The correlates of HIV/AIDS vulnerability: A multilevel study of the impact of agricultural-consumption regimes on women's vulnerability in Kenya

This dissertation consists of three independent but related studies. The studies involve a regional analysis of Kenya using districts (similar to U.S. counties) as administrative units and examine the impact of the regional agricultural context on three different women's well being outcomes: women's decision-making autonomy, household food security, and women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. In these studies I refer to the regional agricultural context as agricultural-consumption regimes (ACRs). The term agricultural-consumption regimes (ACRs) draws from longstanding literature which examines how agricultural development in developing countries impacts women's agricultural productivity, hence their ability to fulfill the consumption needs of their households. Researchers have focused on the adverse impact on women's livelihoods resulting from agricultural development.;Agricultural-consumption regimes (ACRs) encompass the key production-related factors in the women and development literature: agricultural commercialization (cash crop versus food crop production), land tenure, access to credit, and access to extension services. More recently, the women and development literature has focused on strategies that women employ to counter constraints in agricultural production that affect their ability to fulfill household consumption needs. ACRs thus also include household survival strategies, such as opportunities for wage employment, membership in cooperatives, and women's organizations.;The first study is titled, "Does Context Matter for Women's Decision-making Autonomy in Kenya?" A large body of work has shown that women's decision-making autonomy has important implications for demographic outcomes such as fertility, reproductive and sexual health. This study seeks to move the literature forward by understanding how the regional context within which a woman is located impacts her decision-making autonomy over and above her individual-level characteristics such as marital status, age, education and occupation.;The second study is titled, "Assessing the Impacts of Agricultural-Consumption Regimes on Household Food Security in Kenya." There is resounding concurrence that food security is a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa. The study extends the on-going agricultural-structure-food security debate that predominantly focuses on the impacts of agricultural commercialization on household food security. This study seeks to understand whether or not there is variation in the levels of household food security across regions in Kenya and if so, the extent to which this variation is explained by agricultural-consumption regimes (ACRs) over and above women's decision-making autonomy and other individual-level characteristics. This study builds on my first study by questioning the effects of women's decision-making autonomy on household food security as an outcome.;The third and central study is titled, "The Correlates of HIV/AIDS Vulnerability: A Multilevel Study of the Impact of Agricultural-Consumption Regimes on Women's Vulnerability in Kenya." This study incorporates the concepts utilized in the first and second study, women's decision-making autonomy and household food security. In terms of women's autonomy, there is consensus in the HIV/AIDS literature that power imbalances in the household are a major factor driving women's vulnerability to this disease in sub-Saharan Africa, thus, the importance of examining the links between women's decision-making autonomy and HIV/AIDS. Regarding household food security, researchers have suggested that people who are food insecure are less likely to act on their knowledge about HIV to prevent infection. Greater household food insecurity may thus increase women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. This study assesses the extent to which agricultural-consumption regimes influence women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS net of individual and household-level characteristics such as women's decision-making autonomy and household food security. The study uses two proxy measures of vulnerability. The first measure, attitudes toward sex (likelihood of a woman to refuse sex if she knows her partner has other women), is based on the assumption that economic dependency may prevent or reduce the efficacy of a woman to protect herself from risky sexual behavior thus increasing her vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. For this outcome measure the sample is limited to women in non-polygynous relationships.;This study makes important theoretical contributions. First, the study extends the literature examining contextual influences on health by focusing on agricultural contexts. Second, this study extends the gender and agriculture literature to questions relating to women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The study shows that the agricultural context matters for women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. In terms of policy, efforts to safeguard women's rights to property such as land may be an important component not only for poverty alleviation, but also for HIV/AIDS prevention strategies. The study also points to the need for policy-makers to ensure that the agricultural sector remains an effective source of livelihoods. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...