Using positive deviance to understand gender relations in Kenya dairy households
- From
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Published on
14.02.25
- Challenges
Climate change has significant effects on livelihoods and livestock systems in East Africa. Coping with these effects calls for a focus on gender and social equity to ensure transformative adaptation.
To better understand gender relations in Kenyan dairy communities, researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) carried out a study in Bomet and Nandi counties. They used a feminist positive deviance approach in their study.
Positive deviance is an approach to behavioural and social change. It is based on the idea that, within a community, some individuals engage in unusual behaviours allowing them to solve problems better than others who face similar challenges, despite not having additional resources or knowledge. These individuals are referred to as positive deviants.
The researchers collected data from 20 focus group discussions and 10 key informant interviews with 199 participants.
The topics explored in the focus group discussions included norms of a good husband or wife and intrahousehold decision-making practices and labour distribution.
They also used three illustrated vignettes to better understand and characterize the types of gender relations.
Findings
The study found variations in decision-making and dairy activities between women and men in dairy households, such as decisions on the sale of livestock assets, managing the different tasks related to dairy production and off-farm work, and uptake of climate innovations.
Positive deviance identified successful practices within communities to support adaptation to climate change.
‘Shifts away from harmful norms, or “honorable departures from referent norms” present opportunities to employ positive deviance approaches that can support locally led and equitable climate adaptation processes,’ the researchers said.
These approaches could also be expanded to diverse contexts and sectors for more equitable and transformative adaptation to climate change.
‘We advocate for increased efforts to utilize positive deviance in future climate adaptation studies to inform practical and locally led strategies,’ the study concludes.
Citation
Bullock, R., DuttaGupta, T. and Miriti, P. 2025. A positive deviance approach to understand gender relations and practices that support transformative adaptation: Insights from Kenya dairy households. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 9: 100280.