Archives
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Land Governance and Women's Land Rights in Kenya: Advancing Gender Equality and Sustainable Development
Vol. 10 No. 1 (2025)The articles in this Special Issue are arranged to guide readers through a coherent intellectual journey that moves from broad continental theorisation to grounded empirical realities and finally to long-term socio-economic implications. The sequence begins with a pan-African feminist framing that establishes the conceptual foundations for understanding women’s land rights, followed by an examination of Kenya’s legal and institutional landscape. It then transitions into contemporary governance transformations, digital systems, tourism governance, and climate-related land politics, before presenting community-level studies that illustrate how these structures shape everyday experiences of land, livelihoods, and resilience.
The issue concludes with an exploration of post-retirement economic empowerment, offering a reflective life-course perspective that underscores the enduring impacts of gendered land governance. Together, this ordering ensures thematic clarity, analytical depth, and a cumulative narrative that strengthens the reader’s engagement with the diverse dimensions of women’s land rights in Africa.
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Harnessing Women’s Knowledge, Experiences for Women’s Socio-Economic Transformation and Empowerment
Vol. 9 No. 1 (2024)It is my honour to present this latest issue of Pathways to African Feminism and Development, the open access, peer‑reviewed journal of the African Women Studies Centre (AWSC), University of Nairobi — Volume 9, Issue 1. With each publication, we reaffirm our commitment to advancing critical scholarship, feminist inquiry, and transformative knowledge on African women’s lived realities, both on the continent and across the diaspora.
This issue engages a timely and compelling theme: Harnessing Women’s Knowledge and Experiences for Women’s Socio‑Economic Transformation and Empowerment. Women have long been central to sustaining households, communities, and economies, yet their visibility and knowledge remain undervalued and underutilised. While global discourse on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) has expanded significantly over the past decade, persistent gaps endure, calling for deeper scholarship, grounded evidence, and feminist theorising rooted in African contexts.
African women continue to navigate multiple and intersecting barriers in formal and informal labour markets, entrepreneurship ecosystems, climate‑affected livelihoods, and rapidly evolving digital spaces. Yet, their resilience, innovation, indigenous knowledge systems, and community solidarities remain powerful engines of transformation. These realities remind us that WEE cannot be reduced to income generation alone; it must encompass structural shifts: legal, cultural, political, technological, and environmental that enables women to exercise agency, autonomy, and voice. This requires re‑examining dominant development paradigms and advancing approaches grounded in African feminist thought, praxis, and lived experience.
The contributions in this issue reflect this richness and diversity. They interrogate entrenched narratives, highlight persistent challenges, and illuminate emerging opportunities. Collectively, they offer evidence‑based insights and recommendations for policy, programming, and advocacy, strengthening our understanding of how women’s knowledge, labour, and leadership can drive meaningful socio‑economic transformation.
As Editor-in-Chief, I am encouraged by the growing body of African feminist scholarship that interrogates, redefines, and expands the WEE agenda beyond instrumentalist approaches. This journal remains steadfast in its mission to provide a platform where scholars, practitioners, and activists generate and share knowledge that is rigorous, grounded, intersectional, and transformative.
I extend my sincere appreciation to all authors, reviewers, and the editorial team for their dedication and intellectual labour. Your contributions uphold the spirit and purpose of Pathways to African Feminism and Development: to centre African women’s voices, experiences, and knowledge in shaping development discourses and influencing meaningful change.
It is my hope that this issue will inspire further research, dialogue, and action that strengthens the pathways to women’s socio‑economic empowerment across Africa and the diaspora.
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Harnessing Women’s Knowledge, Experiences and Contribution towards Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
Vol. 8 No. 1 (2023)On behalf of the Editorial Board members, authors, reviewers, and those who have contributed in one way or the other in making this issue come to be, within and outside of the University of Nairobi I extend a very warm welcome to all the readers of our journal Pathways to African Feminism and Development. I am delighted to present Volume 8, Issue No.1 (Special Issue) of the Journal on the theme Harnessing Women’s Knowledge, Experiences and Contribution towards Economic Empowerment and Sustainable Development.
Without reservation, on behalf of the Editorial Board and my behalf, I extend my special appreciation and congratulations to the twelve authors whose articles are published herein - thank you for choosing to publish in our esteemed journal. I acknowledge and thank the members of the Editorial Board led by our Editor, Mrs. Anna Petkova-Mwangi, for the insight, unwavering support, and focus in ensuring that the articles are professionally and timely reviewed. In a very special way, I wish to acknowledge the continued leadership of Prof. Wanjiku Kabira, particularly for her guidance and focus on ensuring that the original purpose of this esteemed journal is carried forward while ensuring the maintenance of the highest quality in processing articles for publication in every issue. As the Chairperson of the Editorial Board, I aspire to continue to work and draw on the expertise of the relevant stakeholders, particularly members of the Editorial Board and peer– reviewers to uphold seasoned decisions and processes for a quality peer-reviewed, international journal.
Equally appreciated are the readers not only for being the reason for the continuity of this journal but also because the journal would be meaningless without them. As the Editorial Board trusts your continued interest and support, we aspire to continue to make the journal more appealing and relevant, especially through the selection of thematic areas and articles for future publication issues. This special issue is the last in the year 2023, even though the logistics in the publication process may spill over to early, 2024. This issue carries a selection of very stimulating articles, demonstrating diverse ways in which women harness their knowledge, skills, and experiences to contribute to economic empowerment and sustainable development across various sectors. For instance, as socially defined caregivers, the first article on Homeschooling Experiences of Kenyan Mothers of Children with Dyslexia during the COVID-19 pandemic, brings out the experiences of mothers in caring, educating, and nurturing children with dyslexia, with a lasting impact on women’s social, emotional and career development. This is followed by an article with the title, From One Pandemic to Another through Women’s Eyes: An Analysis of the Impacts of Kenya’s Response to HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 offering an interesting reading on the impact of the two remarkable pandemics, on women in their unique and diverse situations in the society. An article titled Deconstructing Gender-Based Violence from Kenyan Soap Narratives, Unveiling the Nexus between Syndemics, Women’s Health, and Transformative Change brings out the interplay between media narratives and women’s health through an analysis of two soap operas. The next article, titled The Trilogy of the Coronavirus Disease, Religion and the Health of African Women interrogates the experiences of African women from the perspective of religious-based gender inequalities and the management of the coronavirus, raising concerns about how the perceived subordinate position of women, as compared to their male counterparts, diminishes the chances of women from participating in health-related decisions that directly affect them.
An interesting article focusing on the Health Insurance Enrolment and Utilization of Maternal Healthcare Services among Women in Kenya, presents the experiences of women in Kenya, in the context of the current reforms in the health sector and particularly increased health insurance uptake. This is followed by an article that reaffirms the role of women as producers, processors, and managers of food in the households, titled Participation of Women Small Holder Farmers in a Food Production Program: The Panacea to Household Food Security? As if to complement the analysis, the following article presents a desk-reviewed study analysing the experiences and inclusivity of women in agriculture, based on the Climate Smart Agriculture Policy Intervention for Inclusive and Sustainable Development. This is followed by a write-up on Media Framing of Women in Business: An Analysis of Mainstream News Article’s Coverage in Kenya, a critical analysis of how mainstream media portrays women leaders in companies that were listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. As the article confirms a stereotyped, gendered portrayal of women, the same is affirmed in the following article on the Women's Experiences with Religion in the Novels of Three Women Writers, which treats the readers to how religion is used as a symbol of forces that play a constructive role in the societies through analyses of three novels by women writers.
In a commonly perceived male-dominated housing sector, an article on Enhancing Sustainable Housing through Women’s Cultural Skills, Experiences, and Knowledge, brings out the importance of the experiences of Maasai women in the transfer of knowledge and skills in the construction of houses, and as custodians and change agents, bringing out an elevation and connectivity between the indigenous, modern knowledge and the dynamics of the transfer processes. Finally, readers in this issue will enjoy two other articles focusing on an analysis of women’s social interactions in the Labour Market in Kenya and an African feminist critique on the inclusivity of women in War and Terrorism, thereby challenging the gender insensitive theories on war, terrorism, and the exclusion of women in the counter-terrorism activities.
Prof. Elishiba N. Kimani
Editor in Chief
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Pathways to African Feminism and Development : Women's Economic Empowerment - Special Issue
Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022)Pathways to African Feminism and Development : Women's Economic Empowerment - Special Issue
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Pathways to African Feminism and Development
Vol. 6 No. 2 (2021)Journal of the African Women’s Studies Centre, University of Nairobi (ISSN: 2309-3625)
An annual peer-reviewed journal focusing on all aspects of African women’s studies, both on the continent and in the Diaspora. This Journal promotes scholarships on African women in all spheres of life.
Key title: Pathways to African Feminism and Development
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A journal of African Women Study Centre, University of Nairobi
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2020) -
Single Series
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2017)The African Women Studies Centre is a training, research, evidence based policy, advocacy and lobbying institution of the University of Nairobi. The Centre is committed to promoting African Women’s
experiences and worldview in scholarship, policy and institutional development. Among the Centre’s publications are: The Beginnings; Rebuilding the Broken African Pot; Gender and Policy Analysis Tools; Making Women’s Perspectives Count in Policy Development and Implementation; and Status Report on the Kenya National Food Security. In the spirit of the multi-disciplinary nature of the AWSC, Pathways to African Feminism and Development promotes African women’s studies in all aspects of scholarship and development. -
Convergence and Divergence of African Women Studies
Vol. 1 No. 4 (2016)The African Women Studies Centre is a training, research, evidence based policy, advocacy and lobbying institution of the University of Nairobi. The Centre is committed to promoting African Women’s
experiences and worldview in scholarship, policy and institutional development. Among the Centre’s publications are: The Beginnings; Rebuilding the Broken African Pot; Gender and Policy Analysis Tools; Making Women’s Perspectives Count in Policy Development and Implementation; and Status Report on the Kenya National Food Security. In the spirit of the multi-disciplinary nature of the AWSC, Pathways to African Feminism and Development promotes African women’s studies in all aspects of scholarship and development. -
Women in Literature
Vol. 1 No. 3 (2015) -
Filling the Granary: Women and Food Security
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2015)
