Traditionally, indigenous people occupy diverse ecosystems that blend well with their unique culture and livelihoods. Indigenous people continue to have cultural attachment to their natural habitats such as forests and their ways of life are greatly dependent on it. Globally, indigenous people numbers between 370 and 500 million inhabiting more than 70 countries ( International Labour Organisation, ILO, 2019 ).

In Africa, indigenous people approximate about 50 million people ( International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2020 ). In East Africa, there exist many indigenous people who are majorly pastoralists. Among the hunter gatherers, the major tribes of indigenous people include Ogiek, Waata and Yaaku while the pastoralists include Maasai, Borana and Rendile. The highest population of forest dwellers in Kenya is Ogiek who live in and around the Mau Forest Complex numbering approximately 52,596 people ( Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, KNBS, 2019 ). The Ogiek are traditional beekeepers, honey gatherers and game hunters with greater attachment to forests. Prehistorically, Ogiek have been custodians of forest, and their livelihoods and culture are dependent on the forest, and they consider it as their ancestral home ( Claridge, 2018 ).

Socially, the social structure of the Ogiek was patriarchal with various hierarchical structures composed of elders in a council. Presently, these structures are still recognized as holder of community interests especially when engaging governments where the elders are community mouthpiece in defense of their cultural rights and community resources. Among the Ogiek people, exploitation of forest resources differs for men and women, where women extract medicines while men commercially extract timber ( Food and Agricultural Organisation, 2018 ). This setup requires access and ownership of land as a primary resource and means of production. Among the Ogiek, interaction with environment including use and control of forest resources reflects a gendered perspective. This gendered approach to forest resource has survived social changes leading to contemporary Kenya. These traditionally ascribed gender roles may limit Ogiek women in participating in forest use and control initiatives. This scenario seems to be exacerbated by gender blind forest laws of the republic of Kenya which serve to institutionalize and perpetuate the traditional sex roles among the Ogiek as far as forest resource use and control are concerned. Key among them includes Article 69 of the 2010 Kenya Constitution, Forest Policy 2014 and Forest Act 2005 as repealed by Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016 ( Government of Kenyan, 2016 ). These legislations elaborate importance of forestry as economic pillar as well the need for participatory forest management. The FCM 2016 Act established Kenya Forest Service (KFS) mandating it with its board to establish forest conservation areas. Further, FCM Act 2016 section 48 (1) permits communities to register Community Forest Associations (CFA), for them to be allowed to participate in public forest management. On empowerment, FCM 2016 envisages provision of formal forest education through Kenya Forest College. Non-formal and informal education takes place in the community where targeted population live. Other policy framework guiding forestry in Kenya includes the Forest Policy 2014 developed in response to Forest Act 2005 as repealed by FCM Act 2016. It is in the logic of the foregoing discussion that this study elected to interrogate the extent of gender blindness of these legislations or policy instruments and how they have structured or re-structured gender relations in the forest management.

The symbiosis between indigenous Ogiek men and women and their natural environment (both flora and fauna) is unrivalled globally since time immemorial. The Ogiek like most indigenous communities worldwide, have interacted in a symbiotic fashion with the Mau Forest over the years. The use of forest resources was gendered among the indigenous or pre-colonial Ogiek community. But this interaction has been shaped by Ogiek patriarchal social and economic structure that informs the use and control of forest resources. This socio-economic arrangement has endured even with the advent of modernity and capitalism. The 2010 Kenya Constitution and the enabling legislations and policies especially the Forest Policy 2014 and Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016 were expected to cure this defect. It is in this logic that this study elected to examine the Mau Forest Ogiek’s gender relation and its implications on the management of Mau Forest.

General Objective of the Research

The study examined the implications of gender relations on forest management among indigenous Ogiek of Mau Forest.

Specific objectives of the research were to:

1) Identify the traditional gender division of labour among the indigenous Ogiek of Mau Forest.

2) Examine the extent to which the Forest policy 2014 and Forest Act 2016 integrates gender concerns of in forest management.

3) Examine how women empowerment in forest management promotes gender mainstreaming in forest management.

4) Discuss the implications of the above findings on women empowerment in matters forest management among the Ogiek of the Mau Forest.

The key questions guiding the study include:

1) Is division of labour among the indigenous Ogiek gendered?

2) To what extent are gender specific concerns of Indigenous Ogiek integrated in the Forest Policy 2014 and Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016?

3) Does women empowerment in forest management promote gender equality?

4) How can gender equality in forest management in Kenya be mainstreamed?

This study deployed cultural ecofeminism theory in explaining the implications of gender relations of indigenous Ogiek in forest management. This theory captures relationship between women and the earth, comparing how women and nature are subordinated by men in patriarchal society. It draws a parallel connection between the way women and nature are treated by patriarchal society to the benefit of men. The men subordination of women is seen as a parallel to how humans dominate nature. The dominance of men over women is seen as a parallel to how humans dominate nature. This is rampant in exploitation of natural resources especially those of commercial value where men play dominant roles and reap higher benefits that women. Ecofeminism aims to restructure power relations between both genders promoting equitable participation. The aspects domination includes men domination of culture, women relation to environment, and domination of women and environment by men ( Agarwal, 1997 ). The domination is intertwined with power with greater enjoyment of privileges by those in power who are also greatly valued and have greater influence and vice versa ( Manuku, 2018 ).

Further, ecofeminism is underpinned by agency, a conceptual basis intertwined by right and ability to choose actively or passively. In passive case, choices of women are less and contented if their usual and casual roles are accomplished whereas in active form. Women have capacity to choose and by so doing women are depicted as creative and good agents of transformation ( Kabeer, 2005 ). Eco-feminism theory helped the study by exposing how patriarchal and capitalist systems have in unison exploited women by under-privileging their capacities in forest management.

The linkages between various variables underpinning the research are captured below (Figure 1).

The contribution of gender equality to sustainable development both nationally and globally cannot be overemphasized. In essence exploitation of forest resources is expected to be gendered. However, this is not the case in forest

management in Kenya where commercial timber harvesting done by men has more economic benefits than firewood or medicinal harvesting left to women. Further, the livelihoods of women living adjacent to the forests rely on forests for their various nutritional needs. Duflo (2012) notes that differential gender roles determine extent of participations in forest resource access, use and control. However, this gender dimension in forest management is rarely integrated in forest restoration processes ( Ardayfio-Schandorf et al., 2007 ).

The rampant degradation of forests nationally prompted the government to adopt Participatory Forest Management (PFM) involving communities living around the forest in management of the forests. This idea has been institutionalized Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016. The Act articulates rights and responsibilities of communities in forest management (Ongugo, 2009). The Act envisages forest participation through a registered Community Forest Association (CFA). The CFAs are registered entities and Kenya Forest Services approves their existence. The PFM allows communities living near the forests to enjoy forest resources legally.

The Kenya constitution 2010 is very progressive, it captures environmental conservation under Article 69. This is operationalized by FCM Act 2016, regarding forest resources. The FCM 2016 Act provides a legal framework for the exploitation and rehabilitation of forest lands. It also categorizes forests as community, private and public forests. The administration of FCM 2016 is by Kenya Forest Service (KFS) with its board responsible for establishing forest conservation areas divided into ecosystems. Further under section 48 (1) of the FCM Act 2016 communities are granted opportunity to participate in forest management through a registered CFA.

Forest Policy 2014, operationalises Forest Act 2005 as repealed by Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016, and in alignment with Kenya Constitution 2010. The policy statements captured in the policy include: promoting participatory management of indigenous forests with communities and other stakeholders, supporting formal forest sector education programmes at different skill levels which are regularly reviewed to encompass emerging issues and challenges, support non-state actors and local communities to undertake forest-related development activities and investments, develop and implement an equitable benefits sharing scheme in the forest sector.

A cross sectional descriptive study design was adopted in the study. This design allows capturing phenomena as it is at the moment. The researcher employed this research design due to its relevance to research questions examining already existing phenomena of indigenous Ogiek participation in CFAs. Qualitative research also allows capturing the voices of the underprivileged ( Frisby, Maguire, & Reid, 2009 ). These voices include indigenous Ogiek women who are put down by cultural practices and patriarchy. Quantitative research also provides “generalizable” findings, and according to Marlow (1993) the finding on number of women and men who participates in CFAs at different levels is important for extrapolation to other forest management institutions to mainstream the excluded gender.

In this study, the respondents were the Ogiek men and women who live in and around East Mau Forest Complex with their existence closely tied to the forest. Residence in Mau East Forest Complex and being an indigenous Ogiek was the major criterion of participating in the study. Further, membership to Mau CFAs for the last three years was a key criterion of participating in the study. Further, traditional, and local authorities including village elders, government local administrators and Kenya Forest Service officers are targeted to address research questions.

The study employed criterion sampling, as a sampling method. Through it, selection of study participants based on pre-set guideline was used ( Patton, 2002 ). The criteria met by the sample included being resident of Mau Forest Complex and indigenous Ogiek of the said locality. To determine sample size, ( Krejcie & Morgan, 1970 ) formula of a finite population was used. As captured in Table 1 below, the study targeted 67 Mau CFAs members who are indigenous Ogiek

people living within East Mau Forest Complex. Mau Community Forest Association (MACOFA) has 80 registered members out of which 67 were chosen in the study. The 13 members were excluded based on ethnicity authenticated by dialect since some immigrants from other communities especially Kipsigis and Kikuyu communities currently own land in Mau East. Further, traditional, and local authorities including three village elders and three KFS officers and one chief are targeted as key informants to address research questions.

The data collection tools were piloted to test their accuracy before the main research process. The process involved selection of few respondents with similar characteristics to target population and administration of the research tools. It involved testing the understanding of instructions by respondents. The significance of the testing was to detect any earlier warning on potential areas of complexity of research tools, potential data flaws and methodology deficiencies. The selected pilot test population were not used again in the main study.

Validity was achieved by developing questionnaires and interview schedules that address research problems, and research objectives and research questions. Pretesting was done prior to main study. Further, relevant theories and frameworks are employed to guide the study ensuring greater validity of research content. The significance of validity testing is to capture any errors in the data collection tools. To test the reliability of the instruments, the researcher employed the test-retest method during the pilot study done weeks before the actual study was conducted.

Based on objectives of the study qualitative data was edited and coded as per the themes and analysed throughout the study period for patterns and themes. The responses were presented in narrative and verbatim quotation forms. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, mean, and standard deviation with the help of statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) version 22. The information was presented in tables and graphs. The two data sources were triangulated for comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon under study.

Kenya University Ethics Committee and National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation (NACOSTI) approved the study. During the study appropriate explanation of study to the participants was done to enable them to make informed consent. Voluntary participation was sought from study participants. Also, the principle of no harm was adhered to during the study. Confidentially of data was ensured by coding the data and not capturing participants’ names in the questionnaires. Lastly, objectivity was maintained throughout the study to avoid any biasness.

Information contained in Table 2, reveals that 66% of KFS officials, 98% of Mau CFA members, 66% of traditional leaders and 100% of chiefs responded during data collection. The response rate was 71 out of 74 sample size.

Data on the distribution of sampled respondents in the Mau Forest by their gender reveal that the majority are men (66.2%) while women are (33.8%). (Figure 2)

The findings is correlated to Ogiek culture which privileges men over women and men represents the households in external engagement including responding to study enumerators. Cultural inhibition prevented women from talking in front of their husbands due to cultural dictates. This was validated by Marishoni Area Chief Mr David Barngetuny, who explained that Ogiek men dominate in household and community engagements as per the cultural set up of the Ogiek. Also, Ogiek women held up by household chores tended to leave engagement with research assistants to their husbands. This is in sync with Coulibaly-Lingani et al. (2011) who documented women participation in household chores and other roles associated with women could be a factor preventing women from participation in community external engagement.

As indicated by data in Table 3, the respondents were distributed between the ages of 20 to 41 years and those between 31 to 41 years had the highest frequency (61.9%). The study notes greater efforts is needed to mainstream youths’ participation in forest management.

The study targeted participants whose membership within Mau CFA was 3 years and above. Data in Table 4 revealed that 29.5% of the respondents have been

members of Mau CFA for 3 - 4 years while 32.3% have been members for 5 - 6 years and 38.1% for more than 6 years. version).

Information contained in Figure 3 shows significant number of respondents (46.5%) attained primary education while 43.7% secondary education, 5.6% had no formal education while 4.2% attained tertiary education. The results illustrate that a higher number of the respondents were literate. Literacy level is critical in participation in forest management and associations including CFAs and forest user groups.

Data contained in Table 5 reveals most of the respondents 87.3% own land sizes of between 2 to 5 acres, while 7.1% had less than one acre of land and 5.6% had 5 acres and above. The results reveal that the study participants are small holder farmers. The results are in concurrence with Claridge (2018) who documented those constant evictions of Ogiek since independence resulted in them occupying small land parcels of land around Mau Forest. The land was allocated to them by government as a community land. However, evictions resulted in individual Ogiek subdividing the community land into small parcels to cater for all households.