The impacts of gender-conscious payment models on the status of women engaged in micro-forestry on the Kenyan coast

Key pointsControl over land and capital in coastal Kenya is traditionally patriarchal. In the context of forestry, women consistently fail to reap the same benefits as men despite doing the majority of the labor involved.Komaza’s micro-forestry model provides women with an alternative avenue for capital accumulation outside of traditional mechanisms of control.Clearly defining the Komaza ‘farmer’ and ‘landowner’ contributes to the financial enfranchisement of women and allows them greater discretion on land use and capital allocation.Paying through mobile money helps ensure women receive payments directly and are able to manage this money themselves.