WOMENS CHANGING ECONOMIC ROLES WITH PASTORAL SEDENTARIZATION - VARYING STRATEGIES IN ALTERNATE RENDILLE COMMUNITIES

The trend of pastoral sedentarization in Africa presents new economic opportunities to women through the sale of dairy products, agricultura l produce, and label: This study of Rendille of northern Kenya shows a variety of economic strategies pursued by women in nomadic pastoral, settled agro-pastoral, and town communities. Results of household budg ets and interviews with married women indicate that urban centers attr act both wealthier Rendille women selling milk and poorer women engage d in wage-labor and petty commodity trade; time allocation data shows that women living in towns work as strenuously as those in pastoral co mmunities, while men in towns work less than in pastoral communities a nd less than women in both communities; and anthropometric data of wom en and children suggest that increases in women's income may have a be neficial effect on the nutrition and well-being of their children.