Fostering individual agency and wellbeing in women: an evaluation of the IMAGINE Kenya Initiative

Shankar, Anita; Onyura, MaryAlice; Ojode, Marren; Millam, Elaine R.

doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(15)70059-8

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

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“…This work builds upon earlier research in Kenya that demonstrated that following an agency-based training, there was a substantial increase in women's capacity and willingness to identify and pursue economic opportunities and build strong relationship skills (Shankar, Onyura, Ojode, & Milliam, 2015). This study examines the impacts that agency-based empowerment training can have to increase the motivation and capacity to develop a successful ICS business, for both men and women.…”

Section: The Need For Agency-based Empowerment Trainingmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Because the agency-based training is internally focused, individuals are able to find meaning and associations that are relevant to them and potentially facilitate positive behaviors (Shankar et al, 2015). This agency-based approach has significant implications for the scaling of clean cooking solutions as it provides a tool to enhance an individual's overall capacity to function in new endeavors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The agency-based training used in this study is anchored in these core properties, draws from basic tenets of positive psychology, and is aimed at increasing self-knowledge and developing actionable growth strategies. The training has been culturally and locally adapted for the Kenyan entrepreneurial context and conducted in the local language.This work builds upon earlier research in Kenya that demonstrated that following an agency-based training, there was a substantial increase in women's capacity and willingness to identify and pursue economic opportunities and build strong relationship skills (Shankar, Onyura, Ojode, & Milliam, 2015). This study examines the impacts that agency-based empowerment training can have to increase the motivation and capacity to develop a successful ICS business, for both men and women.…”

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confidence: 85%

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Agency-Based Empowerment Training Enhances Sales Capacity of Female Energy Entrepreneurs in Kenya

Shankar

Onyura²,

Alderman³

2015

Journal of Health Communication

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3Envirofit, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA Globally, women's involvement in clean cooking value chains has been minimal. This is partly because of the multiple challenges faced by women that impede their capacity to effectively engage in the energy sector. To better discern gender-specific differences in involvement in the energy sector, the authors conducted a randomized trial in Kenya to compare sales performance of newly trained male and female improved cookstove entrepreneurs and to test the effects of an agency-based empowerment training on business activity. A total of 257 entrepreneurs completed either a 4-day entrepreneurial training (control) or a 4-day empowerment training (intervention) and were followed for nearly 8 months documenting business activity and sales. The empowerment training led to more than doubling of sales for both genders. In addition, participants in the intervention group were significantly more likely to demonstrate business commitment over time and nearly three times more likely to be higher sellers (relative risk ¼ 2.7, 95% CI [1.4, 5.4]), controlling for gender and rural=urban locale. Women outsold men by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 and were more likely to continue to pursue leads despite limited sales. Nonactive participants (those selling 1 improved cookstove or less) were a larger percentage of the control group (72%) than the intervention group (50%), and more men were nonactive participants (65% of men) compared with women (56% of women).These data show that women can serve as active improved cookstove entrepreneurs in both urban and rural settings and that targeted agency-based empowerment training can significantly increase women's capacity to engage effectively within the improved cookstove value chain.There is growing evidence that women can play a critical role in the promotion and sales of improved cookstoves (ICSs) because of their roles and experience as primary cooks and household energy managers (Batliwalla & Reddy, 1996;Cecelski, 2000;Dutta, 2005;Kö hlin, Sills, Pattanayak, & Wilfong, 2011;Smith & Dutta, 2011). As key beneficiaries of ICSs, women can drive demand as consumers and users, and they can catalyze more consistent ICS use and adoption. Moreover, women can leverage their existing networks to promote the adoption of these new technologies and use their firsthand experiences for marketing the ICS.Despite early efforts to include women throughout the ICS value chain, the marketing and sales force remains dominated by men (Ramanathan & Carmichael, 2008). Efforts are lagging, as integration has been difficult because of sociocultural constraints on women and a lack of basic education and skills. Often overlooked is the role of individual agency and voice in fostering greater involvement of women as entrepreneurs. Agency can be defined as ''an actor's or group's ability to make powerful choices'' (Samman & Santos, 2009) and voice is referred to as ''the capacity to speak up and be heard '' (Klugman et al., 2014). Women disproportionally face psychosocial challenge...

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Section: The Need For Agency-based Empowerment Trainingmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 85%

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