulate five such pathways: model, handpicked, shadow, outsider and, most importantly, dispossession. Through telling five CHVs' stories, we present each ‘ideal type’ but also explore how each pathway is not singular, rather overlapping in complex, context-specific ways. These pathways confound Western-centric, Western-promoted notions of voluntarism and indeed community health, which cannot explain why such labour endures. We conclude that our findings provide a timely commentary on how voluntary labour within health continues to tax structural poverty and frustrated life chances in lieu of concrete and expansive investments in human resources for health by governments and health agencies both North and South. In understanding voluntary labour as a form of structural violence, we can better elucidate the historical dependency on this work in impoverished regions and how the undervaluing of such work persists over time.

Vaginal microbiota in women with spontaneous preterm labor versus those with term labor in Kenya: a case control study

BackgroundPreterm birth is a global problem with about 12% of births in sub-Saharan Africa occurring before 37 weeks of gestation. Several studies have explored a potential association between vaginal microbiota and preterm birth, and some have found an association while others have not. We performed a study designed to determine whether there is an association with vaginal microbiota and/or placental microbiota and preterm birth in an African setting.MethodsWomen presenting to the study hospital in labor with a gestational age of 26 to 36 weeks plus six days were prospectively enrolled in a study of the microbiota in preterm labor along with controls matched for age and parity. A vaginal sample was collected at the time of presentation to the hospital in active labor. In addition, a placental sample was collected when available. Libraries were constructed using PCR primers to amplify the V6/V7/V8 variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene, followed by sequencing with an Illumina MiSeq machine and analysis using QIIME2 2022.2.ResultsForty-nine women presenting with preterm labor and their controls were enrolled in the study of which 23 matched case–control pairs had sufficient sequence data for comparison. Lactobacillus was identified in all subjects, ranging in abundance from < 1% to > 99%, with Lactobacillus iners and Lactobacillus crispatus the most common species. Over half of the vaginal samples contained Gardnerella and/or Prevotella; both species were associated with preterm birth in previous studies. However, we found no significant difference in composition between mothers with preterm and those with full-term deliveries, with both groups showing roughly equal representation of different Lactobacillus species and dysbiosis-associated genera. Placental samples generally had poor DNA recovery, with a mix of probable sequencing artifacts, contamination, and bacteria acquired during passage through the birth canal. However, several placental samples showed strong evidence for the presence of Streptococcus species, which are known to infect the placenta.ConclusionsThe current study showed no association of preterm birth with composition of the vaginal community. It does provide important information on the range of sequence types in African women and supports other data suggesting that women of African ancestry have an increased frequency of non-Lactobacillus types, but without evidence of associated adverse outcomes.

Globalisation, Working Conditions, Cheap Labour and Employment Relations in Kenya

People perceive globalisation differently. Some consider it to be the internationalisation of local economies in terms of trade, foreign direct investments, agriculture, technology transfer and dominant culture, amongst others. However, globalisation, with its liberalisation and deregulation policies, seem to have created additional turmoil in the workplace as far as employment relations is concerned. The main objective of this paper was to investigate how globalisation has influenced employment regulations/deregulations in Kenya. The study adopted an explanatory mixed method approach. About 500 closed ended questionnaires were distributed to employees of the sampled companies, and of these, 483 were satisfactorily completed, which culminated in a 97% response rate. In addition, 10 key employment relations stakeholders were interviewed for the qualitative phase of the research study. The study revealed that the conditions of workers, in terms of health, have improved in Kenya since globalisation. It also reflected that working conditions, particularly regarding safety, have improved since globalisation. The study further showed that organisations in Kenya are exploiting children, who are part of their unskilled workforce, by paying them low wages, which reflects a recent, rising trend in the use of child labour in Kenya, particularly in manufacturing sectors. Thus, the study's findings show that there has been an increase in the use of cheap labour amongst Kenyan organisations. In addition, the study indicates that Kenyan companies favour foreign employees compared to local ones in terms of salaries and wages.

Effect of extra-amniotic Foley\u2019s catheter and vaginal misoprostol versus vaginal misoprostol alone on cervical ripening and induction of labor in Kenya, a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThe safest, most effective and fastest combined approaches to induction of labor is unknown. In an open-label randomized clinical trial we evaluated the efficacy of combination of extra-amniotic Foley’s catheter and vaginal misoprostol compared to vaginal misoprostol alone for cervical ripening and induction of labor on the incidence of failed induction, induction-to-delivery interval and adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes.MethodsPregnant women at gestational age of 28 weeks or greater admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya for induction of labor were enrolled then randomized to either a combination of extra-amniotic Foley’s catheter inflated by 30 cm3 of normal saline and 25 micrograms of vaginal misoprostol or 25 micrograms of vaginal misoprostol alone. Women underwent 6 hourly reviews and additional misoprostol inserted if required. The primary outcome was incidence of failed induction. Secondary outcomes were induction-to-delivery interval and adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. We conducted an intent-to-treat analysis and compared means or medians using t-test or Wilcoxon rank, proportions using Chi-square or Fishers test as appropriate. Induction-to-delivery interval were compared using the log-rank test. P-values of < 0.05 and 95% confidence intervals that excluded the null were considered statistically significant.ResultsBetween February and May 2016, we enrolled 180 of 237 pregnant women admitted for induction of labor and randomized them to either a combination of extra-amniotic Foley’s catheter and vaginal misoprostol (n = 90) or vaginal misoprostol alone (n = 90). The socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics were similar between the two groups. Failed induction rates were lower but not statistically significant following combined extra-amniotic Foley’s catheter and vaginal misoprostol (8.9%) versus vaginal misoprostol alone (11.1%). The mean induction-to-delivery time was 4.8 h shorter in the combined extra-amniotic Foley’s catheter and vaginal misoprostol (mean 18.9, standard deviation (SD) 7.2 h) compared to misoprostol only group (mean 14.1, SD 6.9 h) (log-rank test, p < 0.001). Maternal and perinatal complications were similar between the two groups.ConclusionsExtra-amniotic Foley’s catheter and vaginal misoprostol for cervical ripening and induction of labor did not significantly lower the incidence of failed induction but safely shortened induction-to-delivery time compared to vaginal misoprostol only.Trial registrationTrial was retrospectively registered on 14–03-2016 PACTR201604001535825.

‘Development’, profiles and prospects: labour in Kenya's outsourced call centres

As part of the government's Vision 2030 initiative, Kenya's business process outsourcing (BPO) sector has been identified as a key source of development and employment creation. With those in the sector hoping to challenge more established outsourcing destinations in the global industry, Kenya's potential has been based on a particular geographic, cultural and human resource profiling, emphasizing its suitability for voice-based call centre services. In light of BPOs’ association with ‘development’, this article draws upon the people-centred concept of ‘wellbeing’ to explore the implications of the expansion of the sector and the onus on internationally oriented call centre labour. Underlining the need to foreground existing workers’ experiences, the article argues that the picture for those employed in the sector has been mixed with respect to the material, relational and subjective gains from the work. While agents recruited describe beneficial and recognized work experience, the work has yet to represent a stable, long-term professional prospect, with the sector beset by an inconsistent financial record.

OPOLOT OKIA. Communal Labor in Colonial Kenya: The Legitimization of Coercion, 1912-1930.

Opolot Okia documents the persistence of coerced, unpaid communal labor in Kenya Colony in the 1920s even though official policies prohibited forced labor on European farms and public projects. In defense, the fiction was maintained that communal labor was rooted in African tradition and acceptable to colonial subjects. Okia uses the papers of Archdeacon Walter E. Owen, who took special interest in labor abuses, to show that communal labor was neither voluntary nor necessarily communal. Numerous incidents of coercion, punishment, and violations of existing colonial regulations reflected the continued practice of intimidating Africans, often women and children, to labor for the benefit of and financial advantage to the colonial government and, sometimes, European settlers. Coerced labor continued because the abused lacked access to justice and because colonial officials denied culpability when challenged by shifting the blame to headmen and chiefs. When the attention of the London Colonial Office was drawn to such abuses, it invariably waned after official prohibitory directives were issued. Communal Labor in Colonial Kenya draws on a variety of sources, including reports, testimonies, newspaper editorials, and public correspondence authored by colonial office administrators, colonial officials, settlers, missionaries such as Owen, and British-based advocates such as John Oldham, secretary of the Conference of Missionary Societies.

The Impact of Land Privatization on Cooperation in Farm Labor in Kenya

Establishing private property in land through registration and titling has been promoted in developing countries due to the anticipated benefits of private ownership in access to credit, productivity enhancing investments, and productivity gains. Evidence of such benefits is limited, however. In this paper, we examine a related question: What is the impact of privatization on cooperation in farm labor? Data collected in 2005 from Samburu District in Kenya is analyzed, comparing one community where land has been privatized to a second where land is communally held in a group ranch. It is hypothesized that households with title deeds are less likely to cooperate in farm labor than households without deeds. The hypothesis was confirmed, as the odds of cooperating in communal farm labor are 93.0% lower for households with deeds compared to those without. This effect has negative implications for collective action efforts in Siambu.

Child labor and school attendance in Kenya

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of child labor in the world and estimates show that it continues to grow. This paper examines the causes and magnitude of child labor in Kenya. Unlike previous studies that examined child labor as only an economic activity, this paper includes household chores. Including household chores is important because majority of child labor takes place within the household. The paper finds that socioeconomic status and structure of the household have a strong effect on child labor. Also, a large proportion of working children attend school. If the consequence of working is to hinder educational attainment, then policymakers need to focus to this dimension of educational inequality: Between students who combine work and school and those who do not. Key words: Kenya, child labor, school attendance, sub-Saharan Africa.

Education for all and child labour in Kenya: A conflict of capabilities?

Child labour remains an enormous challenge to the achievement of Education For All in developing countries. This paper explores the subject of child labour in Kenya in the context of the national and global push towards Education For All. Based on a year's ethnography of a poor community in Kiambu district in Kenya, the paper explores the tension between child labour and schooling using the language of capabilities. The capability approach focuses on the freedoms that people have to live the life that they value. As there is a strong relationship between poverty and child labour, this paper argues that there is tension between the capability (freedom) to be educated and other basic capabilities such as being well fed and housed. Therefore, substantively empowering poor communities would be a positive step towards easing these tensions and ultimately achieving Education For All.

Africa's 'agitators': militant anti-colonialism in Africa and the West, 1918-1939

The period between the two World Wars were troubling years for colonial empire. Individuals and organizations called for major reforms and an end to white supremacy and colonial rule, contributing first to local unrest and protest and then to anticolonial activity not only in Africa but the United States and Europe as well. In this compelling history, Jonathan Derrick recounts the opposition to British and French rule practised both by Africans living on the continent and by European anticolonialists and members of the Black Diaspora. He covers campaigns waged by an early incarnation of the ANC and other groups in South Africa who fought against legal and other aspects of white minority rule. He also analyses the Kikuyu protests against the settler regime in Kenya; Marcus Garvey's African American movement and its role in sparking interest in Africa; the Etoile Nord Africaine, formed mainly by Algerians in France, that called for the independence of French North Africa; protests led by European critics against forced labor in Kenya and French Equatorial Africa; and the activity of small militant groups like the Ligue de Defense de la Race Negre (LDRN) in France and George Padmore's International African Service Bureau (IASB) in Britain. Derrick also examines the role of the Comintern and Western Communist parties that were opposed to Western colonialism and ready to support militant action against it. He shows that, although colonial rulers greatly feared the specter of Communism in Africa, actual Communist activity was in fact quite small. The onset of the Second World War pushed colonial issues to the background, but as Derrick argues, in the long term the anticolonialists of the interwar era helped pave the way for later decolonisation.

Experiments and Ethnography: Combining Methods for Better Understanding of Behavior and Change

Previous articleNext article No AccessReportsExperiments and Ethnography: Combining Methods for Better Understanding of Behavior and Change1CarolynK.LesorogolCarolynK.LesorogolGeorge Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, U.S.A. ([email protected]). 24 v 04 Search for more articles by this author George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, U.S.A. ([email protected]). 24 v 04PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 46, Number 1February 2005 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/427099 Views: 129Total views on this site Citations: 16Citations are reported from Crossref 2005 by The WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reservedPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Tim Wegenast, Cécile Richetta, Mario Krauser, Alexander Leibik Grabbed trust? The impact of large-scale land acquisitions on social trust in Africa, World Development 159 (Nov 2022): 106038.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106038Menusch Khadjavi, Kacana Sipangule, Rainer Thiele Social Capital and Large-Scale Agricultural Investments: An Experimental Investigation, The Economic Journal 131, no.633633 (May 2020): 420–449.https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueaa050Raul Magni‐Berton, Sophie Panel Gerontocracy in a comparative perspective: Explaining why political leaders are (almost always) older than their constituents, Sociology Compass 15, no.11 (Nov 2020).https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12841Anne C. Pisor, Matthew M. Gervais, Benjamin G. Purzycki, Cody T. Ross Preferences and constraints: the value of economic games for studying human behaviour, Royal Society Open Science 7, no.66 (Jun 2020): 192090.https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.192090Jetske Bouma, Victoria Reyes-García, Tomas Huanca, Susana Arrazola Understanding conditions for co-management: A framed field experiment amongst the Tsimane’, Bolivia, Ecological Economics 141 (Nov 2017): 32–42.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.05.013Carolyn K. Lesorogol Fairness in Cultural Context, (Sep 2017): 129–142.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58993-0_8Marie Schäfer, Daniel B. M. Haun, Michael Tomasello Fair Is Not Fair Everywhere, Psychological Science 26, no.88 (Jun 2015): 1252–1260.https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615586188Carolyn K. Lesorogol Redefining the Meaning of Land: Property Rights and Land Use in a Privatized Commons in Kenya, (Oct 2014): 211–233.https://doi.org/10.1108/S0190-128120140000034007Carolyn K. Lesorogol Redefining the Meaning of Land: Property Rights and Land Use in a Privatized Commons in Kenya, (Sep 2014): 211–233.https://doi.org/10.1108/S0190-1281_2014_0000034007Ragnhild Haugli Braaten Land Rights and Community Cooperation, World Development 61 (Sep 2014): 127–141.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.04.002Drew Gerkey Cooperation in Context: Public Goods Games and Post-Soviet Collectives in Kamchatka, Russia, Current Anthropology 54, no.22 (Jul 2015): 144–176.https://doi.org/10.1086/669856Helen Suich The effectiveness of economic incentives for sustaining community based natural resource management, Land Use Policy 31 (Mar 2013): 441–449.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.08.008Elaine M. Grimm, Carolyn K. Lesorogol The Impact of Land Privatization on Cooperation in Farm Labor in Kenya, Human Ecology 40, no.11 (Jan 2012): 69–79.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9454-3Carolyn K. Lesorogol The Impact of Privatization on Land Inheritance among Samburu Pastoralists in Kenya, Development and Change 41, no.66 (Nov 2010): 1091–1116.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2010.01668.xCarolyn K. Lesorogol Bringing Norms In: The Role of Context in Experimental Dictator Games Lesorogol, Current Anthropology 48, no.66 (Jul 2015): 920–926.https://doi.org/10.1086/523017Lee Cronk The influence of cultural framing on play in the trust game: a Maasai example, Evolution and Human Behavior 28, no.55 (Sep 2007): 352–358.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.05.006

Family Structure, Parental Perceptions, and Child Labor in Kenya: What Factors Determine Who is Enrolled in School?

Family Structure, Parental Perceptions, and Child Labor in Kenya: What Factors Determine Who is Enrolled in School?

Migrant Labour in Kenya: Capitalism and African Response

Migrant Labour in Kenya: Capitalism and African Response

White Farmers: Black Workers - Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya, 1919–1939. By R. M. A. Van Zwanenberg. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau, 1975. Pp. xxiv+314, maps. No price.

White Farmers: Black Workers - Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya, 1919–1939. By R. M. A. Van Zwanenberg. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau, 1975. Pp. xxiv+314, maps. No price. - Volume 18 Issue 3

Review: Miscellany: Government and Labour in Kenya 1895–1963

Review: Miscellany: Government and Labour in Kenya 1895–1963

Government and Labour in Kenya 1895–1963

Government and Labour in Kenya 1895–1963

Government and Labour in Kenya, 1895–1963 by Anthony Clayton and Donald C. Savage London, Frank Cass, 1974. Pp. xxiv +481. £15.00.

Government and Labour in Kenya, 1895–1963 by Anthony Clayton and Donald C. Savage London, Frank Cass, 1974. Pp. xxiv +481. £15.00.

Government and Labour in Kenya, 1895-1963.

Government and Labour in Kenya, 1895-1963.