Sindani, Tabitha Magese ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8638-3767 (2021) We are all in ‘Jua Kali’: the influence of gender on women entrepreneurs in rural Kenya. In: Gender, Work and Organization 11th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference: Transforming Contexts, Transforming Selves. Gender in New Times, 30th June - 2nd July 2021, University of Kent. Kent Business School - Gender, Work and Organization (GWO), University of Kent, pp. 83-84.

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Abstract

The context of this paper is based upon investigating the influence of gender on Jua Kali women entrepreneurs in Rural Kenya. Jua Kali is a Swahili term, which means fierce sunlight, and refers to an informal economy whose unlicensed enterprises operate in open-air marketplaces, literally “under the hot sun” (Mang’unyi et al., 2018: 453). Women own up to 60.7% of enterprises within Kenya’s Jua Kali sector (Ndemo and Maina, 2017) which are labelled as feminine, ‘lifestyle’ and homebased (Marlow, 2002: De Bruin et at 2007:331). Current research portrays entrepreneurship as a desirable and flexible pathway to women’s empowerment from conditions of subordination, thereby emancipated from shackles of poverty to empower others (Rindova et al., 2009; Dy Martinez et al., 2018; Alkhaled and Berglund, 2018). Increasingly, however, recent streams of research question the often ignored prevailing structural and contextual constraints such as uncertainty, long hours, multiple caring roles and poor financial returns associated with women’s entrepreneurship (Ahl and Marlow, 2019). However, a bulk of these studies are conducted in western contexts which does not present the structural context-specific peculiarities operative in non-western contexts. This is especially apparent in the rural sub-Saharan Africa context that is embedded with cultures of patriarchy and misogynistic gender bias (Maseno and Kilonzo, 2010). Thus, this makes this study’s objective and context a timely and justified investigation. The study involved documentary analysis of several government policy frameworks on women’s empowerment, followed by 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews with rural Jua Kali women entrepreneurs from Vihiga County-Kenya. All data was voice-recorded and transcribed verbatim, first and second order coding was done in NVivo 12 Pro and thematic content analysis applied (Gioia et al., 2013). The analysis reveals women’s vulnerability due to harassment and uncertainty that is embedded within Jua Kali sector. A majority of women expressed being harassed by Kanjo (the city council tax officials, who are mostly men) who confiscate their stocks, in case of any delay to pay the daily open-air market fee occurring due to lack of sales. Even though women seemingly appear to be liberated through entrepreneurship, they are still subordinated by dominant masculine power relations forcing them to negotiate their survival through bribery. Regarding uncertainty, a majority of Jua Kali women’s business premises are either temporary market stalls called Kibanda (made of wood with metal sheet or canvas cover generally about 3-6m ²) or simple tarpaulin on which they spread their meagre stock along pedestrian streets. However, due to the ongoing Kenya’s Vision 2030 infrastructure and housing projects country-wide (GoK, 2018), most Jua Kali stalls have been demolished, and the majority of women displaced without reallocation to alternative marketplaces. Consequently, most of them resort to selling from home which ultimately impinges on their enterprise’s credibility and legitimacy when accessing bank loans. In conclusion, these findings provide compelling evidence that extends research on entrepreneurship that suggests, by itself, entrepreneurship does not ameliorate the negative effects of subordination. Rather it reproduces structural and contextual constraints that trap women in the same old conventional structures of misogyny in rural Kenya.

Item Type:	Conference Proceedings
Title of Proceedings:	Gender, Work and Organization 11th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference: Transforming Contexts, Transforming Selves. Gender in New Times, 30th June - 2nd July 2021, University of Kent
Uncontrolled Keywords:	women's entrepreneurship, jua kali, gender, context, enterprise policy
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Executive Business Centre
Related URLs:	Organisation
Last Modified:	10 Mar 2025 12:44
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/49989

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