Gender Influence in Communication for Development: A Study of Migori County Government, Kenya

The goal of communication for development is to spur development among a group of people. Its aim is to evoke positive change that is empowering thereby facilitating development. Economic poverty affects both men and women however women are the majority poor. Migori County ranks 25 out of 47 counties in the poverty index ranking in Kenya (Economic Survey Report 2017). The development indices of literacy of women, fertility and child mortality in Migori County is ranked number 30, 35, 40 respectively out of the 47 counties in Kenya (Kenya Population and Housing Survey 2016). The aforementioned statistics indicate that women in Migori County are lagging behind in development. A number of development projects have been put in place by Migori county government to spur the economic development of women however the women still remain poor. The study is based on the premise that the development projects initiated by county government for women economic development are not effective because the development communication programmes are not gender sensitive. The purpose of this study was to establish the gender influence in communication for development in Migori County. The study was guided by the following objectives: establish which gender disseminates messages on development opportunities for females in Migori County, identify which gender can positively influence females in the communication of development opportunities for females in Migori County.Exploratory research design was employed as a research design for the study. Data was collected through interview responses from the county director of gender, 2 ward administrators, 10 leaders of 10 women groups, 20 members of 10 women groups found in Nyatike and Kuria West Sub counties. Focus group discussions involving 10 women from registered groups was also conducted. The total number of participants for the study was 43. The county director of gender and the ward administrators were chosen through saturated sampling while the women were purposively sampled to take part in the study. Data collected was analyzed qualitatively through content analysis. The study found out that the county government of Migori engaged males to disseminate communication for development messages for females. On the other hand, the females in Migori County preferred that the communication for development messages be disseminated by females in order for them to understand and respond positively to the messages. The study recommends that the county government should engage more female communication specialists to advocate for gender balanced communication for development in the region. The county government should also adhere to the two third gender rule as it employs county officials so that communication for development is not dominated by one gender. The study recommends that the county government of Migori should put emphasis on gender while disseminating information on communication for development targeting females in order to have the desired influence on the females.