Most societies around the world strive to transmit their culture and world view to succeeding generations through education. This is important because individuals with strong cultural identities become independent and self-reliant people who are functional in their own environment. People who have little sense of their cultural identity or have been alienated from their culture often become dependent and lack the skills of meaningful survival in their own environment. Societies that have suffered colonial domination in the past can find themselves socializing their children with the cultural values and world view of the colonizing power which obviously undermines their own cultural identity. In the republic of Kenya, this problem has been acknowledged and documented by academics and educators but there seems to be a lack of political will to make effective and lasting changes to the curriculum. This study explored the kind of curriculum that fosters cultural relevance. It examined ways in which curriculum can become a place in which cultural values, knowledge, skills and beliefs that provide foundations for identity can be understood, defined and interpreted. Five teachers and I came together to explore the possibilities of tapping the local resources to enrich the school curriculum in Kenya so that teachers begin to use both material and human resources which are locally available to meet curriculum goals. By using the local resources, the learners began to view the local knowledge and skills as being important to school knowledge. The study employs participatory action research which derives strength from its emphasis on shifting the power balance between the researcher and researched, encouraging dialogical relationships, providing a voice and feelings to disenfranchised peoples and showing commitment to social transformation through action and reflection. The research methods were primarily dialogue and conversations, discussions, creation of discourses and reflections. The thesis documents some of the struggles, tensions and frustrations associated with participatory action research for educational change. This research makes clear that experiential knowing emerges through participation with others and people can learn to be self-reflexive about their world and their actions within it. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This research report is submitted in partial fulfilment of the Master of Arts in Demography and Population Studies, in the Faculty of Humanities (School of Social Sciences), at the University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / Background Ethnicity is widely known to affect all aspects of an individual’s life. Ethnic groups differ in traditional values and attitudes toward fertility and related health behaviors. Therefore, these values and belief systems shape attitudes towards contraception. The significance of ethnicity on the use of contraceptives has been neglected in sub- Saharan Africa. Fertility transitions have been widely attributed to the increased use of contraceptives among women worldwide. Given that ethnicity plays an important role in post-colonial Kenya, the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between ethnicity and contraceptive use in Kenya. The study addressed two specific objectives (1) to examine the level of contraceptive use in Kenya’s ethnic groups, and (2) to examine the socio-economic and demographic factors that affect contraceptive use in Kenya’s ethnic groups. Methodology The study utilized data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-2009.The target population was women of reproductive ages(15-49 years). Out of a total sample size of 8,444 women, the study sample was restricted to 4,482 women who were sexually active. Objective 1 was achieved using percentage distributions and chi-square tests, while objective 2 was achieved by using binary logistic regression. Stata version 12 was utilized for management and analysis of the data. / GR2017

Akademisk avhandling--Socialantropologi--Stockholm, 1979. / Bibliogr. p. 251-258. Index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-258).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 360 p. : map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 351-360).

On 27 December, 2007, Kenyan citizens took to the polls for the fourth time since multiparty democracy was introduced in 1992. The sentiment was that democracy was finally coming of age in this East African country. For many, these elections represented a turn in the country’s democratic process that would bring change in the areas of justice, food, shelter, education and employment to all – as these were the main campaign promises. Instead, at the conclusion of the voting and at the beginning of the tallying process, the electorate erupted violently at the suspicion and eventual reporting of the process being rigged. One of the main subjects discussed in this study includes the argument that Kenya is ailing from a lack of responsible political leadership. The breed of Kenyan politicians that have been experienced in the country since it gained its independence from British colonialists in 1963, have plundered its resources – material and human – to the brink of war. It is no longer a valid argument that Africa, just because of a history of governments looting and plundering the vast resources that belong to the world’s poorest of the poor, in particular Kenya produces bad leaders. The second topic of discussion in this study questions the role of ethnic mobilisation during the elections. It is well documented by authors such as Cowen and Kanyinga (in Cowen and Laakso (eds.) 2002: 128-171) that ethnicity in Kenya, under the machinations of irresponsible political leaders, has in the past played a critical part in rallying one political party against another. The 2007 General Election was no different. The contested presidential election results were announced on 30 December, 2007, declaring another term of office for the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki. Since that announcement, thousands of people were reported dead while hundreds of thousands were considered displaced. The chaos was followed by a long mediation process kicked off with the AU chairman, John Kufuor, president of Ghana, hosting a number of talks between the two parties. However, this did not bear much fruit as the two conflicting parties could not agree on the main issue of the creation of a position of Prime Minister for Raila Odinga to 7 fill. This was then followed by a more successful mediation process hosted by the Elders1 including former United Nations (UN) secretary general, Kofi Annan, Graça Maçhel and Benjamin Mkapa, as indicated by The Daily Nation newspapers throughout the month of January 2008. It is with this background that the study will now turn to the discussion about the context of the research, its objectives, rationale, motivation and the research design

We are presented with a situation in which ‘the male identity is a fragile and tentative thing with no secure anchorage in the contemporary world’ (Brittan, 1989:3). However, empirical evidence surrounding the commonly perceived contemporary crisis of masculinity fails to support any overall crisis of masculinity thesis (Edwards, 2006:16). Instead, the different perceptions of the crisis tend to rest on at least one of the three propositions pointed out by Edwards (2006:17): Firstly; masculinity as a set of values, practices or dispositions may be suffering a crisis in so far as it is being undermined and devalued, or, moreover that masculinity per see is now to a greater or lesser degree equated with a series of negative rather than positive associations and connotations. Secondly; masculinity may be in crisis due to its perceived tendency to implore into femininity, whether through an undermining of any gender role distinctions or through feminization of some forms of masculinity as, for example, in the case of the rise of contemporary consumerist, fashion conscious or sexually uncertain masculinities such as metrosexuality. Thirdly, the crisis of masculinity may relate to the sense that masculinity in terms of the male sex role is itself ipso facto crisis-inducing. In this sense, masculinity is not in crisis, it is crisis. This study was based on the second proposition. In the patriarchal Kenyan society where gender roles are fairly traditional, and the male person perceived superior to the female and male things valued above female things, the aspect of feminization of masculinity is not just new but indeed strange. This investigation was intended to find explanations for the feminizing behaviour by males. The sex role paradigm developed in the 1970s explains acquisition of masculinity through socialization, sex role learning and social control. These mainstream theories of learning gender were explored in the assumption that they form the basis for the contemporary theories, and further, although much had changed with the times, a large part of the society still perceived gender roles from this traditional viewpoint. The masculine crisis theory and the constructionist views of gender constituted the theoretical framework of the study. This was due to the researcher’s acknowledgement that individuals were active participants in the construction of their own gender identity, and that there was likelihood for the individuals to deviate from the social expectations of what masculinity means and should be. As a result they could construct a masculinity that did not reflect normality, hence portraying a crisis. Data relating to the respondents’ perception of and reasons for feminine behaviour among young male adults was gathered from young males, young females, and both male and female parents through questionnaire and interview methods. Information about the home environment of the respondents was also necessary to help explore environmental factors that contribute to gender construction. In addition, observation was used to obtain information to dispute, confirm or complement the findings from the other mentioned methods. An exploratory-descriptive qualitative type of research was undertaken at Moi University, Eldoret in Kenya, where the feminization of masculinity was observed. 100 male students chosen through both purposive and simple systematic sampling responded to the open-ended questionnaire which contained perception-eliciting items. A discussion with two focused groups of seven female students each, from the same institution obtained their opinion on the subject of cross-gender behaviour of their male colleagues. Selection of the females was based on willingness to participate. An in-depth interview with two male and three female parents of young male adults whose selection was upon availability, was done on a one-on-one basis to capture the view of adults (likely reasons for, and attitudes) on the matter of feminine behaviour among boys. Data was qualitatively processed and analyzed, taking into account issues of dependability and accuracy. Explanations, findings and conclusions were made, based on the fairly rich data. Overall, the researcher concluded that an interplay between various factors in the young males’ environments, including peers, media, parents and the general dynamics of society (including the feminist movements) explained the feminization of the masculine identity. All these were perceived as influenced by the postmodern movement that had transcended boundaries, thanks to modern communication techniques, to reach the initially very traditional societies. The researcher acknowledged the irreversibility of the clock of time and behaviour trends, hence suggested inclusiveness of this group of males for overall society development, but against the backdrop of responsible guidance and understanding. The study was seen as significant, both for education as an institution that empowered individuals for social function, as well as for peaceful coexistence for the society at large. Conclusively, a redefinition of ‘masculinity’ and a change in the current social attitudes about masculinity and femininity was recommended. Hopefully this was a step towards enhancing an understanding of behaviour dynamics in the largely changing social systems which, in the same vein, remained the touchstone for behaviour formation, modification and prediction not only in Kenya, but Africa as a whole.

Poverty is a major challenge in most developing countries. Key challenges of the government are to alleviate poverty and propel citizens toward wealth creation through development of enterprises across all sectors and to address the problem of unemployment. In Kenya, the SME sector comprises of about 99% of private sector enterprises and is prolific in employment and wealth creation. Despite this critical role played by SMEs in growing the economy, they remain outside the formal banking sector, especially in Africa. Although the number of MFOs since the 1980s has increased, the demand for financial services is largely unmet. However, MFOs are increasingly experiencing competition from new entrants and commercial banks that have developed financial models to target SMEs. MFOs are required to formulate and implement competitive strategies to enable them achieve sustainable growth and compete with commercial banks. However, strategy implementation is generally accepted as a challenge across organisations and it is often easier to formulate strategies than implementing it. Despite the need to address strategy implementation challenges across organisations, there is a greater focus by practitioners and researchers regarding strategy formulation than implementation. Consequently, this study aimed at assessing the level of strategy implementation in MFOs and factors that affect strategy implementation in MFOs. The ultimate objective was to develop a hypothetical model that could be used to improve strategy implementation in microfinance organisations in Kenya. This quantitative study used purposive sampling to select MFOs that are members of the Association of Microfinance Institutions (AMFI) in Kenya, completing a selfadministered structured questionnaire. In total, 135 MFOs were involved in this study and a total sample size of 300 managers was used in this study. This study considered fourteen factors to have an influence on the level of strategy implementation of MFOs in Kenya and hence fourteen null-hypotheses were formulated and tested. The content factors included stakeholder involvement in strategy development and the quality of strategies. The context factors included organisational structure and culture, strategic leadership and alignment of strategy to market conditions. The operational process factors included operational planning, monitoring and review of progress, teamwork, resources allocation, people-strategy fit, effective communication, strategic and management control systems and information resources. It is assumed that if all these critical strategy implementation factors are addressed, MFOs should be able improve their level of strategy implementation, ultimately leading to improved performance. The outcome factors considered were improved financial sustainability and outreach of MFOs. Advanced statistical analyses were used to analyse the data, such as factor analysis, regression and correlation analysis to assess the hypothesised relationship between the dependent and independent variables of this study. The empirical results revealed that the level of strategy implementation in MFOs in Kenya is moderate to high and content, context and operational factors do have an influence on the level of strategy implementation. However, operational factors have a more significant positive linear relationship with level of strategy implementation than the other two factors. There is also a positive relationship between the level of strategy implementation and financial sustainability and outreach by MFOs. This study has contributed to the existing body of knowledge by developing a hypothetical model that can be utilised by MFOs as well as other organisations to improve the level of strategy implementation resulting in better performance. The findings of the study can also inform strategy formulation and implementation of MFOs in Kenya, but also in other developing countries, to become more competitive. This study could also help MFOs and other organisations to put in place structures, systems, people and other resources required to attain a high level of strategy implementation. This study provides useful and practical guidelines in dealing with content, context and operational factors affecting strategy implementation in any organisational setting.

Agricultural biodiversity, commonly referred to as agrobiodiversity, is that part of biodiversity that is geared towards agriculture and food production. Agrobiodiversity is said to contribute much to food and nutrition, but there is lack of data confirming this, particularly from Eastern Africa. To assess the extent of agrobiodiversity on smallholder farms and in local markets and to connect these to food intake and perceptions of food security among smallholder farmers in Western Kenya, the thesis asks four main research questions: (i) What is the extent of food plant diversity in smallholder farms, the bio-physical and socio-economic factors influencing it and the contribution of this diversity to the household's food needs? (ii) What is the relationship between agricultural and dietary diversity? (iii) What linkages are there between agricultural and nutritional diversity? (iv) How does access to agrobiodiversity in local markets contribute to meeting household food needs and what is the extent of smallholder farmers' integration into these markets? Through a combination of focus group discussions, farm and market surveys conducted across three time points, results indicate that: (i) higher food plant species richness is found on farms managed by wealthier and older households. However, these households are not more food secure than the rest, (ii) while there is a lack of a strong relationship between agricultural and dietary diversity, dietary diversity is instead significantly influenced by socio-economic factors including a household's wealth status, ethnicity and education level, (iii) despite a diversity of locally available on-farm and market food species meeting existing macro-and micro-nutrient needs, there is a general lack of understanding of this diversity as food shortage months coincide with a lack of maize despite high availability of a diversity of other foods not only to replace the maize but also to contribute to a diverse diet, (iv) smallholder farmers rely on multiple food sources, with markets mainly for sourcing cereals, fruits and animal source foods. There is also low integration of smallholder farmers as sellers in local markets. Together, the four case studies show interlinkages across food availability, accessibility and utilisation, which when addressed with equal weight, could unlock local agrobiodiversity's potential as a path to food and nutrition security of smallholder farming households.

Spiders were sampled at Mpala Research Centre, Laikipia, Kenya by pitfall-trapping and sweep-netting from May 2001 to July 2002, at a Kenyan Long-term Exclosure Experiment. The aim was to establish species composition, checklist and examine spider responses to disturbances caused by cattle, megaherbivores (giraffe and elephants) and mesoherbivores (other ungulates) by looking at three levels of resolution, namely the overall community, guilds and individual species. This is the first controlled replicated experimental study on the effects on invertebrates (spiders) by different land uses (access by large herbivores). A total of 10,487 individuals from 132 species belonging to 30 families were recorded. The family Salticidae had the highest number of species (24), followed by Gnaphosidae (20), Araneidae and Lycosidae (15 each), Theridiidae and Thomisidae (8 each) and Zodariidae (4). Most of the other families had fewer than 4 species. Throughout the study period, species not previously sampled emerged after rainfall peaks. Exclosure treatments affected plant cover, spider diversity and total species mainly through the effects of cattle, whose presence significantly reduced relative vegetation cover. An increase in vegetation cover significantly increased the diversity, total species and species evenness of the overall spider community (total samples data set). Megaherbivores and mesoherbivores had no effects on overall spider diversity. Relative vegetation cover explained approximately 20-30% of variation in community diversity, species richness and species evenness. At the guild level of resolution, the exclosure treatments had no significant effects on diversity, species richness and species evenness of web builders, plant wanderers and ground wanderers. Plant wanderers were significantly and positively correlated with relative vegetation cover, which explained 17% of variation in their diversity. Six individual species responded strongly and in contrasting ways to the same environmental variables, indicating that this level was more sensitive to environmental changes than guilds or the overall spider community. Spider diversity, relative vegetation cover and rainfall varied at a temporal scale of months and not at a spatial scale of hundreds of metres. Only species diversity and species richness from sweep-netting samples and total species from pitfall-trapping varied significantly at a spatial scale of hundreds of metres. Ordination analysis revealed that sweep-netting samples were a better indicator of grazing impacts than pitfalltrapping or combined samples and grouped to reflect cattle grazing, non-cattle grazing and to a small extent the control treatments. Other ordination analyses showed that only samples from sweep-netting and not from pitfall-trapping, were spatially partitioned at a scale of hundreds of metres. This study concludes that the spider fauna of black cotton soil habitats is rich and useful for environmental monitoring and that monitoring of several individual species as indicator of grazing impacts in savanna could be useful and relatively easy.