The Contribution of VICOBA to the Improvement of Food Accessibility among Maasai Women Pastoralists in Chalinze District Council

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the contribution of Village Community Bank (VICOBA) to the improvement of food accessibility of Maasai Pastoralist Women in Chalinze District Council. The study employed a cross sectional research design and qualitative research approach in data collection. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 60 respondents from Maasai pastoralist women and key-informants from whom relevant data were obtained through questionnaire, interview and Focused Group Discussions. The findings of this study revealed that VICOBA contributes greatly to the improvement of food accessibility as it has great impact on food storage, number of meals per day at household level and accessibility of food per year. Having observed that the contribution of VICOBA on socio-economic well being of Maasai pastoralist women in Chalinze District Council is real, now women can increase their income, they are assured of food accessibility and the improvement of social services. It is also concluded that despite the fact that socio-economic well-being of the Maasai pastoralist women in Chalinze District Council has been enhanced by VICOBA yet the contribution is meager as to completely emancipating them from poverty. The study thus, recommends for better education on pastoralist activities, credit and savings so that they can effectively and efficiently perform their activities.