This volume has one broad objective: to assess gender-based inequalities with respect to access to and control of land, financial and human capital and how these factors affect household welfare, and food security in Kenya. It gives an insight into the negative effects of gender inequality in resource ownership and access that manifest themselves at the micro level and that can have significant negative impacts at the macro level. The study was conducted in West Pokot, a rural district that lies in the North West of Kenya. The quantitative analysis deals with a wide range of farm household dynamics ranging from returns to farm and non farm activities, technical efficiency analysis in crop production in male and female managed farms, determinants of food security as well as nutrition and health status of children. Female headed households were much more constrained in their access to land, education and income, which showed a significant negative impact on their livelihood and food security. The research concludes that access to land, human capital and finances have an impact on the overall household wellbeing and food security.

The Author: Pamela Marinda, born in 1974 in Kenya, obtained her Bachelor of Education degree in Home Economics from Moi University in 1997 and an MSc in Home Economics from Kenyatta University in 2001. She participated in the Master of Science programme, «Agricultural Sciences, Food Security and Natural Resource Management in the Tropics and Sub-tropics» at the University of Hohenheim. From 2002 to 2005, the author worked as a research associate at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences in the Tropics and Sub-tropics at the University of Hohenheim. In 2005, she was awarded a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Hohenheim.