International Journal of Agriculture and Crop Sciences. Available online at www.ijagcs.com IJACS/2014/7-15/1514-1518 ISSN 2227-670X ©2014 IJACS Journal Gendered Roles in Bambara Production Activities: A Case of Butere and Mumias Districts, Kenya M. A. Oyugi 1 *, D. M. Amudavi 2 , J. O. M. Nandi 3 , J. M. Ombati 1 1. Department of Agricultural Education & Extension, Egerton University, P.O. Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya 2. Biovision Farmer Communication Programme (FCP); International Centr of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya 3. Social Science Education Department Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 190 Kakamega, Kenya *Corresponding author email: millakiia@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: Bambara groundnut is an underutilized leguminous crop grown in Western Kenya. In parts of the world the crop is often given less priority in allocation of land, produced traditionally and generally left to women despite its potential in food and economic security of farmers. This study investigated participation of farmers by gender on production activities of the groundnut in Butere and Mumias Districts in Kenya. Production aspects included; land preparation, planting, weeding, pest control, harvesting, drying, threshing and winnowing. The study employed a snowball sampling technique and a questionnaire to collect data from the farmers. Farmers’ involvement in to production by gender was analyzed using ANOVA to confirm if a significant difference existed in the means of the computed indices that were a measure of the levels of involvement of men and women. The results indicate a significant difference in the means of Production Activity Index. In Butere (p-value= 0.013) and Mumias (P-value =0.000) implying a highly significant difference in farmers' participation in production by gender in both districts. This scenario could be due to the fact that production activities of food security crops are generally dominated by women in an attempt to ensure household food security and continue their cultivation; while men as being majorly involved in sugarcane production which is the main cash crop in the area based on the qualitative data. The findings revealed that bambara was produced mainly for household consumption and women being the active/ main participants; confirms the general argument that women play a vital role in ensuring household food security. The study clearly reveals women as the main actors in bambara production even though men also participated but at minimal levels; this is of value to agricultural extension officers and other development agencies to help them channel their effort in the right direction if they need to boost the production of the crop and to ensure food security of the area. Key Words: Agricultural productivity, Food Security, Gender roles, Gender sensitive Information. INTRODUCTION Bambara groundnut is a leguminous crop grown by small scale farmers in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also widely grown in parts of Asia, Northern Australia, and South and Central America. The Bambara groundnut is the third most important leguminous crop after common groundnuts and cowpeas, and is usually consumed by the rural farmers themselves where about 40% of the harvest is commercialized citation. It is assumed to be traditionally cultivated by women and is often given less priority in the allocation of land compared to cereals and other vegetables (Hammer et al., 2001) but a more current citation is due check for the FAO cereals report 2011 . The crop is underutilized and until lately, an under-researched crop (Berchie et al., 2013). The International Centre for Underutilized Crops (ICUC), 2000 and Berchie et al., (2013) noted that production of the crop is minimal due to limited research focus on the crop and extension agents’ preference on promoting conventional food crops. Consequently, there is limited supportive information from extension agents for farmers for the development of underutilized crops (Brookfield et al., 2002; Bioversity International, 2013). This has further delayed genetic improvement in the superior varieties of underutilized crops. Bambara groundnut is produced and consumed in Western Province of Kenya. The local environment in the region is much suitable for its