Gender is one of the integral aspects that emerge in environmental resource management for ecotourism planning amongst various players. There are hardly any gender studies that have been carried out in Kisumu to consider the significance differences of gender division of roles within the community towards ecotourism as an important component of environmental resource management. The glaring gap that has emerged from these studies is gender equity framework for men and women to carry out environmental activities has either been left out, or minimally considered. This study's objective was to examine differences in willingness of men and women to participate in environment based ecotourism activities in Kisumu County. The study was a qualitative study that used case study design. The study was conducted in Kisumu County, the sample are adeduced through purposive. Purposive sampling was also used to identify key informants. Data was collected using key informant interviews, Focus Group Discussions, direct participant observation and review of secondary sources. Data analysis methods used were, Content Analysis and Force Field Analysis. The study findings revealed that there are intervening variables identied as Force Fields, which are external determinant factors that either catalyzed o impeded willingness to partcipate in ecotourism actvites by men and women. Key recommendatons of this study were: to enhance gender partcipaton, there was need for: inducton and targeted training modules; convene gender responsive meetngs; skill enhancement training to reduce language barrier; exposure tours; gender needs- based inancial and budgetng capacity building; strategize ecotourism as a top-notch income source and forge global-wide strategic networks and PriPvautbleic Partnerships (PPP)
Ecotourism as a community activity is globally considered the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry, growing at rates of 10%–12% per year, which is three times faster than the traditional tourism industry as a whole (
At a global scale, the international agenda is shifting towards environmental concerns and sustainability in ecotourism planning. It therefore becomes paramount in ecotourism planning to understand women’s and men’s relationships to the environment. The gender relationship to the environment is an important aspect that facilitates the development of solutions for more sustainable use of natural resources. Therefore, ignoring gender distorts the understanding of human impacts on the environment since women and men have different gender- based roles and responsibilities in their own lives, families, households, and communities. Gender differences are also manifested in different environmental attitudes, access to, and control over natural resources, and in the different opportunities that present themselves for participation in decisions regarding natural resource use.
In many countries, socially prescribed roles mean that women and girls generally have greater interaction with nature than men. According to Scheyvens (
However, it is notable that while both women and men are involved in economic activities such as farming, women have additional domestic responsibilities such as food preparation, water and fuel wood collection, child care, and maintaining family health, thus men’s domestic responsibilities may be limited. In Africa for instance, women are the main food producers because of their major role in subsistence farming (
Gender willingness is a key aspect in the success of co-management of environment resources in ecotourism planning.Hayombe, Agong, Maria, Mossberg and Odede (
According to Reed (
Therefore, for ecotourism planning to be participatory, integration of people’s attitudes as a building block to community involvement has to be incorporated. A study by KLIP (
The study was carried out in Kisumu County. Dunga beach in this study was considered as a convergence point for ecotourism activities, therefore through purposive sampling Dunga beach was selected based on its unique characteristics out of the 25 beaches in Kisumu Central and West Sub-counties.
Primary and secondary data were sourced from the study field, libraries, reputable internet websites, government institutions, NGOs and CBOs.
Interview scheduleswere used for face-to-face interviews with key informants. The key informants were end users and managers of environmental resources. The key informants were identified as resource persons because of their institutional position and expertise. The key informants consisted of BMU committee officials, a male and female, were interviewed from Dunga beach to obtain the gender view of the issues discussed.
Discussion Guides were used for Focus Group Discussion. The guides were structured around a set of carefully predetermined probing questions to guide the group discussions. The researcher played the facilitator role during the FGDs.
Secondary data was collected through document analysis of existing archival records from the County offices of Kisumu. Thematic data was sourced from thematic information obtained from the Physical Planning Department, Environment-related data from National Environment and Coordination Authority, Fisheries office and Gender data from the County Gender office. Literature reviews based on relevant thematic areas of the study was done and data extracted from published books, scholarly articles and journals.
The research procedure for data collection entailed carrying out a reconnaissance visit to the study area in the month of June 2014 to have a general appreciation of the area dynamics by the researcher.
Qualitative data was analyzed using Force Field Analysis. Force Field Analysis was used as a qualitative method of analysis to get a whole view of all the forces for or against achievement of gender equity in the ecotourism decision making process towards accommodating the interests of both men and women.
IBM SPSS version 20, a computer aided software, was utilized in the study to facilitate analysis and processing of data gathered from the field. Data that was generated was presented in the form of charts, photographs and thematic statements to describe various aspects of willingness to participate in co-management of environmental resources for ecotourism planning.
Through a qualitative analysis known as Force Field analysis, the study confirmed that there are other intervening variables identified as Force Fields. Force fields in willingness to participate were external determinant factors that either catalyzed or impeded willingness to participate. Using the Dunga Ecotourism Association (DECTA) FGDs for men and women in Dunga beach, two categories of Force Fields were identified; the driving forces (catalyzing factors) and restraining forces (impeding factors) as depicted in figure 1.
Involvement in ecotourism was seen as an alternative source of income, considering that fishing as a main economic activity was no longer viable. A female participant from the women DECTA group indicated that the benefits of ecotourism were: it brings food on table because their fish was being bought, crafts were being bought and tour guides were being paid. This finding is consistent with results from a study by Dowley, Amy, (
Involvement in ecotourism had enabled the community in Dunga diversify and come up with alternative income generating projects. Some of the activities that the Dunga Women in tour guiding group were involved in entailed; fishing mongering, selling of crafts products like mats, tour guiding of different species of tree, wetland and bird watching. The male DECTA group had developed a wetland gallery. Those interviewed indicated that product marketing had helped them grow their customer base, enabled them have identify as an industry leader and to some extent meet their market goals. Product marketing had also aided them stay in touch with their customers because they were able to respond to customer-driven needs depending on their preference, taste and perception. It was through product marketing that they were able to be responsive by developing a strong competitive edge and niche product. While it may not be cost-effective to develop a new product for every customer need, they managed to identify the most common needs and developed products in consonance to the specific customers. Product marketing had also helped them constantly monitor the market so you know when a new product has come to the end of its useful life to necessitate innovativeness by creating unique products other than the routine traditional products.
Those interviewed indicated that they had greatly benefitted as groups and as a local community through strategic networking. It was revealed that since they became involved in ecotourism activities, they were able to meet people of different walks of life: One of the females said;
Networking was considered to have valuable benefits such as expanding their knowledge base, as well as learning from the success of others, attaining new clients and passing information to others about their ecotourism activities. Strategic networking also opened an avenue for generation of referrals and increased business opportunities for joint ventures that were aligned to their ecotourism business goals. Networking additionally provided them with a great source of connections, through exposure as they attended training workshops and interacted with people who were highly influential both in government and the private sector, of which without networking they would not have been otherwise able to easily talk to or find. Through these networks they became visible, noticeable as a group and were able to tap into advice and expertise that they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to get hold of. Research by Plummer and Fitzgibbon (
It was revealed through the interviews that ecotourism had enabled both men and women learn new things and gain knowledge which they did not have before. For instance, one female participant remarked that they did not know the names of the various trees species in Dunga but after being involved in ecotourism they were able to remember the specific names of the plants. In contrast, the male participant seemed to have acquired more knowledge than the women, because they were able give the specific naming the plants species such as Yellow Liander, Nim tree, Ginetia African, Iron Wood, Papyrus and aquatic plants such as Water Lilies, Water Hyacinth and Hippo Grass. The women however indicated that they had acquired knowledge that added value to their work. Some of the women had acquired knowledge on crafting using hyacinth and papyrus, branding of traditional food cuisine and tour guiding. On the other hand, some of the men also had acquired new skills on boat racing and riding, fishing and tour guiding. Zhang and Lei (
Environmental conservation activities were considered to have increased as result of being involved in ecotourism ventures as a DECTA group. The main mandate of the DECTA group in conservation was conservation of the DUNGA wetland, collect environmental data and create awareness on environmental information. According to those interviewed environmental conservation meant planting trees along the lake shores, attending trainings organized by various NGOs and implementing knowledge acquired by applying at household level and in groups they were members. The results of conserving the environment were evident because members of the DECTA group had formed vigilante groups to watch over those who cut down trees along the beach shores for firewood or charcoal. Both men and women had also started off beautification of the beaches through ensuring that there is no indiscriminate dumping of waste, preservation of indigenous species, sweeping of the beach line especially by the women. The male DECTA had started of a Dunga Ecological School that displayed environmental artifacts, documented environmental data and played documentaries on environmental ecotourism sites in Dunga. The female DECTA were involved in a program of reviving the papyrus plant through planting, growing and nurturing papyrus and using it as a raw material for crafting. The local community in general was involved in raising tree nurseries with an aim of increasing the number of trees both at home and at the beaches. Environmental conservation according to a study done by USAID in Costa Rica (
Although level of literacy was average in the local community, majority of the women’s level of education was at primary level was 55.3%, while that for men was 41.0%. Both male and female participants indicated that they were not competent enough to communicate in English as the official language and Kiswahili as the national language. One female participant remarked:”
Training is requisite factor for building adequate capacities within local communities that are involved in ecotourism planning. Those males engaged in ecotourism activities in Dunga beach compared to their female counterparts had been exposed to more training opportunities. However, both gender felt the trainings they had got were intermittent and inadequate. DECTA members in the group discussion expressed concern on the inadequacy of the training sessions, with a female participant who expressed this by saying, “… training, training, training not enough...”. The male participant said “…would say, there are many things that need to teach us. They teach us very little, we are still hungry for ecotourism workshop.”
A number of studies have shown that the lack of sufficient training can be seen as one factor hindering most locals from taking up the responsibility to practice ecotourism activities (
It was also evident from the FGD that specific knowledge was required in most activities of ecotourism. One of the female participants indicated that: I have small knowing of ecotourism, how to do it to bring good money and feel good. A male participant remarked: ecotourism is all about fishing, while another female participant said: we know boat riding is a very good activity and we admire doing it even if we don’t know how to boat ride. The participants cited for instance that they lacked requisite knowledge skills in proposal writing, fund mobilization and raising. Previous studies undertaken have shown that to carry out ecotourism as a profitable venture one requires knowledge, both traditional and scientific knowledge (
Fear was a predominant phenomenon in women compared to men in some of the ecotourism activities that both gender participated in such as tour guiding. The interviews revealed that most women feared being fully involved in ecotourism because of the perception that ecotourism was a male dominated activity. Moreover, men were considered to be thriving more than women. Women also feared that the ecotourist would see them not as equally capable as their male counterparts. The fear of meeting first time ecotourists as strangers was more evident among females, more so because of being accustomed to spending most of the time at home while undertaking household chores. One of the female interviewee said that:
In his study research findings, Neth (
It was evident that lack of financial resources to start up ecotourism activities was a major impediment to being involved in ecotourism activities for both men and women. For a long time, there had been overreliance on fish as the mainstay of the local economy, as men fished from the lake women depended on men for fish stock that had drastically declined, thus the need for diversification. According to Sindiga (
The other challenge to willingness to participation in ecotourism was that ecotourism did not bring immediate returns that would be felt directly. A requisite for establishment in any ecotourism activity, they needed to go through a number of support activities first. As individual members of the DECTA group they had to first form the group. Thereafter register it, make contributions and meet severally for planning and trainings. Women were more specific that as a group they have had to package and market themselves as equally capable as their male counterparts. Despite such enormous effort, they still did not feel much economic benefit trickling in. This is in concurrence with the findings of study carried by Duong Thi Minh Phuong (
The culturally “unspoken” restrictions on what roles would be appropriate for women within such ventures were a great impediment to participation by women compared to men. Though women welcomed ecotourism, quite often they were restricted from the most lucrative aspects of the enterprise, thus resorted to working as cooks or cleaners. The women indicated that many people found it awkward of them as women to be guides in the beaches, yet it was those women who dared to assume responsibility for guiding around ecotourism sites that were doing it well. Through direct observation and photography at Dunga beach, it was evident that the women mainly carried out activities related to fish scaling, frying or selling.
In contrast the men seemed to readily wait by for any ecotourists who arrived. This they did, because of the confidence they had acquired overtime as tour guides.
The study findings revealed that the impact of negative perception on women involvement was conspicuous in that compared to their male counterparts, because women tour guiding was not yet known and popular. They also indicated that there was negative perception of ecotourism being considered an activity for spoilt women. One of the participants indicated that those involved in tour guiding would be told in the local dialect “ter ler dalani” which when loosely translated meant “take cleanliness to your home”. Such a statement is an example of an indicator that depicts the general community’s negative perception on those who venture to be involved in ecotourism activities.
The study revealed that there were determinant factors to willingness to participate. The determinant factors were either driving forces (catalyzing factors) or restraining forces ((impending factors). Driving forces that needed to be enhanced were: ecotourism as a source of income, the benefit of product marketing, forging strategic networks, knowledge acquisition and environmental conservation, while the restraining forces to be enhanced were ecotourism as a source of income, the benefit of product marketing, forging strategic networks, knowledge acquisition and environmental conservation restraining factors to be mitigated were language barrier, limited knowledge, fear, inadequate finances, no immediate benefit and negative perception.
Induction and targeted training modules: This would be conducted to minimize the language barrier, limited knowledge, fear, inadequate finances, no immediate benefit and negative perception. These trainings can be done periodically, based on the gender felt need. The trainings would also be developed thematically with intentional gender lenses, aimed at achieving power equity, empowerment and capacity building for the community in the context of sustainable ecotourism management. When such strategic training is done, eventually they would improve the management capacity of the local community and local knowledge through some activities that focus on ecological, social and economic aspects.
Convene Gender responsive meetings: The findings indicated that women were passive participants in meetings. To improve women’s participation in decision-making in public meetings, separate group discussions for men and women should first be held, with each group then electing a representative to speak at the actual meeting. This would encourage women to have confidence to stand up and speak. In addition, women would specifically be asked to give their views when preparing for meetings in order to ensure that the interests of female in the study area were heard.
Skill enhancement training to reduce language barrier: The two national languages spoken in Kisumu County were Swahili and English. Dholuo was the most widely spoken native language in the area. To mitigate against language barrier, informal language learning classes would be started with an emphasis on gender peer learning amongst the local community. Women would teach fellow women and men would do the same amongst themselves. This would apply to all the three languages. Incrementally, more emphasis would be placed on the relevant ecotourism jargon, so as to enhance their verbal communication skills with the ecotourism industry players. On a more upscaled level, they would identify amongst themselves those with more language communication prowess and make them their trainers.
Exposure tours: The exposure tours would entail exchange programmes and activities. This would be done with an aim of reducing the challenge of limited knowledge and negative perception. They would visit best practice ecotourism groups and activities, more specifically for and by women. They would then replicate the success stories in Kisumu. Also, those from Kisumu would encourage other groups that are successful to visit them and carry out ecotourism expos and exhibitions, so as to transfer knowledge and change the negative perception about women involvement in ecotourism.
Gender needs- based financial and budgeting capacity building: Continuous needs based gender financial and budgeting capacity building, would help in community members especially women appreciate that financial benefits are graduated, they would be immediate or long term. To therefore mitigate against the challenge of inadequate finances and no immediate benefit, they would be trained on financial capital sourcing, diversification of revenue streams, financial safety nets and appropriate budgeting of income got.
Strategize ecotourism as a top-notch income source: To guide ecotourism developments in the three beaches, in line with the National Tourism Plan, the County Government of Kisumu has to develop a financial implementation framework for co-management of ecotourism projects on beaches. The framework should set out guiding principles for a transparent model for assessing and approving proposals for ecotourism projects in the beaches. Any proposed ecotourism projects should have environmental, social and financial benefits and costs that need to be considered, and that assessment needs to occur within the context of the governing legislative provisions, with emphasis on the community as the top beneficiaries.
Forge global-wide strategic networks and Private Partnerships (PPP): To establish global-wide strategic networks for enhanced sustainable ecotourism planning, an effective PPP needed to be formulated. This would be used as a platform for strengthening the county government of Kisumu ecotourism department, establishment of transparent and participatory mechanisms for stakeholder involvement in decision-making, and partnerships between the state actors, non-state actors, the local community and the internal community for strategic networking reasons. All these actors would then provide a framework for developing appropriate ideas that would be for progressive governance of ecotourism planning in Kisumu County.
Patent and market indigenous knowledge and eco-innovations: Limited marketing opportunities was cited as a challenge. A number of innovations were unique to the ecotourism groups in Kisumu County. These innovations with identified partners be packaged and branded as high quality, unique eco-innovations. The County Government of Kisumu would then help the to market their products through its department of tourism.