Women and Biodiversity: 
The Role Of National Museums of Kenya in  Improving Women's
Participation in Conservation.


By: Mrs Esther Kioko and Dr. Richard Bagine
       National Museums of Kenya
       P O Box 40658
       NAIROBI.

Abstract:

There is imminent disaster in the destruction of biodiversity all over the
world.  In Kenya, the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is designated
the National Centre for Biodiversity.  This centre has recognised the
central importance of the rural communities and especially women in
biodiversity conservation.  Projects have been initiated that are geared at
the sustainable utilisation of biodiversity for economic benefit thus linking
conservation and development. This paper briefly outlines two such
projects that are currently being undertaken by the NMK to involve
women in Biodiversity conservation and utilisation.  The Kipepeo project
is a butterfly farming endeavour in Kilifi District while the Elangata Wuas
Ecosystem Management programme  in Kajiado District, Kenya is
involved in a wide range of activities.  Some of the drawbacks to women's
participation in biodiversity conservation such as lots of back-breaking
chores,  lack of inheritance rights, population increase and  illiteracy are
discussed.  The paper also gives some recommendation that can  further 
enhance the participation of women in biodiversity conservation and its
sustainable utilisation.

Key Words:  Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Kenya, Sustainable
utilisation and Women.

Introduction

Biological diversity or Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the term used to describe the total variety of living
organisms that exist on our planet.  Biologists have found it convenient to
consider biodiversity from three angles: genetic diversity, species diversity
and ecosystem diversity.  The relationships between the three levels are
complex but it is important to remember that these are essentially different
ways of  looking at the some thing.  Biodiversity at the three levels,
provides the basis for local and national economies and human quality of
live.

In Kenya where a large proportion of people rely directly on water, soil,
fauna and flora as a resource for their everyday subsistence, the
conservation of these natural resources is urgent.  Much of Kenya's
wildlife still occurs outside protected areas and is under the management
of local rural communities.  These people must form a central cog in the
conservation of their own environment, understanding the processes
which drive it, realizing the benefits of sustainable management and
improving their own quality of life.  In the absence of such awareness,
unsustainable use obviously will cause depletion, resulting in the loss of
genetic variability, species extinction and the destruction of large
proportion of various habitats and  ecosystems.  In view of the economic,
environmental and social importance of biodiversity, the center for
biodiversity has started a number of projects  to address some of these
issues.

Women and Biodiversity
As active participants in all areas of rural life women are key to
environmental sustainability. Among the daily challenges which women
face that are created by environmental issues are fuelwood gathering in a
time of increasing scarcity, increasing inaccessibility to water, over
cultivated and overgrazed land and the scarcity of resources due to
population pressures.  Women still lag behind men in every aspect of
human development (Borchelt, 1993) and yet women are vital to our vision
of a sustainable future.  They are the guardians of natural wisdom in their
societies, and often are the principal ecosystem managers of  their
communities.

They are the first educators, and they can do the most  to change the habits
and beliefs of new generation.  Many women are struggling to survive for
the sake of themselves and their families in harsh environments, burdened
with work and responsibilities but devoid of any power or control.  The
world's environment will never improve unless women can take control of
their environment and become full and equal members of their
communities.  Again until their basic needs are met, there can be no hope of
halting biodiversity destruction  or  the sustainable use of natural
resources.

 National Museums of Kenya and Biodiversity

The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is the repository of the country's
cultural artifacts, historical and prehistorical heritage and biological
specimens dating back up to 1909.  It maintains comprehensive reference
collections and educational exhibits for scientific and education purposes. 
The National Museum is mandated to undertake research and disseminate
knowledge in all fields of scientific, cultural, technological and human
interest.  In September 1991, NMK was designated the national Centre for
Biodiversity.  In this role, NMK is central not only to the task of assessing
the state of Kenya's biological diversity, but also to setting up priorities for
its conservation.  In this paper two projects aimed at linking conservation
and development especially to rural women are briefly  outlined.

1.  Kipepeo Project
The Kipepeo project is a butterfly farming project based in the Kilifi
District, Coast Province of Kenya.  It involves the community bordering
the Arabuko Sokoke forest.  Arabuko Sokoke Forest is the largest
remaining block of indigenous coastal forest in East Africa that once
stretched in a more or less continuous strip from southern Somalia to
Mozambique. (Kelsey & Langton, 1984).  This forest has recently attracted
considerable international attention because of its high biological diversity
including over 250 butterfly species (Collar & Stuart, 1988, Larsen,1991).  It
is now widely recognised that the sustainable use of wildlife is a major
motivating force for conservation particularly amongst the economically
deprived people of the third world. The communities living along the
forest are poor and had developed a negative attitude to this forest
(Maundu, 1993).  Butterfly farming was thought a sustainable venture
since female butterflies lay many more eggs than can survive in the wild,
survival rates can be improved under protected conditions and large
numbers of pupae  can be reared and sold without adverse effects on the
natural populations. 

Objectives of the Kipepeo Project
(i)	To raise the economic status of the people living along the forest.
(ii)	To enable the community realize the benefits of conservation and help
reverse
	 their negative attitude to the conservation of the forest.

Methodology
Households are supplied with butterfly larvae obtained from breeding
cages erected at the Museum compound. Each homestead is also supplied
with several bags made of netting material. In each bag a few days old
larvae are included. The farmers tie bags in leafy branches of  food plant in
the forest near by or in their compound.  The women farmers then take
care of the larvae by changing bags to other branches when leaves are
eaten up.  About a month later the caterpillars change to pupae. The pupae
are bought from the farmers and exported.

Achievements
The sale of pupae has improved the average monthly incomes of the
households.  The money obtained is being used to sustain the families and
also for other investments.  One farmer Rebecca Ziro, who had surplus
money bought a goat which has already given birth to twins while another
farmer Fatuma Auma has been able to send her deaf daughter to a special
school.

The project facilitates women belonging to the same village to form
groups and these facilitates other activities. For example conservation is
being  promoted, tree nurseries are  being  set up to eliminate forest
dependence for poles, fuel wood, fodder etc. Employment to a small
extend has also been raised. The rearing activities at the museum is
undertaken by women employees with supervision by the Museum
scientists.
  
2. The Elangata Wuas Ecosystem Management Programme
The Elangata Wuas Ecosystem Management Programme is a partnership
between the local population of the programme area, the centre for
biodiversity of NMK and the Kenya Wildlife Service. The programme
covers the location Loodokilani and Torosei in central division, Kajiado
District, Rift Valley Province.  The local population consists of Maasai
pastoralists, who are in the process of settling down on  individual plots
for which they acquire the titles in the ongoing process of subdivision of
group ranches. The programme hopes to use the locals to identify new
approaches of sustainable exploitation of natural resources.

Main Objective
The main objective of  the programme is to establish a community - based
approach to sustainable management of natural resources. 

Activities
While the centre for biodiversity priorities are clearly in the field of
biodiversity  conservation partly through sustainable exploitation; the
population attaches the highest priority to improvement of general living
conditions.  This means that the programme has a wide range of activities,
which run from life education for school girls to research into the presence
of species. As means of sustainable income generation, the project is
involved in among other activities, ostrich farming, guinea fowl rearing
and goat keeping.  Community development and improvement of the
resource base activities include environmental education, family planning
support to women, rehabilitation/construction of surface dams, erosion
control and re-seeding.
  
An outstanding achievement of this project
In and effort to both increase the ability of the women in this area to
discuss the issues which are important to them and to gain insight in their
actual problems, the programme used a new appraisal technique in 1993,
which came to be known as the 'photo appraisal'.  Some of the questions
posed by the coordinator of  the project, De Vreede (1995)  and which
resulted in the 'photo appraisal' technique were: 'How can women who
are not supposed to take part in decision - making process of their
community gain experience in expressing their view? And how are the
problems that outsiders assume these women are facing actually be
perceived as such by the women themselves? What are their priorities?'

During the photo exercise, the Elangata Wuas Ecosystem Management
Project Women Group was formed comprising of 65 women. Small groups
of the women were asked to discuss the good things and the bad things in
their lives and to take photographs that showed these.  Each group of four
women received a simple focus-free disposable camera. They
photographed each other and then took ten photographs of good things
and ten photographs of bad things. The groups were further asked to
explain why they had chosen to take these photographs.  They came up
with  all sorts of photos showing men, women and children, cattle,
attention to vegetables gardens,  carrying  of firewood, water, etc.  The
photographs are presently used by the programme in meetings with other
women, and of course the men. Also wall size pictures of what the women
like and what they don't like in their daily lives are displayed at the
Museum studio and art centre at the NMK, Nairobi.  A selection of the
photographs have been reproduced in a book. The book,  Our live: A view
of Maasai women, was published in June 1995 by the centre for
biodiversity, NMK, courtesy of aid from the Ottawa (Canada) based
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) with the support of
the Kenya Museum Society.  In August 1995, this book was officially
launched at the Museum at a ceremony attended by the women
photographers and presided over by the Kenyan Beijing National
Coordinating Committee Chairperson, Mrs. Grace Ogot.

General discussion
This general discussion will focus on some of the issues which are major
draw back to women participation in biodiversity conservation . Due to
time and space the discussion here will only focus on four issues though
much more could be discussed.

(i)	Too many back-breaking chores
A socio-economic survey of the people likely to be involved was carried out
before the implementation of the Kipepeo project (Maundu, 1993).  This
survey revealed that the woman bears most of the burden and provides
much of  the labour in the homestead and in the farm. Men were found to
be more oriented towards cash producing activities especially
employment. Many of them are working in towns mainly in temporary
jobs.  The typical daily work patterns for women, girls, men and boys in an
October day in one of the villages, Matsangoni are as follows (after,
Maundu  1993):
Women
5.00 am: wakes up, takes a 20-24 litre of plastic can and walks 5 km. to
queue for water 
at a distribution point or a well.
6.30 am: she arrives, draws water and heads for the house (note this is on
lucky days.  
Incase there is no water she has to check the next point sometimes
boarding a truck with (the other women).
7.30 am: she serves breakfast to the rest of the family and gets into other
house
hold chores (cleaning the house, compound, dishes, small children and
clothing etc)
9.30 am: weeding for cashew nuts or cassava
12.30 pm: picks vegetables to cook for lunch then prepares the lunch
1.30 pm: Serves and takes lunch. School children are given first priority
2.00 pm: weaves 'makuti' (coconut leaves) to sell for money
3.30 pm: goes for water a second time
6.00 pm: returns home and goes to pick fuelwood for evening meals
6.30 pm: starts preparing for evening meals
9.00 pm: sleeps

Girls (those not going to school)
The sequence may be like the mother's but in the morning she will normally
go for water late.
6.30 am: goes for water 
9.30 am: cleaning smaller children
11.00 am: prepares maize meal using a traditional grinding stone
1.00 pm: helps in lunch preparation
2.00 pm: "makuti" weaving
4.00 pm: pounding maize to get rid of outer coat
5.00 pm: goes to gather firewood
6.00 pm: house chores

Men
7.00 am: wakes up
8.00 am: takes breakfast
8.30 am: takes goats out and tethers them then walks in the shamba (farm)
9.00 am: rests
1.30 pm: takes lunch
3.00 pm: walks in the village and joins other men for a drink.

Boys
Morning: looking after goats
late morning resting
early afternoon: weaving 'Makuti'
late afternoon: playing or walking around in the village
6.00 pm: taking goats home.

Some important points emerge from these daily work patterns:  One is
that in her struggle to survive the woman spends a lot of time to eke out a
bare existence from the land - gathering firewood, working the fields and
fetching water.  We should keep in mind that in such environments, girls
are likely to have no leisure for education, they will be surrogate
housekeepers.  In the Elangata Wuas Ecosystem Management
Programme, a similar trend was observed where women mentioned the
amount of time spend on fetching water and firewood as a problem.  The
Maasai women also expressed the complaint that carrying such heavy
loads causes aches in the back and the head.  Of interest was the remark,
made by several women, that carrying loads with a leather strap over
their heads forced them to have the typically short Maasai hairstyle, while
they would prefer to keep longer hair. (De Vreede, 1995).

Altogether women account for 70-90% of labour in subsistence agriculture
in many sub-Saharan countries and provide 60-80% of  food requirements
for their communities (Okeyo, 1993).  Despite this substantial contribution
of women, specific attempts to integrate their needs and priorities into
development strategies remain very limited.  Through networks of women
groups spread  in all part of Kenya, rural women have been providing
millions of seedlings; participated in agro-forestry projects, energy
preservation programmes and water management activities.  They have
however been operating without much technical and financial support
(Kibaara, 1993).  To solve some of this problems, scientific  research should
place more emphasis on technologies beneficial to women and their 
activities.  It is technology that will assist in moving women and their
families from the use of rudimentary tools to more efficient, easy utilised
tools to facilitate their work.  The improved technologies should be related
to crop production and processing, water supply, fuel supply and most
other activities important in the rural environment.

(ii)	Lack of inheritance rights and involvement in decision making
One of the group pictures of the Maasai women show goat as one of their
favourite wealth but the accompanying comments are as follows: "We
would really like to have our own animals. We have all the work to do, but
we own the animals only in name. As soon as it comes to decision about the
animals, women have no right. We have been blind in the past. We did not
see the advantages of having property.  Now we realize that property
means security".  

With Kipepeo project Maundu (1993) noted that the Giriama home has a
head who is normally a man.  It is his prerogative to make decisions as to
how to use the land such as planting, cutting trees, etc.  Women are often
denied access to credit facilities because the land or buildings which  are
needed as collateral are held in the man's name. This of course deny
women the opportunity of investing in improved farm implements which
could reduce their work load  and increase productivity.  There is therefore
need for strategies to promote the introduction of women at all levels of
decision making and improving their access to and control over natural
resources. Secure access to the land and other natural resources will
motivate women to use them sustainably.

(iii)	Population increase
In developing countries, the issue of conserving biodiversity is
overshadowed by the vicious cycle of poverty, population growth and
environment degradation. The socio-economic survey of the Kipepeo
project (Maundu, 1993) recorded a high birth rate (6.25-7.0) with children
under 7 years forming bulk of the family and over half (54%) of the
population below 16 years.  Demographic forces are undoubtedly the most
important long term threat to biodiversity as they increase demand for
such and wood fuel and forage which has already produced widespread
deforestation and soil erosion. The picture is more bleak as formal
employment has no opportunities. In Kenya, according to the government
session paper, No. 1 (Republic of Kenya, 1986) the number of people
seeking jobs by the year 2000 will be 14 million. There is  therefore need for
more efforts to ensure decline in fertility trends. Too, the woman should be
given more control over her own fertility as this will give her more control
over other aspects of her life.

(iv)	Lack of Education
Because biodiversity is so closely intertwined with human needs, its
conservation should rightfully be considered as  an element of national
education programmes. The community should be continually educated on
proper utilization of  the resources which will not only ensure biodiversity
conservation but will also result in improvement in living standards.

The socio-economic survey for Kipepeo project found that 68.9% of the
adults were illiterate (Muandu, 1993). It was also noted that boys were
normally given the first opportunity to go to school and in case of school
cash problems like uniforms and other funds; girls were normally first to be
affected. There is need for children and adults to be schooled in the
knowledge and values that will allow them to live sustainably. Illiteracy
hinders development and an educated populace is a necessity for
sustainable biodiversity utilization. The power of non-formal education
and communication through parental influence, newspapers and
magazines, television and radio, entertainment places likes zoos and
botanical gardens should highlight  the importance of biodiversity
conservation. These channels should also pay special attention to the girl
child. She needs to be empowered, given self-confidence and skills so as to
grow into a confident woman who can sustain herself, family and
contribute to her nation's welfare.

 Conclusion and recommendations
For a more sustainable biodiversity conservation in Kenya and the world
at large, support to women is paramount.  The National Museums of
Kenya has recognised the central importance of women in biodiversity
conservation but on its own the NMK cannot solve all the social and
economic problems confronting women. The following recommendations
are given to improve women's efficiency in the conservation of
biodiversity.

I)Research in science and technology to come up with improved 
technologies which 	can relieve women of the many back-breaking
unproductive chores and help them increase productivity of their
labour. Train women to maintain the technology in their community.
ii)A new approach to education is essential to enhance people's
understanding of the natural world. The Museum plays a major role in
education but there is need for government  extension officers, NGOs 
and other local organisations to improve in  transferring  knowledge to
women.
iii)Need to examine legal and cultural barriers to the inheritance rights 
for girls/women, e.g., the inability of women to inherit or hold
property. 
iv)Strategy to promote the introduction of women at all levels of decision
making.
v)Need to improve family planning support to women and increase the
woman's control over her own fertility. 

Finally, despite all these complex issues, the woman, the community and
all interested individuals  should aim for hard work, integrity and
self-discipline so as to arrest biodiversity loss.

Acknowledgments
This paper could not have been possible without the overwhelming 
response that we have received as a result of our requests for advice and
assistance from some of our colleagues.  We in particular would like to
thank M. de Vreede, Dr. Odera, Dr. I. Gordon and P. Maundu.  We
express our sincere thanks to Faith Njeru who typed the manuscript.
Finally we acknowledge the generous financial contribution by the British
Council office, Nairobi and the Kenya Museum Society which enabled E.
Kioko to travel to India for  the GASAT 8 conference.

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