In Kenya, a group of Maasai grandmothers provide an inspiring example of how simple actions can transform societies and how, when empowered, women can break down barriers between men and women.
These women never had the opportunity to attend school. But now aged between 40 and 50 years old, they found themselves with a new task. They received training and were tasked with installing and maintaining solar lighting systems in their villages.
The “five barefoot sisters,” as they are now known, are each responsible for lighting 15 houses. So in all, they cover a total of 60 houses in the Mara Naboisho Conservancy. Their training has enabled them to take part in creating environmentally and economically secure villages and it has also changed the perception of the role of women among participating villages in Koiyaki Location, Mara Division, and Narok South District.
The “sisters” experience demonstrates how simple innovation can lead to socio-economic transformation and ownership.
This example can inform other areas, such as forestry, where women have always played a significant role in sustainable forest management in basically everything from agroforestry to collecting fuelwood and developing non-wood forest products for food, medicine, and shelter. Forest-related development initiatives, such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (also known as REDD+), can learn from the experiences to date to involve women in program design and implementation through methods which are adapted to the needs of the forest community.
About the Author