Are Women Over-Empowered and Underfunded?
A Founder Reflection from Samburu Village
A month ago, I found myself sitting under a tree in Samburu Village, gathered with a group of women whose determination humbled me.
There were no conference rooms. No slides. No microphones. Just shade from the hot sun, notebooks balanced on laps, and women eager to learn.
I was volunteering with UCESCO–Africa, providing training in economic empowerment, kitchen gardening, financial literacy, and guidance on refining beadwork and crafts to better appeal to global markets. These women are smallholder farmers and artisans. They are mothers, leaders, and entrepreneurs.
What struck me immediately was not their need. It was their readiness.
They were organized. Motivated. Curious. Skilled.
And yet, their biggest barrier was not effort, it was funding.
Under that tree, a question kept turning in my mind:
Are women over-empowered and underfunded?
Empowered, But Then What?
Across much of Africa and the Global South, women are increasingly trained in entrepreneurship, leadership, and economic development. They attend workshops. They form cooperatives. They learn bookkeeping and market readiness. They are told to be bold and self-sufficient.
And they are.
But too often, the system stops short at the critical next step: access to capital, structured markets, and sustained financial partnership.
Training without funding can create a quiet imbalance. Women are given responsibility — but not always the resources to fully exercise power.
That tension is real.
The women in Samburu did not lack vision. They lacked liquidity.
They did not lack commitment. They lacked reliable market access.
A Simple Example: The Cost of Waiting
During our visit, we discovered something that stayed with me.
Maize and Irish potatoes were sitting in storage, waiting for market prices to improve. While waiting, some of the harvest was spoiling.
The loss was not due to laziness or mismanagement. It was the result of limited storage infrastructure and limited market leverage. When you are waiting for a better price but do not have ideal storage conditions, time becomes costly.
We talked about post-harvest storage techniques. We discussed timing strategies and ways to minimize loss. Small adjustments, but ones that can protect income and preserve dignity.
It reminded me that economic empowerment is rarely about one large solution. It is about infrastructure, knowledge, capital, and markets working together.
Without all four, the system strains.
Responsibility Without Power
When women are trained but not financed, something subtle happens.
They carry more responsibility. They lead projects. They are accountable to their families and communities.
But without adequate capital, they operate at a ceiling.
Empowerment without investment risks becoming responsibility without power.
And yet the resilience I witnessed under that tree was undeniable.
These women are not waiting to be saved. They are building, cultivating, creating, organizing. What they need is partnership.
Markets Matter
One of the most powerful levers in economic development is not charity, it is access to consistent markets.
When artisans and farmers can reliably sell their goods beyond local fluctuations, stability begins to take root. When smallholder farmers can anticipate demand, they plan differently. When beadwork reaches international shelves, craftsmanship becomes livelihood.
Connecting hands to markets is not just commerce. It is continuity.
That is why fair trade, when done thoughtfully, matters. It is not about trends or labels. It is about long-term relationships that extend beyond training sessions.
It is about staying.
What I Took With Me
The Samburu visit stayed with me deeply.
I saw determination that does not need encouragement only opportunity.
I saw intelligence that does not need motivation, only access.
I saw leadership that does not need permission, only partnership.
And I left with a renewed understanding that empowerment must be matched with investment. Education must be paired with infrastructure. And markets must be as intentional as the training that precedes them.
The question still lingers:
Are women over-empowered and underfunded?
Perhaps the answer is not either/or.
Perhaps the real work is ensuring empowerment is followed through, not just initiated.
As we continue building bridges between local craftsmanship and global markets, my hope is that we move beyond empowerment as a concept and toward empowerment supported by structure, capital, and sustained partnership.
That is the work.
And that is why we continue.
— Zellipah
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