Pathways to empowerment?: dynamics of women's participation in Global Value Chains

Gender plays an important role in shaping outcomes of participation within Global Value Chains (GVCs). Employment in GVCs may potentially empower women, but little is known about the dynamics by which GVCs bring about empowerment, rather studies highlight women's rights abuses and on-going gender-based discrimination. This paper considers whether and how employment within GVCs empowers women workers. By drawing from an in-depth empirical study of women workers employed in the Kenyan tea and cut-flower industries, it develops three interlinked pathways to empowerment. These pathways, 'being', 'doing' and 'sharing', offer some positive changes from women workers' perspectives. In so doing, we offer a more nuanced perspective on employment for women in GVCs in African agriculture, acknowledging the constraints but also noting the potential for positive outcomes.